Tosa-class battleship
Scale model of Kaga as originally designed
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Class overview | |
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Name | Tosa class |
Builders | |
Operators | Imperial Japanese Navy |
Preceded by | Nagato class |
Succeeded by | Kii class |
Built | 1920–1922 |
Planned | 2 |
Completed | 1 converted to an aircraft carrier (Kaga) |
Cancelled | 1 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Dreadnought battleship |
Displacement | |
Length | 234.09 m (768 ft) |
Beam | 30.5 m (100 ft 1 in) |
Draft | 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 4 × shafts; 4 × geared steam turbines |
Speed | 26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph) |
Range | 5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
Armament |
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Armor |
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The Tosa-class battleships (土佐型戦艦, Tosa-gata Senkan)
Both ships were launched in late 1921, but the first ship,
Background
The IJN believed that a modern battle fleet of eight battleships and eight
Design and description
The IJN began reevaluating the Nagato design in light of lessons learned from the
Hiraga's design for the ship reflected the latest combat experience as well as incorporating advances in
The Tosa-class ships had a planned
Armament
The Tosa-class ships were intended to be armed with a
The guns used Type 91
The ships' secondary armament of twenty 50-caliber
The Tosas were intended to mount eight 61-centimeter (24 in) torpedo tubes, four above water and four below. The former were to be provided with two torpedoes each and the latter with three each.[10]
Armor
The ships' armor protection was designed to break up 16-inch (406 mm) shells from a distance of 15,000–20,000 meters (16,000–22,000 yd) and the primary armor plates were backed up by splinter
The middle deck was the primary armored deck and was connected to the top of the armor belt. It would have consisted of a 63.5 mm (2.5 in) plate of New Vickers non-cemented armor on top of a 37 mm (1.5 in) plate of high-tensile steel (HTS) above the engine and boiler rooms. Above the magazines, the thickness of the HTS plate would have increased to 63 mm. The lower deck would have consisted of two 19 mm (0.75 in) plates of HTS. For the first time in a Japanese ship, the Tosas would have had the lower portion of the single funnel protected by 229 mm of armor. In addition, the funnel openings in the lower deck would have been protected by armor gratings.[14]
The ships would have had an internal
Ships
Name | Builder[8] | Laid down[8]
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Launched[8] | Completion[8] | Fate |
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Tosa (土佐) | Mitsubishi Shipyard, Nagasaki | 16 February 1920 | 18 December 1921 | March 1923 (estimated) | Scuttled, 9 February 1925[17]
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Kaga (加賀) | Kawasaki Shipyard, Kobe | 19 July 1920 | 17 November 1921 | 25 December 1922 | Sunk during the Battle of Midway, 4 June 1942[18] |
Cancellation and fates
Construction of both ships began in 1920, but the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty intervened, mandating the cancellation of all capital ships being built. Work stopped on the two Tosa-class battleships on 5 February 1922.[19] After being stricken on 1 April 1924,[8] Tosa's guns were turned over to the Imperial Japanese Army for use as coastal artillery; two of her main-gun turrets were installed on Tsushima Island and near Busan, Korea.[20] The rest of her guns were placed in reserve and ultimately scrapped in 1943.[21] Tosa's incomplete hull was used to test her armor scheme against long-range naval gunfire, aerial bombs, mines, and torpedoes. Two of the shells fired at her fell short, but deeply penetrated her hull through the thin armor of the torpedo bulge below the waterline armor belt. This sparked an interest in optimizing underwater performance of Japanese shells that culminated in production of the Type 91 armor-piercing shell. Conversely, the IJN took measures to defend against shells of this type when reconstructing its existing battleships during the 1930s, as well as in the designs of the Yamato-class battleships and the heavy cruisers of the Mogami and Tone classes. Tosa's torpedo defense system proved able to defeat 200 kg (440 lb) torpedo warheads, but not larger 350 kg (770 lb) ones. After the conclusion of the tests, the ship was scuttled by opening her Kingston valves on 9 February 1925 in 650 m (2,130 ft) of water in the Bungo Channel after the demolition charges failed to detonate.[22]
The battlecruiser Amagi, which was being converted to an aircraft carrier under the terms of the treaty, was wrecked in the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 and rendered unusable. As a result, Kaga, which was originally slated to be scrapped under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty (Chapter I, Article IX),[8] was converted in Amagi's stead. No work took place until 1925 as new plans were drafted and earthquake damage to the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal was repaired. Although the ship was commissioned on 31 March 1928, she did not join the Combined Fleet (Rengō Kantai) until 30 November 1929.[23]
