Japanese cruiser Yakumo
Yakumo at anchor in Kure, 8 April 1905
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Class overview | |
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Operators | Imperial Japanese Navy |
Preceded by | Izumo class |
Succeeded by | Azuma |
History | |
Name | Yakumo |
Namesake | A stanza of waka |
Ordered | 1 September 1897 |
Builder | Stettin, Germany |
Laid down | 1 September 1897 |
Launched | 8 July 1899 |
Completed | 20 June 1900 |
Reclassified |
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Stricken | 1 October 1945 |
Fate | Scrapped, 20 July 1946 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Armored cruiser |
Displacement | 9,646 t (9,494 long tons) |
Length | 132.3 m (434 ft 1 in) (o/a) |
Beam | 19.57 m (64 ft 2 in) |
Draft | 7.21 m (23 ft 8 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
Range | 7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement | 670 |
Armament |
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Armor |
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Yakumo (八雲, Eight Clouds) was an armored cruiser (Sōkō jun'yōkan) built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s. As Japan lacked the industrial capacity to build such warships herself, the ship was built in Germany. She participated in most of the naval battles of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, and was lightly damaged during the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Battle of Tsushima. Yakumo saw no combat during World War I and began the first of many training cruises in 1917, although she was not officially reclassified as a training ship until 1931. Her last training cruise was in 1939, but the ship continued to conduct training in home waters throughout the Pacific War. Yakumo became a repatriation transport after the war and was broken up in 1946–47.
Background and design
The 1896 Naval Expansion Plan was made after the
Description
The ship was 132.3 meters (434 ft 1 in) long
Yakumo had two 4-cylinder
Armament
The
The secondary armament consisted of a dozen Elswick Ordnance Company "Pattern Z" quick-firing (QF), 40-caliber, 6-inch guns. Only four of these guns were not mounted in armored casemates on the main and upper decks, and their mounts on the upper deck were protected by gun shields. Their 45.4 kilograms (100 lb) AP shells were fired at a muzzle velocity of 700 meters per second (2,300 ft/s).[10] The guns were provided with 150 rounds each.[8] Yakumo was also equipped with a dozen 40-caliber QF 12-pounder 12-cwt guns[Note 1] and eight QF 2.5-pounder Yamauchi guns as close-range defense against torpedo boats.[9] The former gun fired 76-millimeter (3 in), 5.7-kilogram (12.5 lb) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 719 meters per second (2,359 ft/s).[11]
Yakumo was equipped with five 457 mm (18.0 in) torpedo tubes, one above water in the bow and four submerged tubes, two on each broadside. The Type 30 torpedo had a 100-kilogram (220 lb) warhead and three range/speed settings: 800 meters (870 yd) at 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph), 1,000 meters (1,100 yd) at 23.6 knots (43.7 km/h; 27.2 mph) or 3,000 meters (3,300 yd) at 14.2 knots (26.3 km/h; 16.3 mph).[12]
Armor
All of the "Six-Six Fleet" armored cruisers used the same armor scheme with some minor differences, one of which was that the four later ships all used Krupp cemented armor. The waterline belt ran the full length of the ship and its thickness varied from 178 millimeters (7.0 in) amidships to 89 millimeters (3.5 in) at the bow and stern. It had a height of 2.13 meters (7 ft 0 in), of which 1.49 meters (4 ft 11 in) was normally underwater. The upper strake of belt armor was 127 millimeters (5.0 in) thick and extended from the upper edge of the waterline belt to the main deck. It extended 61.49 meters (201 ft 9 in) from the forward to the rear barbette. Yakumo had only a single transverse 127 mm armored bulkhead that closed off the forward end of the central armored citadel.[13]
The barbettes, gun turrets and the front of the casemates were all 152 millimeters thick while the sides and rear of the casemates were protected by 51 millimeters (2.0 in) of armor. The deck was 63 millimeters (2.5 in) thick and the armor protecting the conning tower was 356 millimeters (14.0 in) in thickness.[8]
Construction and career
Yakumo, named from a stanza of the
Russo-Japanese War
At the start of the Russo-Japanese War, Yakumo was assigned to the 2nd Division of the 2nd Fleet.
