Fusō was the lead ship of the two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1914 and commissioned in 1915, she initially patrolled off the coast of China, playing no part in World War I. She was modernized in 1930–1935 and again in 1937–1941, with improvements to her armor and propulsion machinery. The ship was sunk in the early hours of 25 October 1944 by torpedoes and naval gunfire during the Battle of Surigao Strait. According to survivors’ accounts, the ship sank after 40 minutes of flooding.
About Japanese battleship Fusō in brief
Fusō was the lead ship of the two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1914 and commissioned in 1915, she initially patrolled off the coast of China, playing no part in World War I. In 1923, she assisted survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake. She was modernized in 1930–1935 and again in 1937–1941, with improvements to her armor and propulsion machinery. With only 14-inch guns, she was outclassed by other Japanese battleships at the beginning of World War II, and played auxiliary roles for most of the war. The ship was sunk in the early hours of 25 October 1944 by torpedoes and naval gunfire during the Battle of Surigao Strait. According to survivors’ accounts, the ship sank after 40 minutes of flooding. Of the few dozen crewmen who escaped, only 10 survived to return to Japan. The 12 45-caliber 14-caliber guns of Fuso were mounted in six twin-gun turrets, one through six each with an elevation range of −5 to +30 degrees. The turrets were arranged in an uncommon 2-1-2 style with the front and aft superfiring pairs of turrets not superfiring between them, and had a funnel between them. The main guns’ elevation was increased to +43 degrees, increasing their maximum range from 27,800 to 35,800 yards. Originally, the guns could fire at a rate of 1,450 yards per minute, and this was also improved during her first modernization.
Turret No. 3 was reversed during the first modernization; it now faced forward, facing forward, with a secondary armament of sixteen, sixteen-millimeter anti-aircraft guns. During the second phase of her first reconstruction in 1934–1933, Fusou’s torpedo bulge was enlarged and her stern was lengthened by 7. 62 meters. These changes increased her overall length to 212. 75 m, her beam to 33. 1 m and her draft to 9. 69 meters. Her displacement increased by nearly 4,000 long tons to 39,154 longtons at deep load. During her 1933 trials, FUSō reached a top speed of 24. 7 knots from 76,889 shp. The fuel storage of the ship was increased to a total of 5,100 long tons of fuel oil that gave her a range of 11,800 nautical miles at a speed of 16 knots. The ship exceeded her design speed of 22. 5 knots during her sea trials, reaching 23 knots at 46,500 shP. During the ship’s first modernization, the Miyahara boilers were replaced by six new Kampon oil-fired boilers fitted in the former aft boiler room, and the forward funnel was removed. The Brown-Curtis turbines were replaced with four geared Kanpon turbines with a designed output of 75,000 sh p.
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