Japanese cruiser Ikoma
 Japanese battlecruiser Ikoma
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Empire of Japan | |
| Name | Ikoma |
| Ordered | 1904 Fiscal Year |
| Builder | Kure Naval Arsenal |
| Laid down | 15 March 1905 |
| Launched | 9 April 1906 |
| Commissioned | 24 March 1908 |
| Stricken | 20 September 1923 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 20 September 1923 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Tsukuba-class armored cruiser |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 22.80 m (74.8 ft) |
| Draught | 7.95 m (26.1 ft) |
| Installed power | 20,500 shp (15,290 kW) |
| Propulsion | Two shaft reciprocating VTE steam engine; 20 Miyabara boilers |
| Speed | 20.5 knots (38 km/h) |
| Range | 5,000 nautical miles (9,000 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h) |
| Complement | 879 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
Ikoma (生駒) was the second vessel in the two-ship
Background
Construction of the Tsukuba-class cruisers was ordered under the June 1904 Emergency Fleet Replenishment Budget of the Russo-Japanese War, spurred on by the unexpected loss of the battleships Yashima and Hatsuse to naval mines in the early stages of the war.[2] These were the first major capital ships to be designed and constructed entirely by Japan in a Japanese shipyard, albeit with imported weaponry and numerous components. However, Tsukuba and Ikoma were designed and completed in a very short time, and suffered from numerous technical and design problems, including strength of its hull, stability and mechanical failures.[2] The ship was reclassified as a battlecruiser in 1912.[1]
Design
The Tsukuba-class design had a conventional armored cruiser hull design, powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, with twenty Miyabara boilers, yielding 20,500 shp (15,300 kW) design speed of 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph) and a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,000 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). During speed trials in Hiroshima Bay prior to commissioning, Tsukuba attained a top speed of 21.75 knots (40.28 km/h; 25.03 mph).[1] Ikoma was one of the first ships in the Japanese navy with boilers capable of burning either coal or heavy fuel oil. In terms of armament, the Tsukuba class was one of the most heavily armed cruisers of its time, with four
Service record
Ikoma was
Shortly after commissioning at the Kure Naval Arsenal, Ikoma escorted the United States Navy’s Great White Fleet through Japanese waters on its around-the-world voyage in October 1908.
In 1910, Ikoma was sent on a voyage to Argentina to attend that nation’s independence centennial celebrations. From Buenos Aires, she continued on across the Atlantic Ocean to London, England and to other ports in Europe and returned to Japan via the Indian Ocean, thus circumnavigating the globe.
Ikoma served in
On 4 December 1915, Ikoma was in a fleet review off of Yokohama, attended by Emperor Taishō in which 124 ships participated. A similar fleet review was held again off Yokohama on 25 October 1916. Ikoma remained in Japanese home waters in 1916 and 1917.
Ikoma was a victim of the
Notes
References
- Evans, David (1979). Kaigun : Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
- Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
- Lengerer, Hans & Ahlberg, Lars (2019). Capital Ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1868–1945: Ironclads, Battleships and Battle Cruisers: An Outline History of Their Design, Construction and Operations. Vol. I: Armourclad Fusō to Kongō Class Battle Cruisers. Zagreb, Croatia: Despot Infinitus. ISBN 978-953-8218-26-2.