List of battleships of Japan

Template:Ship firing during the Battle of the Yellow Sea

Between the 1890s and 1940s, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) built a series of battleships as it expanded its fleet. Previously, the Empire of Japan had acquired a few ironclad warships from foreign builders, although it had adopted the Template:Lang naval doctrine which emphasized cheap torpedo boats and commerce raiding to offset expensive, heavily armored ships. To counter the Beiyang Fleet of Imperial China in the early 1890s, however, Japan ordered two Template:Sclasss from Great Britain as Japan lacked the technology and capability to construct its own vessels. Combat experience in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895 convinced the IJN that its doctrine was untenable, leading to a ten-year naval construction program that called for a total of six battleships and six armored cruisers (the Six-Six Fleet). The two ships of the Template:Sclass and the battleships Template:Ship and Template:Ship were also purchased from Great Britain. Aware that they could not outbuild the Americans or British, the IJN decided that their ships would always be qualitatively superior to offset their quantitative inferiority.Template:Sfn

To counter reinforcement of the Russian Empire's Pacific Squadron as tensions rose between the Russians and the Japanese over control of Korea and Manchuria in the early 1900s, Japan ordered the two battleships of the Template:Sclass in 1903, the last battleships ordered from abroad.Template:Sfn To preempt further reinforcements before their own ships were completed, they began the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 with a surprise attack on the Russian base at Port Arthur. Shortly after the war began, the IJN ordered the two ships of the Template:Sclass, the first battleships to be built in Japan.Template:Sfn The Imperial Japanese Army captured Port Arthur, along with the surviving ships of the Pacific Squadron by the end of the year. The Russians had dispatched the bulk of their Baltic Fleet to relieve Port Arthur, which reached the Korea Strait in May 1905 and was virtually annihilated by the IJN in the Battle of Tsushima.Template:Sfn During the war, Japan captured a total of five Russian pre-dreadnought battleships. They were repaired and commissioned into the Japanese fleet, and two were later sold back to Russia during World War I, as Japan and Russia were by then allies. The magnitude of the victory at Tsushima caused the leadership of the IJN to believe that a surface engagement between the main fleets was the only decisive battle in modern warfare and would be decided by battleships armed with the largest guns.Template:Sfn

After the war, the Japanese Empire immediately turned its focus to the two remaining rivals for imperial dominance in the Pacific Ocean, Britain and the United States,Template:Sfn believing that conflict would inevitably arise between Japan and at least one of its two main rivals. Accordingly, the 1907 Imperial Defense Policy called for the construction of a battle fleet of eight modern battleships and eight battlecruisers.Template:Sfn This was the genesis of the Eight-Eight Fleet Program, the development of a cohesive battle line of sixteen capital ships.Template:Sfn The launch of Template:HMS in 1906 and the battlecruiser Template:HMS the following year by the Royal Navy raised the stakesTemplate:Sfn and complicated Japan's plans as they rendered all existing battleships and armored cruisers obsolete, forcing Japan to restart the Eight-Eight plan with dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn This began with the Template:Sclass in 1907, followed by the Template:Sclass and Template:Sclasses in the 1910s. Japan ordered its seventh and eighth dreadnoughts with the Template:Sclass in 1916 and 1917.Template:Sfn

