Fusō-class battleship

The design of the Fusō-class battleships was shaped both by the ongoing international naval arms race and a desire among Japanese naval planners to maintain a fleet of capital ships powerful enough to defeat the United States Navy in an encounter in Japanese territorial waters. The IJN's fleet of battleships had proven highly successful in 1905, the last year of the Russo-Japanese War, which culminated in the destruction of the Russian Second and Third Pacific Squadrons at the Battle of Tsushima. In the aftermath of that war, the Japanese Empire immediately turned its focus to the two remaining rivals for imperial dominance in the Pacific Ocean: Britain and the United States. This ratio, Satō theorized, would enable the Imperial Japanese Navy to defeat the US Navy in one major battle in Japanese waters in any eventual conflict. This was the genesis of the Eight-Eight Fleet Program, the development of a cohesive battle line of sixteen capital ships. The launch of in 1906 by the Royal Navy raised the stakes, and complicated Japan's plans. Displacing and armed with ten guns, Dreadnought rendered all existing battleships obsolete by comparison. The launch of the battlecruiser the following year was a further setback for Japan's quest for parity. When the two new s and two armored cruisers, launched by 1911, were outclassed by their British counterparts, the Eight-Eight Fleet Program was restarted. The first battleships built for the renewed Eight-Eight Fleet Program were the two dreadnoughts of the , ordered in 1907 and laid down in 1908. In 1910, the Navy put forward a request to the Diet (parliament) to secure funding for the entirety of the program at once. Because of economic constraints, the proposal was cut first by the Navy Ministry to seven battleships and three battlecruisers, then by the cabinet to four armored cruisers and a single battleship. The Diet amended this by authorizing the construction of four battlecruisers (the ) and one battleship, later named Fusō, in what became the Naval Emergency Expansion bill. ==Design==

Fusō was designed to work in conjunction with the four battlecruisers. After coordination with the British on the Kongō class, Japanese designers had access to the latest British design studies in naval architecture and were now able to design their own capital ships. In an effort to outmatch the American , planners called for a ship armed with twelve guns and faster than the of their rivals. Vickers files show that the Japanese had access to the designs for double- and triple-gun turrets, yet opted for six double turrets over four triple turrets. This design was superior to its American counterparts in armament, armor and speed, thus following the doctrine the Japanese had used since the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 of compensating for quantitative inferiority with qualitative superiority. ==Description==

The ships had a length of overall. They had a beam of and a draft of . Their crew consisted of 1,198 officers and enlisted men in 1915 and 1,396 in 1935. During World War II, the crew probably totalled around 1,800–1,900 men. giving them a range of at a speed of . Both ships exceeded their designed speed of during their sea trials; Fusō reached from and Yamashiro exceeded that with from . During their 1930s modernization, the Miyahara boilers on each ship were replaced by six new Kanpon oil-fired boilers, fitted into the former aft boiler room, and the forward funnel was removed. The Brown-Curtis turbines were replaced by four geared Kanpon turbines with a designed output of . They were arranged in an uncommon 2-1-1-2 style with superfiring pairs of turrets fore and aft; the middle turrets were not superfiring, and had a funnel between them. Mounted amidships along the centerline of the ship, they had restricted arcs of fire, Also available was a high-explosive shell that had a muzzle velocity of . A special Type 3 San Shiki incendiary shrapnel shell was developed in the 1930s for anti-aircraft use. The ships also mounted five or six 40-caliber 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval gun| anti-aircraft (AA) guns. The high-angle guns were in single mounts on both sides of the forward superstructure, both sides of the second funnel, and each side of the aft superstructure (Fusō lacked the starboard side aft gun). Each of these guns had a maximum elevation of +75 degrees, and could fire a projectile with a muzzle velocity of to a maximum height of . During reconstruction, the two foremost 152 mm guns were also removed. The light AA armament of the Fusō class changed dramatically from 1933 to 1944. During the first reconstruction, Fusō was fitted with four quadruple machine-guns, while Yamashiro was fitted with eight twin gun mounts. Both weapons were license-built French Hotchkiss designs. The 25 mm guns were mounted on the Fusō class in single, double and triple mounts. This model was the standard Japanese light anti-aircraft gun during World War II, but it suffered from severe design shortcomings that rendered it a largely ineffective weapon. The twin and triple mounts "lacked sufficient speed in train or elevation; the gun sights were unable to handle fast targets; the gun exhibited excessive vibration; the magazine was too small, and, finally, the gun produced excessive muzzle blast". The configuration of the anti-aircraft guns varied significantly; by the end of their final reconstruction, the Fusō class mounted eight twin mounts. In 1943, seventeen single and two twin-mounts were added for a total of 37. In August 1944, both were fitted with another twenty-three single, six twin and eight triple-mounts, for a total of 96 anti-aircraft guns in their final configuration. Armor When the Fusō class was completed, the ships' armor was "typical for a pre-Jutland battleship". As built, the armor accounted for a displacement of , approximately 29% of the class's total displacement. During their reconstruction, the armor of the battleships was substantially upgraded. Their deck armor was increased to a maximum thickness of , and a longitudinal 76 mm bulkhead of high-tensile steel was added to improve the underwater protection. This brought the total armor tonnage up to , approximately 31% of the total displacement of the Fusō class. Even after these improvements, the armor was still incapable of withstanding 14-inch shells. Fire control and sensors When completed in 1915, the ships had two and two rangefinders in the forward superstructure, a rangefinder on the roof of Turret No. 2, and 4.5-meter rangefinders in Turrets 3, 4, and 5. In late 1917 a fire-control director was installed on a platform on the foremast. The 4.5-meter rangefinders were replaced by instruments in 1923. During Fusōs first modernization, four directors for the 12.7 cm AA guns were added, one on each side of the fore and aft superstructures, and an eight-meter rangefinder was installed at the top of the pagoda mast. This was replaced by a rangefinder during 1938. At the same time, the two 3.5-meter rangefinders on the forward superstructure were replaced by directors for the 25 mm AA guns. Additional 25 mm directors were installed on platforms on each side of the funnel. While the ships were in drydock in July 1943, Type 21 air search radar was installed on the roof of the 10-meter rangefinder at the top of the pagoda mast. In August 1944, two Type 22 surface search radar units were installed on the pagoda mast and two Type 13 early warning radar units were fitted. Yamashiro mounted hers on the mainmast, while Fusō was the only Japanese battleship to mount radar on her funnel. ==Ships==