Much like the converted Amagi-class battlecruiser Akagi, Kaga was fitted with two flying-off decks "stepped down" from a flight deck that extended two-thirds of the ship; in theory, this allowed planes to take off directly from the hangars while other planes landed on the top. As aircraft became heavier during the 1930s, they required longer distances to get airborne and the lower flight decks became useless. Kaga's 1935 reconstruction removed the lower two decks and extended the top flight deck to the bow.[24] As completed, the ship had two main hangar decks and a third auxiliary hangar with a total capacity of 60 aircraft.[25]
Kaga was provided with a heavy gun armament in case she was surprised by enemy cruisers and forced to give battle, but her large and vulnerable flight deck, hangars, and other features made her more of a target in any surface action than a fighting warship. Carrier doctrine was still evolving at this time and the impracticability of carriers engaging in gun duels had not yet been realized.[26] The ship was armed with ten 20 cm/50 3rd Year Type guns: one twin-gun turret on each side of the middle flight deck and six in casemates aft. Kaga's waterline armored belt was reduced from 280 to 152 mm (11.0 to 6.0 in) during her reconstruction and her deck armor was also reduced from 102 to 38 mm (4.0 to 1.5 in). The carrier displaced 26,900 long tons (27,300 t) at standard load, and 33,693 long tons (34,234 t) at full load, nearly 6,000 long tons (6,100 t) less than her designed displacement as a battleship. This reduction in her displacement increased her speed to 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph) and gave her a range of 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph).[27]
In 1933–35 Kaga was rebuilt to increase her top speed, improve her exhaust systems, and adapt her flight decks to more modern, heavier aircraft. After the reconstruction, the ship displaced 38,200 long tons (38,800 t) at standard load, better boilers gave her a top speed of 28.3 knots (52.4 km/h; 32.6 mph), and additional fuel storage increased her range to 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) and raised her aircraft capacity to 90. The ten 20 cm (7.9 in) guns, although now all mounted singly in casemates, were retained.[28]
Kaga's aircraft first supported Japanese troops in China during the
The IJN was surprised by the appearance of three American carriers and, partly due to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's plan in which ships were too dispersed to support each other, Kaga, along with the other three carriers present, was sunk by aircraft from USS Enterprise, Hornet and Yorktown on 4 June.[18]
Notes
Footnotes
- ^ Evans & Peattie, p. 150
- ^ Stille, p. 7
- ^ Evans & Peattie, pp. 160, 166–167
- ^ Lengerer 2010, pp. 3, 7
- ^ Lengerer 2010, pp. 3, 6–7
- ^ Lengerer 2010, pp. 4, 10
- ^ Lengerer 2010, pp. 11–12
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Gardiner & Gray, p. 232
- ^ Skwiot, p. 19
- ^ a b c d Lengerer 2010, p. 11
- ^ Campbell, pp. 181–182
- ^ Campbell, p. 190
- ^ a b Campbell, p. 198
- ^ a b Lengerer 2010, pp. 8–9
- ^ Lengerer 2010, p. 9
- ^ Lengerer 2010, p. 8
- ^ Lengerer 2010, p. 26
- ^ Naval Historical Center. 6 April 1999. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ^ See: Washington Naval Treaty, Chapter II, Part III, Section II
- ^ Gibbs, p. 217
- ^ Gibbs & Tamura, p. 192
- ^ Lengerer 2010, pp. 18–22, 25–26
- ^ Lengerer 1982, p. 128
- ^ Lengerer 1982, pp. 130, 136
- ^ Peattie, p. 231
- ^ Peattie, pp. 53, 55
- ^ Lengerer 1982, pp. 129, 131, 134
- ^ Lengerer 1982, p. 134
- ^ Peattie, pp. 50–51, 103–104
- ^ Lengerer 1982, pp. 174–177
References
- Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
- Evans, David & Peattie, Mark R. (1997). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887–1941. Annapolis, Maryland: 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. OCLC 12119866.
- Gibbs, Jay (2010). "Question 28/43: Japanese Ex-Naval Coast Defense Guns". Warship International. XLVII (3): 217–218. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Gibbs, Jay & Tamura, Toshio (1982). "Question 51/80". Warship International. XIX (2): 190, 194–195. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Lengerer, Hans (1982). "Akagi & Kaga". In Roberts, John (ed.). Warship VI. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-87021-981-2.
- Lengerer, Hans (June 2010). Ahlberg, Lars (ed.). "Battleships of the Kaga Class and the so-called Tosa Experiments". Contributions to the History of Imperial Japanese Warships (Special Paper I). (subscription required) (contact the editor at lars.ahlberghalmstad.mail.postnet.se for subscription information)
- Lengerer, Hans (2020). "The Eight-Eight Fleet and the Tosa Trials". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2020. Oxford, UK: Osprey. pp. 28–47. ISBN 978-1-4728-4071-4.
- ISBN 1-55750-432-6.
- Skwiot, Miroslaw (2008). Nagato Mutsu, Part II. Encyklopedia Okretów Wojennych. Vol. 52. Gdansk, Poland: AJ-Press. ISBN 978-83-7237-202-4.
- Stille, Mark (2008). Imperial Japanese Navy Battleships 1941-45. New Vanguard. Vol. 146. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-280-6.
Further reading
- 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.
External links
Media related to Tosa-class battleships at Wikimedia Commons