In 1919, American president Woodrow Wilson announced the resumption of the 1916 naval construction program and the Japanese ordered eight fast battleships of the Template:Sclass and Template:Sclasses in response.Template:Sfn The prospect of a new massively expensive arms race between the United States, Britain and Japan after the war caused the three powers to agree to the Washington Naval Treaty which limited Japan to a ratio of 3:5:5 in battleship tonnage to the United States and Britain. The treaty forced the IJN to dispose of all of its pre-dreadnoughts and the oldest dreadnoughts; the ships then under construction had to be broken up or sunk as targets. Furthermore, the treaty mandated a building holiday that barred the construction of new battleships for ten years. During this period, opponents of the Washington Naval Treaty and its successors had taken control of the upper echelons of the IJNTemplate:Sfn and rebuilt the Template:Sclasss into fast battleships and modernized the existing ships.Template:Sfn Coupled with the growth of ultranationalism and dominance of the government by the military, the government decided to withdraw from the treaty regime when it expired in 1936. Planning by the Navy General Staff for the post-treaty era began in 1934 and included five large battleships armed with nine Template:Cvt guns; these ships became the Template:Sclass.Template:Sfn While the Yamatos were under construction in the late 1930s, the IJN began designing a successor class, the Design A-150 armed with Template:Cvt guns, but never laid any down as they prepared for war and other ships had higher priority.Template:Sfn

Key

KeyTemplate:Efn

Armament	The number and type of the primary armament
Armor	The thickness of the belt armor
Displacement	Ship displacement at normal load
Propulsion	Number of shafts, type of propulsion system, and designed speed
Service	The dates work on the ship began and finished and its ultimate fate
Laid down	The date the keel began to be assembled
Commissioned/Captured	The date the ship was commissioned or captured

Pre-dreadnoughts

Fuji class

Fuji at anchor, October 1908

The two Template:Nihongo ships, Template:Ship and Template:Ship, were the IJN's first battleships, ordered from Britain in response to two new German-built Chinese ironclad warships. The ships were designed as smaller versions of the British Template:Sclass, although they were slightly faster and had a better type of armor.Template:Sfn

As part of the 1st Fleet the Fujis participated in fighting off Port Arthur on 9–10 March 1904, wherein Fuji sustained light damage and Yashima was undamaged.Template:Sfn On 15 May Yashima struck two naval mines and foundered.Template:Sfn Fuji participated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea in August and was then slightly damaged during the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905.Template:Sfn She was credited with the shot that caused the magazine explosion that destroyed the battleship Template:Ship.Template:Sfn In October 1908, Fuji hosted the American ambassador to Japan and some senior officers of the Great White Fleet,Template:Sfn and was later reclassified as a coast defense ship in 1910. The ship was disarmed and converted into an accommodation ship in 1922. Fuji was sunk by American aircraft in 1945 and scrapped in 1948.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	2 × twin Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	2 shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	1 August 1894Template:Sfn	17 August 1897Template:Sfn	Broken up, 1948Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)					6 December 1894Template:Sfn	9 September 1897Template:Sfn	Sank after striking a mine, 15 May 1904Template:Sfn

Shikishima class

Japanese battleship Shikishima

The Template:Nihongo was designed as a more powerful version of the Royal Navy's Template:Sclass battleship.Template:Sfn The ships were also assigned to the 1st Fleet before the Russo–Japanese War, were present at the Battle of Port Arthur and were slightly damaged during the action. Template:Ship struck one of the mines that the Russians laid in May 1904 and sank following a magazine explosion.Template:Sfn Shikishima fought in the Battle of the Yellow Sea, only being damaged by a misfiring 12-inch shell,Template:Sfn and then participated in the Battle of Tsushima where she was hit nine times, suffered another misfire from one of her main guns, and, together with the battleship Template:Ship, sank the Russian battleship Template:Ship.Template:Sfn Shikishima spent the duration of World War I assigned to the Sasebo Naval District,Template:Sfn and was demilitarized after the Washington Naval Treaty was signed in 1922.Template:Sfn She was used as a training hulk at Sasebo until she was broken up in 1948.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	2 × twin 12 in gunsTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	2 shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	29 March 1897Template:Sfn	26 January 1900Template:Sfn	Broken up, January 1948Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)					10 January 1898Template:Sfn	18 January 1901Template:Sfn	Sank 15 May 1904, after striking two minesTemplate:Sfn

