|
was the second of two dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1915 and commissioned in 1917, 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. ''Yamashiro'' was modernized between 1930 and 1935, with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nevertheless, 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. By 1944, though, she was forced into front-line duty, serving as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Shōji Nishimura's Southern Force at the Battle of Surigao Strait, the southernmost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. During fierce night fighting in the early hours of 25 October against a superior American force, ''Yamashiro'' was sunk by torpedoes and naval gunfire. Nishimura went down with his ship, and only 10 crewmembers survived. == Description == The ship had a length of between perpendiculars and overall. She had a beam of and a draft of .〔Gardiner & Gray, p. 229〕 ''Yamashiro'' displaced at standard load and at full load. Her crew consisted of 1,198 officers and enlisted men in 1915 and about 1,400 in 1935.〔Jentschura, Jung and Mickel, p. 25〕 During the ship's modernization during 1930–35, her forward superstructure was enlarged with multiple platforms added to her tripod foremast. Her rear superstructure was rebuilt to accommodate mounts for anti-aircraft (AA) guns and additional fire-control directors. ''Yamashiro'' was also given torpedo bulges to improve her underwater protection and to compensate for the weight of the additional armor. In addition, her stern was lengthened by . These changes increased her overall length to , her beam to and her draft to . Her displacement increased nearly to at deep load.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Japanese battleship Yamashiro」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|