In early March, Vice Admiral
Battle of the Yellow Sea
On the morning of 10 August 1904, Dewa's cruisers were over 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) south of Tōgō's 1st Division when the Russians sortied from Port Arthur in another attempt to reach Vladivostok. In the early stages of the battle, Dewa attempted to engage the Russian cruisers trailing the battleships in accordance with Tōgō's standing orders, but was rebuffed by fire from the battleships. As Dewa closed with the Russians later in the afternoon in another attempt to attack the Russian cruisers, a 12-inch (305 mm) shell struck Yakumo amidships at 15:40, killing 12 and wounding 11. The range at this time exceeded 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi), beyond the range of any gun in his squadron, so Dewa ordered his ships to disengage. By 17:45, Yakumo had maneuvered to about 8,000 or 9,000 meters (8,700 or 9,800 yd) from the damaged Russian battleship Poltava and opened fire. Yakumo continued to close until the Russian squadron was thrown into confusion by the death of Vitgeft around 18:40.[23]
The 3rd Division then followed Tōgō's ships as they circled the Russian ships while they sorted themselves out, now firing at the Russian cruisers with little effect, until Tōgō ordered Dewa to attack the Russian destroyers at about 19:44. Dewa cancelled that last order and turned south around 20:00 in pursuit of several Russian cruisers that were fleeing to the south, in an attempt to intercept them before they reached the isolated flotillas of destroyers and torpedo boats. The Russian ships were engaged by other Japanese cruisers before they could reach the small ships, and Dewa broke off the pursuit around 20:25 as light was fading. He continued south-eastwards overnight and spotted one cruiser and two destroyers, but was unable to catch any of them. On 14 August, Yakumo and the 3rd Division was ordered to Qingdao to confirm that the Germans had indeed interned the battleship Tsesarevich and three destroyers that had taken shelter there after the battle. After their return, they were reassigned to the blockade of Port Arthur.[24]
In mid-September, Yakumo was transferred back to Kamimura's 2nd Division, which was defending the
Battle of Tsushima
As the Russian 2nd and 3rd Pacific Squadrons approached Japan on 27 May, having sailed from the Baltic Sea, Yakumo was assigned to Kamimura's 2nd Division of the 2nd Fleet. The Russians were spotted by patrolling Japanese ships early that morning, but visibility was limited and radio reception poor. The preliminary reports were enough to cause Tōgō to order his ships to put to sea and the 2nd Division spotted the Russian ships under the command of Vice Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky at around 11:30. Kamimura closed to about a range of 8000 meters before sheering off under fire to join Tōgō's battleships.[26] Yakumo was fourth of six when Tōgō opened fire on the 2nd Pacific Squadron at 14:10 and, like most of the ships in the division, engaged the battleship Oslyabya which was forced to fall out of formation at 14:50 and sank 20 minutes later. By this time the Russian formation was in disorder and the battleship Knyaz Suvorov suddenly appeared out of the mist at 15:35 at a range of about 2,000 meters (6,600 ft). All of Kamimura's ships engaged her for five minutes or so, with Yakumo and the armored cruiser Azuma also firing torpedoes at the Russian ship without effect.[27]
After 17:30 Kamimura led his division in a fruitless pursuit of some of the Russian cruisers, leaving Tōgō's battleships to their own devices. He abandoned his chase around 18:03 and turned northwards to rejoin Tōgō. His ships spotted the rear of the Russian battleline around 18:30 and opened fire when the range closed to 8000–9000 meters. Nothing is known of any effect on the Russians, and they ceased fire by 19:30 and rejoined Tōgō at 20:08 as night was falling.[28] The surviving Russian ships were spotted the next morning and the Japanese ships opened fire around 10:30, staying beyond the range at which the Russian ships could effectively reply. Rear Admiral Nikolai Nebogatov therefore decided to surrender his ships, as he could neither return fire nor close the range.[29]
In the meantime, the
On 14 June, Yakumo was assigned as the flagship of Vice Admiral
World War I
In November 1914, Yakumo was deployed to
Interwar years
On 1 September 1921, Yakumo was re-designated as a 1st class
In 1924, four of Yakumo's 12-pounder guns were removed, as were all of her QF 2.5-pounder guns, and a single
During a visit to Qingdao in 1932, Yakumo and Izumo had to land marines on 13 January to quell a riot by Japanese residents there.[43] The following year, the ship was reclassified as a training ship.[44] On 6 November 1936, between the islands of Saipan and Truk, an accidental explosion in her front magazine killed four crewmen and flooded her front food locker. Repairs were made underway and Yakumo arrived home two weeks later.[44] A month after her return, in December 1936, Captain Matome Ugaki assumed command of Yakumo until he took command of the battleship Hyūga the next year.[45] Her last training cruise ended on 20 November 1939.[36]
World War II
After the start of the Pacific War, Yakumo was reclassified as a 1st class cruiser on 1 July 1942, and her eight-inch guns were replaced by four
Notes
- ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Footnotes
- ^ Evans & Peattie, pp. 57–62
- ^ Milanovich, p. 72
- ^ Milanovich, pp. 74, 80
- ^ Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 73
- ^ Milanovich, p. 81
- ^ Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, pp. 73–74
- ^ Milanovich, pp. 76–77
- ^ a b c Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 224
- ^ a b Milanovich, p. 78
- ^ Friedman, p. 276; Milanovich, p. 78
- ^ Friedman, p. 114
- ^ Milanovich, p. 80
- ^ Milanovich, pp. 80–81
- ^ Masahide, p. 98, also, Yakumo is another name of the Cloud iridescence (瑞雲 or 彩雲,, Zuiun or Saiun).