Asahi

Asahi in July 1900

Asahi was a slightly improved version of the British Template:Sclasss.Template:Sfn She became the flagship of the IJN's Standing Fleet and was later assigned to the 1st Fleet when the Combined Fleet reformed in 1903.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn At the start of the Russo–Japanese War, Asahi took part in the Battle of Port Arthur and was not damaged by Russian fire. At the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the ship was moderately damaged, although she hit and damaged Template:Ship and Template:Ship in return.Template:Sfn Asahi struck a mine two months later near Port Arthur, but was repaired in time for the Battle of Tsushima. There, she helped disable the battleship Template:Ship and dueled with the battleships Borodino and Template:Ship, taking no damage.Template:Sfn

She was a gunnery training ship for most of World War I until being rearmed in 1917 in time to escort troop transports during Japan's intervention in the Russian Civil War.Template:Sfn Asahi was converted into a noncombat vessel during the 1920s and was then made a repair ship in 1937.Template:Sfn On the night of 25–26 May 1942, Asahi was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine Template:USS off modern-day Vietnam.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	2 × twin 12 in gunsTemplate:Sfn	9 inTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	2 shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines, 18 knotsTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn	1 August 1897Template:Sfn	31 July 1900Template:Sfn	Sunk by Template:USS, 25–26 May 1942Template:Sfn

Mikasa

Mikasa in Kure, February 1905

Mikasa was also an improved version of the Formidable-class battleships and only differed in minor respects from Asahi.Template:Sfn The ship served as the 1st Fleet flagship throughout the Russo-Japanese War. She participated in the Battle of Port Arthur on the second day of the war and the Battles of the Yellow Sea and Tsushima.Template:Sfn During the latter battle, the ship was hit many times, but was only lightly damaged.Template:Sfn Days after the end of the war, MikasaTemplate:'s magazine accidentally exploded and sank the ship.Template:Sfn She was salvaged and her repairs took over two years to complete.Template:Sfn Afterward, the ship served as a coast-defense ship during World War I and supported Japanese forces when they intervened in the Russian Civil War.Template:Sfn After the Washington Naval Treaty was ratified in 1922 Mikasa was preserved as a museum ship. She was badly neglected during the post–World War II occupation of Japan and required extensive refurbishing in the late 1950s, but has only partially been restored.Template:Sfn Mikasa is the only surviving example of a pre-dreadnought battleship in the world.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	2 × twin 12 in gunsTemplate:Sfn	9 inTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	2 shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines, 18 knotsTemplate:Sfn	24 January 1899Template:Sfn	1 March 1902Template:Sfn	Preserved as a museum shipTemplate:Sfn

Tango

Tango at anchor, c. 1908–1909

Tango was laid down as the Russian battleship Poltava (Template:Langx), the second of three Template:Sclass pre-dreadnought battleships. The ship was assigned to the Pacific Squadron shortly after her completion and based at Port Arthur from 1901.Template:Sfn During the Russo-Japanese War, she participated in the Battle of Port Arthur and was heavily damaged during the Battle of the Yellow Sea.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Sunk by Japanese artillery during the subsequent Siege of Port Arthur in December 1904, she was refloated by the IJN after the war and subsequently renamed Tango.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn During World War I, she bombarded German fortifications during the Siege of Tsingtao.Template:Sfn The Japanese government sold Tango back to the Russians in 1916. She was renamed Chesma (Template:Lang) as her former name had been given to a new ship.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Her crew declared for the Bolsheviks in October 1917,Template:Sfn but saw no action in the Russian Civil War owing to her poor condition, and she was ultimately scrapped in 1924.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Captured	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	4 × 12 in guns Template:Sfn	Template:Convert Krupp armorTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	2 shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	19 May 1892Template:Sfn	2 January 1905Template:Sfn	Returned to Russia, 1916,Template:Sfn scrapped, 1924Template:Sfn

