Today it is difficult to find a person who would know at least something about the Russo-Japanese war. True, some vaguely recall the blockade of Port Arthur, but this usually ends with knowledge.
But in vain, because that war is the most important milestone in the development of our state, one of the main reasons for the October Revolution, since during the hostilities the fact of the inability of the tsar and the government to adequately assess external and internal threats and take measures to eliminate them as soon as possible was finally determined.
One of the symbols of that confrontation was (from the Japanese side) the battleship Mikasa. The Japanese are still proud of this ship, currently it plays the role of a floating museum.
General information
At the time of construction, a squadron battleship of this type became the most powerful and seriously armed battleship of the Land of the Rising Sun, one of the largest ships of that period. He participated, being the flagship of Admiral Togo, in the war of Russia with Japan. Participated in the Port Arthur events, in the Battle of Tsushima. During World War I guarded the coast of Japan. Now the battleship Mikasa is a museum located in the port of Yokosuka.
What was it created for?
In 1895, when Japan defeated an agrarian and backward China, this was a completely unexpected event for the world community. Meanwhile, the Japanese still did not satisfy their own imperial ambitions, and our country played an important role in this. Under pressure from the Russian Empire, they had to stop claiming their rights to Manchuria, and they also had to make a “goodwill” gesture, giving up the previously captured Lushun (Port Arthur). This was largely due to the fact that at that time there was a Russian squadron in Chifu, which the Japanese did not want to contact.
At the same time, the Japanese government was aware that they would still have to fight with Russia, and victory, taking into account many factors of the hypothetical theater of operations, would depend on the success of the fleet's operations (as well as on its availability). In 1895, the Japanese adopted a shipbuilding program for a period of 10 years, providing for the construction of a large and modern combat fleet.
Construction
Since the shipyards of Japan itself by that time clearly did not meet the requirements of our time, the Mikas battleship was being built in the UK. The engineer responsible for the design was Macro D.S. Macro. He did not invent anything new, but simply took the well-established English Canopus class battleships as a basis. His "descendant" is "Mikasa". The battleship became a worthy “successor of the clan”, having absorbed both the positive and negative sides of the English project.
The laying of the ship was carried out in the city of Barrow at the shipyard of the company Vickers (future tank manufacturer). It happened on January 24, 1899. The future flagship of the Japanese fleet was launched on 8/8/1900. It was commissioned on 1.03.1902. By that time, all stages of state testing were completely completed. There is no exact data on the cost of the project, but historians suggest that it amounted to at least one million pounds, which at that time in the "dollar equivalent" was four million.
Housing specifications
Not different from other ships built during the years 1895-1896, the battleship Mikasa became the classic representative of the shipbuilding school of Sir William Henry White.
The hull was assembled from shipbuilding steel of the highest grade, the hull frame set system is transverse. The ship was built according to a one-deck scheme, the bow block of the frames was rather insignificant, but at the same time, the blockage in the midship and aft was distinguished by its severity. Special waterproof partitions were arranged inside the hull, thanks to which the ship was divided into several small compartments. They gave additional stability to the ship when torpedoes hit.
A feature of the battleship were double sides and a double bottom. The increased layer of armor rose to the level of the armored deck. The second distinctive feature of the ship was the nasal influx, which was supposed to serve as a ram. In addition, the battleship "Mikasa" (his photos are presented in this material) had a pronounced sheer upper deck. Side keels were designed to stabilize the ship during pitching.
The pride of the English shipbuilders was the composition of the Hartman Rahtien, which covered the underwater part of the hull. It prevented shell fouling and improved the driving performance of the hull, reducing drag.
Specifications Armored Corps
Partial displacement of the hull - more than 15 tons. Total displacement - 16 tons. The maximum length is 132 meters, between perpendiculars - 122 meters. The average width of the hull is 24 meters, the average draft is eight meters.
The Mikasa battleship was different from other ships built for Japan in that it had a noticeably smaller gap between the barbets of 305 mm guns. This led to compactness, but at the same time, such a design decision made it impossible to mount 152-mm guns in separate casemates. Therefore, the designers had to solve a non-trivial task with placing three armor belts on the ship at once. The height of the main armor belt is about 2.5 m; it rose about 70 cm above the waterline.
In the midship region, the armor thickness reached 229 mm, but in the underwater part it gradually decreased to 127 mm. At the edges of the citadel the armor was also thinner, up to 178 mm, and near armored traverses it even reached 102-127 mm. The citadel area itself was best protected. Since the main armored belt passed there, the designers had the opportunity to protect it with 152 mm armor.
