Today it is difficult to find a person who would know anything about the Russo-Japanese war. True, some vaguely recall the blockade of Port Arthur, but knowledge usually ends there.
But in vain, because that war is the most important milestone in the development of our state, one of the main causes of the October Revolution, since during the hostilities the fact of the inability of the tsar and the government to adequately assess external and internal threats, to take measures to their speedy elimination.
One of the symbols of that confrontation was (on the Japanese side) the battleship Mikasa. The Japanese are still proud of this ship, it currently serves as a floating museum.
General information
At the time of construction, the squadron battleship of this type became the most powerful and heavily armed battleship of the Land of the Rising Sun, one of the largest ships of that period. He participated, being the flagship of Admiral Togo, in the war between Russia and Japan. Participated in the Port Arthur events, in the Battle of Tsushima. During the First World War, he guarded the coast of Japan. Now the battleship Mikasa is a museum located in the portYokosuka.
What was it made for?
In 1895, when Japan defeated agrarian and backward China, it was a completely unexpected event for the world community. Meanwhile, the Japanese still did not satisfy their own imperial ambitions, and our country played an important role in this. Under pressure from the Russian Empire, they had to stop claiming their rights to Manchuria, and they also had to make a gesture of "good will" by giving back the previously captured Luishun (Port Arthur). This was largely due to the fact that at that time there was a Russian squadron in Chifu, which the Japanese did not want to contact.
At the same time, the Japanese government realized that they would still have to fight with Russia, and victory, taking into account many factors of a hypothetical theater of operations, would depend on the success of the fleet (as well as on its presence). In 1895, the Japanese adopted a 10-year shipbuilding program to build a large and modern battle fleet.
Construction
Since the shipyards of Japan itself by that time clearly did not meet the requirements of modern times, the battleship Mikasa was built in the UK. The English engineer Makrow D. S. was responsible for the design. He did not invent anything new, but simply took the well-proven English battleships of the Canopus class as a basis. His "descendant" is "Mikasa". The battleship has become a worthy "successor of the family", having absorbed both positive and negative aspects of the English project.
BookmarkThe ship was carried out in the city of Barrow at the shipyard of the Vickers company (the future tank manufacturer). It happened on January 24, 1899. The future flagship of the Japanese fleet was launched on November 8, 1900. It was commissioned on March 1, 1902. By that time, all stages of state tests were fully completed. There is no exact data on the cost of the project, but historians suggest that it amounted to at least a million pounds sterling, which at that time in “dollar terms” was equal to four million.
Case specifications
No different from other ships built during 1895-1896, the battleship Mikasa became a classic representative of Sir William Henry White's shipbuilding school.
The hull was assembled from the highest grade shipbuilding steel, the hull framing system was transverse. The ship was built according to a single-deck scheme, the bow blockage of the frames was rather insignificant, but at the same time, the blockage amidships and aft was pronounced. Inside the hull, special waterproof partitions were arranged, thanks to which the ship was divided into several small compartments. They gave additional stability to the ship when hit by torpedoes.
Double sides and a double bottom were considered a feature of the armadillo. The increased layer of armor rose to the level of the armored deck. The second distinguishing feature of the ship was the bow influx, which was supposed to play the role of a ram. In addition, the battleship "Mikasa" (its photo is presented in this material) had a pronounced sheer upper deck. The side keels were intendedto stabilize the ship during pitching.
The pride of the British shipbuilders was the composition of Hartman Rahtien, which covered the underwater part of the hull. It prevented shell fouling and improved hull performance by reducing fluid drag.
Technical characteristics of the armored hull
Partial displacement of the hull - more than 15 tons. Full displacement - 16 tons. The maximum length is 132 meters, between perpendiculars - 122 meters. The average width of the hull is 24 meters, the average draft is eight meters.
The battleship "Mikasa" differed from other ships built for Japan in that it had a noticeably smaller gap between the barbettes of 305-mm guns. This led to compactness, but at the same time, such a design decision made it impossible to mount 152-mm guns in separate casemates. That is why the designers had to solve the non-trivial task of placing three armor belts on the ship at once. The height of the main armor belt is about 2.5 m, it towered about 70 cm above the waterline.
In the midsection area, the thickness of the armor reached 229 mm, but in the underwater part it gradually decreased to 127 mm. Along the edges of the citadel, the armor was also thinner, up to 178 mm, and near the armored traverses, it even reached 102-127 mm. The citadel area itself was best protected. Since the main armored belt passed there, the designers had the opportunity to protect it with 152-mm armor.