- ^ Daiji, p. 219
- ^ Milanovich, p. 73
- ^ Kowner, p. 465
- ^ Forczyk, pp. 42–43
- ^ Corbett, I, p. 105
- ^ Warner & Warner, p. 200
- ^ Corbett, I, pp. 138–39, 142–45, 160, 177, 208, 294
- ^ Warner & Warner, pp. 305–06
- ^ Corbett, I, pp. 383–84, 388, 391, 393
- ^ Corbett, I, pp. 398, 401–03, 417–19, 456, 458
- ^ Corbett, II, pp. 47, 55–56, 96–97, 113, 128, 159, 162
- ^ Corbett, II, pp. 232, 235
- ^ Campbell, Part 2, pp. 128–32
- ^ Campbell, Part 3, pp. 186–87
- ^ Corbett, II, pp. 319–20
- ^ McLaughlin, pp. 64–65
- ^ Campbell, Part 4, p. 263
- ^ Corbett, II, p. 357
- ^ Halpern, p. 75
- ^ Lacroix & Wells, p. 552
- ^ Saxon
- ^ a b Lacroix & Wells, p. 657
- ^ Mauch, p. 59
- ^ Lacroix & Wells, pp. 657–58
- ^ "World Cruise". Western Morning News. 29 November 1921. p. 5. Retrieved 11 April 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Japanese Cruisers Here With Cadets" (PDF). The New York Times. 28 October 1921. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
- ^ Chesneau, p. 174
- ^ Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 74
- ^ "Chinese Town in State of Dread". The Adelaide Courier. 21 January 1932. p. 20. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
- ^ a b c Hackett & Kingsepp
- ^ Stewart, p. 281
References
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- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- ISBN 1-55750-129-7.
- Daiji Katagiri, Ship Name Chronicles of the Imperial Japanese Navy Combined Fleet (聯合艦隊軍艦銘銘伝,, Rengōkantai Gunkan Meimeiden), Kōjinsha (Japan), June 1988, ISBN 4-7698-0386-9
- Evans, David & ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
- Forczyk, Robert (2009). Russian Battleship vs Japanese Battleship, Yellow Sea 1904–05. Botley, UK: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84603-330-8.
- Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- 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.
- Hackett, Bob & Kingsepp, Sander (2012). "IJN Yakumo: Tabular Record of Movement". Kido Butai. Combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
- Halpern, Paul S. (1994). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-352-4.
- 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.
- ISBN 978-0-81084-927-3.
- Lacroix, Eric & Wells, Linton (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
- Masahide Asai, Ship name examination of the Japanese Navy (日本海軍 艦船名考,, Nihon Kaigun Kansenmeikou), Tōkyō Suikōsha (fringe organization of the Ministry of the Navy), December 1928
- Mauch, Peter (2011). Sailor Diplomat: Nomura Kichisaburo and the Japanese-American War. Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 978-0-674-05599-5.
- McLaughlin, Stephen (2011). "The Admiral Seniavin Class Coast Defense Ships". Warship International. XLVIII (1). Toledo, Ohio: International Naval Research Organization: 43–66. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Milanovich, Kathrin (2014). "Armored Cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2014. London: Conway. ISBN 978-1-84486-236-8.
- Saxon, Timothy D. (Winter 2000). "Anglo-Japanese Naval Cooperation, 1914–1918". Naval War College Review. LIII (1). Naval War College Press. Archived from the original on 13 December 2006.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
- Stewart, William (2009). Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-3809-9.
- Warner, Denis & Warner, Peggy (2002). The Tide at Sunrise: A History of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904–1905 (2nd ed.). London: Frank Cass. ISBN 0-7146-5256-3.
External links