Structurally, the third armor belt was especially important, which extended all the way to the upper deck. His main task was to protect the battery of six-inch guns. We have already said that some design decisions did not allow the installation of 152-mm guns in separate casemates, but this did not apply to the four guns on the upper deck. They were protected by 152 mm armor on the outside and 51 mm on the inside.
Other booking sites
The main caliber drums and the conning tower - 356 mm of armor were best protected. The parts of the citadel adjacent to the drums were not so well armored - “only” 203 mm of steel. Since the traverses on the upper deck were adjacent to the installations at a rational angle, the designers protected them with armor plates only 152 mm thick. This was enough to withstand the shelling and, at the same time, made it possible to facilitate the design of the ship.
All gun mounts of the sides were covered with protective sheets 254 mm thick (forehead). The sides and roof were protected slightly worse - 203 mm. The upper deck was armored with 25 mm sheets. The lower deck (inside the gun citadel itself) had a thickness of 51 mm (moreover, on the slopes this indicator was 76 mm). Not bad was protected and karapasnaya deck, booking which amounted to 76 mm.
The engineers also provided excellent protection for the conning tower, in which the main control devices of the ship were located (that is, the helm,
intercoms for communication with all combat posts). For her, special Krupp armor was used, the thickness of which was 356 mm, the aft pilothouse (also observant) was modestly protected, where the armor plate had a thickness of 76 mm.
In general, the Mikas armadillo, the model of which was developed by the best English engineers, was the first of the Japanese ships to protect which it was used steel made by the Krupp method. Before that, Harvey’s armor was used, the resistance of which was 16-20% less. By the way, the total weight of the armor on the Mikas reached 4091 tons (which is almost 30% of the total displacement of the ship).
Powerplant
When designing, a two-shaft scheme was used. The “heart” of the ship was the three-cylinder steam units manufactured by Vickers. A feature of this mechanism was the use of the “triple expansion” energy of steam, due to which it was possible to save fuel and achieve maximum range at one gas station. The piston stroke was more than one meter!
The speed of rotation of the shafts in cruise mode reached 125 rpm. For the production of steam, 25 Belleville boilers were used, withstanding a maximum steam pressure of 21 kg / cm². Like the engine room itself, their components were manufactured by Vickers.
The total surface of the boilers reached 3.5 thousand m 2 , with the total size of grate bars reaching 118.54 m 2 . The diameter of both chimneys exceeded four meters! The design capacity of each power plant was 16,000 l / s, which made it possible to achieve a cruising speed of 18 knots. Of course, only with the condition of not worn-out machines and timely maintenance of mechanisms. Engineers paid special attention to propellers made of manganese bronze.
They will help you see how the Mikasa battleship was designed, the ship drawings that you will find on the pages of this article.
Fuel reserves
Coal reserves on the ship were stored in two huge bunkers, passing along the perimeter of both sides, parallel to the engine rooms. Moreover, their height was such that tankers with coal towered slightly above the main deck: this was done on purpose, to provide better protection. As a rule, 700 tons of coal were loaded on board, its maximum reserve was 1.5 thousand tons.
At a speed of ten knots, the ship could cover 4600 nautical miles, while cruising (16 knots) the maximum distance was 1900 nautical miles. When passing the state tests, the team was able to “unmask” the ship up to 16.5 thousand l / s at a record speed of 18.45 knots.
The overall seafaring characteristics of the flagship were very good, but with rather weak excitement, the ship tended to "bury" in the wave. There was a strong loss of speed characteristics. In addition, the team could not normally use the artillery weapons on board.
Other on-board equipment
On board there were three steam generators that could produce a constant current voltage of 80 V, their total power reached 144 kW. At that time, these were very good indicators.
On board, three Martin anchors were also installed. In addition, six spotlights were used to facilitate tactical tracking of combat information. At the same time, two of them were located on Mars, and four more - on the aft and bow bridges.
To provide its flagship with reliable communications, Japan (as in all previous cases) signed a contract with the Italian company Marconi. The radio antenna stretched between the foresail and mainmast. Communication range was enough for about 180 nautical miles.
To save the crew during torpedoing, 15 floating aids of various sizes were provided.
Combat Application, Port Arthur
02/08/1904 (according to the new style - January 26) the squadron battleship “Mikasa” approached the Round island, located in close proximity to Port Arthur. At five o’clock in the evening it was on the flagship masts that flags were hung up, the contents of which read: “Go on the attack according to a pre-assigned plan. Good luck". On February 9, the Mikasa (consisting of a squadron of eight battleships) approached Port Arthur directly and entered into battle with the Russian fleet.