Structurally, the third armor belt was especially important, whichextended all the way to the upper deck. His main task was to protect the battery of six-inch guns. We have already said that some design solutions did not allow the installation of 152-mm guns in separate casemates, but this did not apply to the four guns on the upper deck. They were protected by 152mm armor on the outside and 51mm on the inside.
Other booking sites
The main caliber barabets and the conning tower of the ship were best protected - 356 mm of armor. The parts of the citadel adjacent to the barabets were not so well armored - “only” 203 mm of steel. Since the traverses on the upper deck adjoined the installations at a rational angle, the designers protected them with armor plates only 152 mm thick. This was enough to withstand the shelling and, at the same time, made it possible to lighten the design of the ship.
All gun mounts on the sides were covered with protective sheets 254 mm thick (forehead). The sides and roof were protected a little worse - 203 mm. The upper deck was armored with sheets of 25 mm. The lower deck (inside the cannon citadel itself) had a thickness of 51 mm (and on the bevels this figure was 76 mm). The carapace deck was also well protected, the armor of which was 76 mm.
Also, the engineers provided excellent protection for the conning tower, in which the main ship control devices were located (that is, the steering wheel, intercoms for communication with all combat posts). For her, special Krupp armor was used, the thickness of which was 356 mm, while the aft cabin (akaobservant) was protected more modestly, there the armor plate had a thickness of 76 mm.
In general, the Mikasa battleship, whose model was developed by the best English engineers, was the first of the Japanese ships, for the protection of which steel made according to the Krupp method was used. Before that, Harvey armor was used, the resistance of which was 16-20% less. By the way, the total weight of the armor on the Mikasa reached 4091 tons (which is almost 30% of the total displacement of the ship).
Ship power plant
During the design, a two-shaft scheme was used. The "heart" of the ship was three-cylinder steam plants manufactured by Vickers. A feature of this mechanism was the use of the energy of the “triple expansion” of steam, due to which it was possible to save fuel and achieve maximum cruising range at one gas station. The piston stroke was over one meter!
The speed of rotation of the shafts in the cruising mode reached 125 rpm. To generate steam, 25 Belleville boilers were used, with a maximum steam pressure of 21 kg / cm². Like the engine room itself, their components were manufactured by Vickers.
The total surface of the boilers reached 3.5 thousand m2, and the total size of the grates reached 118.54 m2. The diameter of both chimneys exceeded four meters! The design power of each power plant was 16,000 l / s, which made it possible to reach a cruising speed of 18 knots. Of course, only on condition that the machines are not worn out and the mechanisms are serviced in a timely manner. specialengineers paid attention to propellers made of manganese bronze.
The drawings of the ship that you will find on the pages of this article will help you see how the battleship Mikasa was designed.
Fuel reserves
Coal reserves on the ship were stored in two huge bunkers running along the perimeter of both sides, located parallel to the engine rooms. Moreover, their height was such that the coal tankers towered slightly above the main deck: this was done on purpose, to ensure better security. As a rule, 700 tons of coal were loaded on board, its maximum reserve was 1.5 thousand tons.
At ten knots, the ship could cover 4600 nautical miles, while cruising (16 knots) the maximum distance was 1900 nautical miles. During the passage of state tests, the team was able to “fire up” the ship to 16.5 thousand l / s at a record speed of 18.45 knots.
The general seaworthiness of the flagship was quite good, but with rather weak waves, the ship had a tendency to “dig in” into the wave. There was a strong loss of speed characteristics. In addition, the crew could not properly use the artillery weapons on board.
Other airborne equipment
On board there were three steam generators that could produce a direct current of 80 V, their total power reached 144 kW. For those times, these were very good indicators.
There were also threeanchor anchors Martin. In addition, six searchlights served to facilitate tactical tracking of combat information. At the same time, two of them were located on the Mars, and four more - on the stern and bow bridges.
To provide its flagship with reliable communication, Japan (as in all previous cases) signed a contract with the Italian company "Marconi". The radio antenna was stretched between the fore and main mast. The communication range was about 180 nautical miles.
To save the crew during torpedoing, 15 floating craft of various sizes were provided.
Combat use, Port Arthur
8.02.1904 (according to the new style - January 26), the squadron battleship "Mikasa" approached the island of Krugly, located in close proximity to Port Arthur. At five o'clock in the evening, it was on the flagship masts that flags were hung out, the content of which read: “Go on the attack according to a predetermined plan. Good luck". On February 9, the Mikasa (as part of a squadron of eight battleships) approached Port Arthur directly and engaged the Russian fleet.
