Japanese ironclad warship Fusō
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 The Japanese ironclad warship Fusō |
|
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Built: | Samuda Brothers Naval Yards, Great Britain |
| Ordered: | 1875 Fiscal Year |
| Laid down | September 24 1875 |
| Launched: | April 17 1877 |
| Completed: | January 1878 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1910 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 3,717 tons |
| Length: | 67.0 meters at waterline |
| Beam: | 14.6 meters |
| Draught: | 5.5 meters |
| Propulsion: | 2-shaft reciprocating; 3932 HP |
| Speed: | 13 knots |
| Fuel: | 360 tons coal |
| Complement: | 250 |
| Armament: |
|
| Armor: | 100-230 mm belt; 200 mm battery; 175 mm bulkhead; |
The IJN Fusō (扶桑) was an ironclad warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was built by the Samuda Brothers on the Isle of Dogs, London, Great Britain, and commissioned in 1878. She was the first armored warship to be built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in England. Togo Heihachiro, later a prominent Japanese admiral, supervised its construction. It should not be confused with the later (1914-era) battleship Fusō.
Delivered to Japan and based in Yokohama from 1881, the Fusō was scheduled for retirement in 1891. However, in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Fusō saw combat at the Battle of the Yalu River (during which it took 8 direct hits, with 2 crewmen killed and 12 wounded), and at the Battle of Weihaiwei.
On 29 October 1897, the Fusō collided with the cruiser Matsushima in rough weather off the coast of Iyo (Shikoku) and sank. Captain Uryu Sotokichi was confined to the brig for three months over the incident. Refloated the following year, the Fusō was re-classed as a Second-Class Battleship on 21 March 1898, and refitted with new Krupp cannons; repairs continued through April 1900.
The Fusō again saw service during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, where it was assigned to the blockade of Port Arthur, and patrol of the sea lanes around the Strait of Tsushima. It was the flagship of Rear Admiral Hosoya, Seventh Division, Third Squadron, held in reserve independent of the Combined Fleet.
Already extremely obsolete, the Fusō was re-classed as a Second-Class Coastal Defense Vessel immediately after the Russo-Japanese War, on 11 December 1905, and officially retired on 1 April 1908. It was broken up for scrap in Yokohama in 1910.
Imperial Japanese Navy  |
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