Everything about Japanese Cruiser Izumo totally explained
The Japanese cruiser Izumo in 1905>
| Career |
|
Built by:
|
Armstrong Whitworth, Great Britain |
Ordered:
|
1897 Fiscal Year |
| Laid down |
May 1898 |
Launched:
|
19 September 1898 |
Completed:
|
25 September 1900 |
Fate:
|
Sunk by air attack 24 July 1945 |
| General characteristics |
Displacement:
|
9,750 tons |
Length:
|
132.28 meters at waterline |
Beam:
|
20.94 meters |
Draught:
|
7.37 meters |
Propulsion:
|
2-shaft VTE, 14,500 bhp (10.8 MW); 24 boilers |
Speed:
|
20.75 knots (38 km/h) |
Fuel & Range:
|
1,412 tons coal; 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km) @ 10 knots (19 km/h) |
Complement:
|
648 |
Armament:
|
- 4 × 203 mm guns
- 14 × 152 mm rapid fire guns
- 12 x 12 pound (5 kg) rapid fire guns
- 8 x 2.5 pound (1 kg) rapid fire guns
- 4 × 450 mm torpedo tubes
|
Armor:
|
88 to 175 mm main belt armor; 125 mm upper belt;
67 mm deck armor;
150 mm turret, casement
356 mm conning tower
|
Aircraft:
|
1 × Nakajima Type 90 floatplane |
The was an
armored cruiser of the
Imperial Japanese Navy. Although very similar to the
Asama-class cruisers Asama and
Tokiwa, its differences are significant enough to classify it as the
lead ship in the separate
Izumo class, which also included its
sister ship, the
IJN Iwate. The
Izumo was named after
Izumo Province, an ancient
province of Japan (corresponding to present-day
Shimane Prefecture).
Background
The
Izumo was one of six
armored cruisers ordered to overseas shipyards after the
First Sino-Japanese War as part of the “Six-Six Program” (six
battleships-six
cruisers) intended to be the backbone of the
Imperial Japanese Navy. It was built in
Elswick,
Great Britain by
Armstrong Whitworth.
Service record
The
Izumo served an important role in the
Russo-Japanese War, where it was the
flagship of the 2nd Fleet under Admiral
Hikonojo Kamimura. It patrolled from the
Kurile Islands and
Sakhalin to the
Tsushima strait, in pursuit of the
Imperial Russian Navy's
Vladivostok squadron, which had been raiding Japanese shipping, and threatened the logistics link between the Japan home islands and the
Japanese armies in
Manchuria. The Izumo participated in
Battle off Ulsan on
14 August 1904, and also the crucial
Battle of Tsushima on
26 May 1905.
On
22 May 1909, under command of Captain
Takeshita Isamu, the
Izumo departed
Sasebo for the
United States to participate in the 140th anniversary celebrations of the founding of
San Francisco. It made port calls in
Hawaii,
Monterrey,
Santa Barbara, and
San Diego on the way.
In
World War I, the Izumo was used extensively for overseas patrol. Its relatively large size made it suitable for long-term overseas service, and it was dispatched to
Malta, as a second special duty fleet flagship, directing the Japanese
destroyer unit which participated in convoy escort in the
Mediterranean Sea as part of Japan's contribution to the Allied war effort under the
Anglo-Japanese alliance.
Afterwards, the
Izumo was assigned to the training fleet and was based out of
Yokosuka, making numerous navigation training cruises to the
Indian Ocean and to
South America. In the
1919 Naval Review,
Emperor Taisho took the helm of the
Izumo briefly during fleet maneuvers. The
Izumo was re-designated a 1st class coastal defense vessel on
1 September 1921.
In 1934, the
Izumo was equipped with a
floatplane, which it launched by lowering from a crane on its aft deck to the ocean.
Assigned as flagship of the Japanese 3rd Fleet during the Japanese invasion of
China during the
Second Sino-Japanese War, the
Izumo was attacked at the
Battle of Shanghai by a Chinese torpedo boat. It was also attacked on
14 August 1937 by
Chinese Air Force aircraft lead by Captain (later Major General)
Claire Chennault.
Still in
Shanghai on
8 December 1941, at about 0400, the
Izumo opened fire and forced the surrender of the
American gunboat
USS Wake and sunk the British gunboat
HMS Petrel, in one of the first acts of the
Pacific War following the
attack on Pearl Harbor.
With the start of the
Pacific War, despite its antiquated age, the
Izumo was retrofitted with
anti-aircraft guns and re-classified back as a 1st class
cruiser on
1 July 1942. However, throughout the duration of the war, it was used as a training vessel, never departing from the safe confines of the
Inland Sea.
The
Izumo was sunk at dock in an
American air attack on
Kure at on
24 July 1945, and its hulk was later raised and scrapped in 1947.
Gallery
Image:IJN Izumo 1902.jpg|Japanese cruiser Izumo in 1902
Image:IJN Izumo in Kobe.jpg|Japanese cruiser Izumo in Kobe in 1903
Image:IJN Izumo in Shanghai2.jpg|IJN Izumo in Shanghai, 1932
Image:IJN Izumo in Shanghai.jpg|IJN Izumo in Shanghai, 1937
Further Information
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