(in the distance) in the late 1930s When she was completed in 1915, Fusō was considered the first modern battleship of the Japanese Navy. She outclassed her American counterparts of the in firepower and speed, and was considered the "most powerfully armed battleship in the world". Afterwards, the Fusōs were planned to undergo a similar conversion but this never materialized. ==Service==

Fusō was commissioned on 8 November 1915 and assigned to the 1st Division of the 1st Fleet on 13 December. The ship did not take part in any combat during World War I, as there were no longer any forces of the Central Powers in Asia by the time she was completed. She served as the flagship of the 1st Division during 1917 and 1918, and patrolled off the coast of China during that time. The ship aided survivors of the Great Kanto Earthquake between 9 and 22 September 1923. In the 1920s, Fusō conducted training off the coast of China and was often placed in reserve. After assignment as a training ship in 1936 and 1937, she briefly operated in Chinese waters in early 1939. Yamashiro was completed on 31 March 1917 but the two ships spent most of the war around Japan, mostly at the anchorage at Hashirajima in Hiroshima Bay. the division sortied from Hashirajima to the Bonin Islands as distant support for the 1st Air Fleet attacking Pearl Harbor, and returned six days later. On 18 April 1942, they pursued but did not catch the American carrier force that had launched the Doolittle Raid. Afterwards, Yamashiro returned to home waters, where she stayed until August 1943; the next month, she became a training ship for midshipmen. Returning to Japanese waters, Yamashiro resumed her training duties. Fusō was assigned to the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy at Etajima, Hiroshima, for use as a training ship between 15 November 1942 and 15 January 1943. On 8 June, she rescued 353 survivors from Mutsu when that ship exploded at Hashirajima. After carrying supplies to Truk Naval Base in August, before refitting at Singapore between 13 and 27 April and returning to Lingga. She was transferred to Tawi-Tawi on 11 May, Fusō sailed to Tarakan Island off Borneo to refuel in early July before returning to Japan, escaping an attack by the submarine . She was refitted in early August at Kure. Around 20 sailors on Yamashiro were killed by strafing and rocket attacks. Fusō catapult and both floatplanes were destroyed. A bomb hit the ship near Turret No. 2 and penetrated the decks, killing everyone in No. 1 secondary battery. Intending to join Vice-Admiral Takeo Kurita's force in Leyte Gulf, they passed west of Mindanao Island into Surigao Strait, where they met a large force of battleships, cruisers and destroyers lying in wait. The Battle of Surigao Strait would become the southernmost action in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Nishimura radioed Admiral Soemu Toyoda at 20:13: "It is my plan to charge into Leyte Gulf to [reach] a point off Dulag at 04:00 hours on the 25th." At 22:52, his force spotted three or four Motor Torpedo Boats and opened fire, damaging and and forcing all of them to retreat before they could launch their torpedoes. After repelling waves of attacks from PT boats, Nishimura's ships were then subjected to devastating torpedo attacks from the American destroyers deployed on both sides of their axis of advance. One or two torpedoes, possibly fired by the destroyer , hit Fusō amidships on the starboard side at 03:09 on the 25th; she listed to starboard, slowed down, and fell out of formation. Japanese and American witnesses said Fusō broke in half, and that both halves remained afloat and burning for an hour. Historian John Toland agreed in 1970 that Fusō had broken in two, but historian Anthony Tully said, "Fuso was torpedoed, and as a result of progressive flooding, upended and capsized within forty minutes." She sank between 03:38 and 03:50; only a few dozen men survived her rapid descent and massive oil fire, and only 10 reached shore. At 03:52, Yamashiro was attacked by a large formation to the north commanded by Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf. First came 6- and shells from a line of eight cruisers, then and shells from a line of six battleships. The main bombardment lasted 18 minutes, and Yamashiro was the only target for seven minutes. The first rounds hit the forecastle and pagoda mast, and soon the entire battleship appeared to be ablaze. Yamashiro two forward turrets targeted her assailants, and the secondary armament targeted the American destroyers plaguing Mogami and the destroyer . There was a big explosion at 04:04, possibly from one of the middle turrets. She was hit between 04:03 and 04:09 near the starboard engine room by a torpedo, and Nishimura radioed to Kurita: "We proceed till totally annihilated. I have definitely accomplished my mission as pre-arranged. Please rest assured." At the same time, Oldendorf issued a cease-fire order to the entire formation after hearing that the destroyer was taking friendly fire, and the Japanese ships also ceased fire. Yamashiro increased speed, Only 10 crewmembers of the estimated 1,636 officers and crew on board survived. ==Notes==