At 11 in the morning fire was opened with the main caliber, and our ships were at a distance of 46, 5 cables from it. A few seconds later, the flagship was supported by fire from the rest of the Japanese ships, and soon Russian battleships and coastal batteries began to hit them.
Already at 11.16, a direct hit on Mikasa by a 254-mm projectile was recorded. It led to damage to the grotto and the destruction (partial) of the stern bridge. Seven people were injured. A few minutes later - another hit, and againthe main mast was damaged. At least three times the battle banner was torn by fragments, which was almost immediately hung in place. At 11.45 Admiral Togo, commander of the battleship, orders the squadron to withdraw.
At that moment, the battleship Mikasa, whose damage did not pose a direct danger, could well continue the battle. Togo withdrew the ships because of the accurate shooting of the coastal battery, the shells of which, even with a single hit, could well send the ship to the bottom.
On that day, there was no significant success for either side of the battle. In the future, Mikasa did not commit particularly significant deeds, but its mine boats managed to severely damage some Russian battleships several times.
Tsushima
By the early spring of 1905, the battleship Mikasa had been largely repaired after the fighting. Given the experience of previous battles, the Japanese command ordered a significant increase in ammunition on board. And the Japanese really needed it on May 14 at 13.10 minutes, when the battle of Tsushima began.
The battle lasted more than a day. During this time, the Japanese battleship Mikasa received about 40 hits (and these are just the most significant ones). Most of them were 305 mm shells. The most unlucky was the third casemate 152-mm gun. A 305-mm Russian shell hit its roof. As a result, about nine people died. The ship was very lucky that the ammunition did not detonate.
Two hours later, a 152-mm shell hit the same place (!) Two more died this timesailor, but the explosion, as in the previous case, was fortunately avoided. Other damage led to the failure of several guns, in a couple of places the armor plates of the hull began to dangerously diverge.
But the September 11th stop at the base in Sasebo ended much worse. To this day, the reasons for the detonation of most of the onboard ammunition have not been established. The battleship "Mikasa" (whose photo is in the article) quickly sank. He was saved by a relatively small depth, but even in such conditions, only the fourth attempt to rise ended in success. 256 sailors died immediately, another 343 people were injured, later also fatal.
A huge hole in the board was patched up, and after 11 months the ship was back in service. However, it took another two years for the final elimination of the consequences of the disaster. During the First World War, the ship patrolled the coast of Japan, participated in the intervention, and was on the roadstead in the bay of Vladivostok.
The ship was finally excluded from the fleet in 1923. By the way, anyone can still look at the ship "Mikasa" (battleship). Where is this ship currently located? He stands in Yokosuka.
By the way, the procedure for turning an armadillo into a museum in itself gave the engineers a lot of problems. First, I had to dig out a huge dry dock, fill it with water … And then put a ship into it and completely drain this dock. The ship still stands, dug into the waterline, as if completely ready for a new campaign.
His image is widely used inart. So, almost every gift shop will be able to offer you the battleship "Mikasa" made of paper. In addition, the ship can be seen in many computer games, and references to it are often found in the literature.
Instead of completion
So, how successful was the armadillo Mikasa? Its model is of English origin, but this native of Foggy Albion turned out to be wonderfully adapted to Japanese conditions.
By the way, it was England, in fact, who benefited from the construction of this ship. First, the country got the opportunity to employ workers in shipyards. Secondly (not least), the Japanese also bought almost all "related goods" like gunpowder in the UK.
But practice was much more important: British specialists thoroughly studied the successes of the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese War, drew conclusions, made forecasts, and decided how best to modernize their own fleet. And that's without fighting!
So how good was the battleship Mikasa? The project score is quite high. Experts note good and uniform armor of the hull, good armament, excellent quality equipment of the ship. The quality of armored steel is especially highly appreciated: if it were not for its properties, then in 1905 the ship would certainly not have withstood forty direct hits.
In addition, the Mikasa battleship (the drawings confirm this) had an impressive combat survivability. It was achieved through the rational arrangement of watertight compartments.
And what were the shortcomings of the project? They were alsoa lot. Firstly, we have already pointed out the tendency of the ship to "burrow" even with a low wave. Secondly, initially the Japanese admirals wanted to get a ship with a cruising speed of up to 25 knots, but in reality the battleship could only accelerate to 18 knots.
However, all these were trifles. In practice, it turned out that the only significant drawback was the small ammunition. Also, the engineers came to the conclusion that longer barrels are required for the main caliber guns.