At 11 am the main caliber was fired, and our ships were at a distance of 46.5 cables from it. After a few seconds, the flagship was supported by the rest of the Japanese ships, soon Russian battleships and coastal batteries began to hit them.
Already at 11.16 a direct hit was recorded in the "Mikasu" 254-mm shell. It led to damage to the mainsail and the destruction of (partial) aft bridge. Seven people were injured. A few minutes later - again hit, and again the mainmast suffered. At least three times the war banner was torn by fragments, which were hung almost immediately in place. At 11.45, Admiral Togo, the commander of an armadillo, orders the squadron to withdraw.
At that moment, the battleship "Mikas", the damage of which was not a direct danger, could well continue the battle. The ships took Togo because of the marksmanship of the coastal battery, the shells of which, even with a single hit, could well send the ship to the bottom.
On that day, any significant success did not accompany either side of the battle. In the future, the Mikasa did not commit any particularly significant acts, but on the other hand, some Russian battleships were able to severely damage its mine boats several times.
Tsushima
By the beginning of spring 1905, the squadron battleship Mikasa was largely repaired after the fighting. Given the experience of previous battles, the Japanese command ordered a significant increase in ammunition on board. And the Japanese really needed him on May 14 at 13.10 minutes, when the battle of Tsushima began.
The battle lasted more than a day. During this time, the Japanese battleship Mikasa received about 40 hits (and this is only the most significant). Most of them were 305 mm shells. The most unlucky was the third casemate 152-mm gun. A 305 mm Russian shell hit its roof. As a result, about nine people died. The ship was very lucky that it did not detonate the ammunition.
Two hours later, a 152 mm shell hit the same place (!). This time, two more sailors were killed, but the explosion, as in the previous case, was fortunately avoided. Other damage led to the failure of several guns, in a couple of places the armor plates of the hull began to disperse dangerously.
But the parking lot ended September 11 at the base in Sasebo. And until now no reasons have been established for which most of the airborne ammunition detonated. The battleship "Mikasa" (whose photo is in the article) quickly went down. A comparatively shallow depth saved him, but even in such conditions, only the fourth attempt to climb was successful. 256 sailors died immediately, another 343 people were injured, which later also turned out to be fatal.
A huge hole in the board was closed, and after 11 months the ship was back in service. However, for the final elimination of the consequences of the disaster, it took another two years. During the First World War, the ship patrolled the coast of Japan, participated in the intervention, stood on a raid in the bay of Vladivostok.
Finally, the ship was expelled from the fleet in 1923. By the way, anyone can still look at the ship "Mikasa" (battleship). Where is this ship currently located? He is standing in Yokosuka.
By the way, the procedure for turning an armadillo into a museum in itself gave the engineers a lot of problems. First, I had to dig up a huge dry dock, fill it with water ... And then bring a ship into it and completely drain this dock. The ship still stands rooted to the waterline, as if completely ready for a new campaign.
His image is widely used in art. So, almost every gift shop will be able to offer you the battleship Mikasa from paper. In addition, the ship can be seen in many computer games, its references are often found in the literature.
Instead of completing
So how successful was Mikas’s battleship? His model is of English origin, but this native of Misty Albion turned out to be wonderfully adapted to Japanese conditions.
By the way, it was England, in fact, who benefited from the construction of this ship. Firstly, the country was able to occupy workers in shipyards. Secondly (which is important), almost all “related products” like gunpowder, the Japanese also bought in the UK.
But practice was much more important: the British specialists thoroughly studied the successes of the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese War, made conclusions, made forecasts, and decided how it would be better for them to modernize their fleet. And this is without entering into battle!
So how good was the Mikas armadillo? The project rating is quite high. Experts note a good and uniform reservation of the hull, good armament, excellent quality equipment of the ship. The quality of armored steel is especially appreciated: if it weren’t for its properties, then in 1905 the ship would probably not have stood up to forty direct hits.
In addition, the battleship Mikasa (the drawings confirm this) had an impressive combat survivability. It was achieved through the rational arrangement of waterproof compartments.
And what were the disadvantages of the project? There were also a lot of them. Firstly, we have already pointed out the tendency of the ship to “bury” even with a low wave. Secondly, initially the Japanese admirals wanted to get the ship with a cruising speed of up to 25 knots, but in reality the battleship could only accelerate to 18 knots.
However, all these were trifles. In practice, it turned out that the only significant drawback was the small ammunition. Also, engineers came to the conclusion that for guns of the main caliber longer trunks are required.