Sagami and Suwo

Sagami, still in Russian service as Template:Ship in 1901

Sagami and Suwo were originally the Russian Template:Sclass battleships Template:Ship (Template:Lang) and Template:Ship (Template:Lang) respectively.Template:Sfn The design of the Peresvet class was inspired by the British second-class battleships of the Template:Sclass. The British ships were intended to defeat commerce-raiding armored cruisers like the Russian ships Template:Ship and Template:Ship, and the Peresvet class was designed to support their armored cruisers.Template:Sfn

The sisters were sunk during the Siege of Port Arthur and were salvaged by the IJN afterward. Because of their lighter armament than the other captured battleships, they were rated as coastal-defense ships.Template:Sfn During World War I, Suwo was the flagship of the Japanese squadron during the Siege of Tsingtao and then of the 2nd Fleet before becoming a gunnery-training ship in 1916. Sagami was sold back to the Russians that same year and resumed her former name. While en route to northern Russia, the ship struck two mines in the Mediterranean and sank.Template:Sfn Suwo was disarmed in 1922 in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty and was probably scrapped afterward.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Captured	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	2 × twin Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	9 inTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	2 shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines, 18 knotsTemplate:Sfn	21 November 1895Template:Sfn	2 January 1905Template:Sfn	Sunk by a mine off Port Said, Egypt, 4 January 1917Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)			Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn		21 February 1899Template:Sfn	2 January 1905Template:Sfn	Probably scrapped, 1922–1923Template:Sfn

Hizen

Hizen at anchor

Hizen, originally Retvizan (Template:Lang), was a Russian pre-dreadnought battleship built in America before the Russo-Japanese War because Russian shipyards were already at full capacity.Template:Sfn The ship was torpedoed during the Battle of Port Arthur, but was repaired in time to participate in the Battle of the Yellow Sea, during which she was lightly damaged.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn She was sunk during the Siege of Port Arthur and salvaged by the IJN.Template:Sfn During World War I, Hizen was sent to reinforce the weak British squadron off British Columbia, but diverted to Hawaii after reports of a German gunboat there were received. The ship was unsuccessfully sent to search for other German ships after the Americans interned the gunboat in November 1914. After the war she supported the Japanese intervention in the Russian Civil War and was disarmed in 1922 as required by the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. Hizen was sunk as a target in 1924.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Captured	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	2 × twin 12 in gunsTemplate:Sfn	9 inTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	2 shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines, 18 knotsTemplate:Sfn	29 July 1899Template:Sfn	2 January 1905Template:Sfn	Sunk as a target ship, 25 July 1924Template:Sfn

Iwami

Iwami at anchor

Iwami was built shortly before the Russo-Japanese War for the Imperial Russian Navy as Oryol (Template:Lang), one of five Template:Sclasss. Together with three of her sisters, she voyaged half-way around the world to participate in the Battle of Tsushima.Template:Sfn Moderately damaged during the battle,Template:Sfn the ship was surrendered to the IJN the following day.Template:Sfn The Japanese rebuilt her from 1905 to 1907 and she was assigned to the 1st Fleet, although the ship was reclassified as a coast defense ship in 1912. Iwami participated in the Siege of Tsingtao in 1914 after Japan declared war on Imperial Germany and then became a guardship. She became the flagship of the 5th Division of the 3rd Fleet in 1918 and supported the Japanese intervention in the Russian Civil War. Iwami briefly became a training ship before she was disarmed in 1922 and was sunk as a target two years later.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Captured	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	2 × twin 12 in gunsTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	2 shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines, 18 knotsTemplate:Sfn	1 June 1900Template:Sfn	28 May 1905Template:Sfn	Sunk as a target ship, 10 July 1924Template:Sfn

Katori class

Katori at anchor

The pair of Katori-class pre-dreadnoughts were the last Japanese battleships to be built overseas.Template:Sfn The design of the Katori class was a modified and improved version of the Royal Navy's Template:Sclass battleships.Template:Sfn Completed after the end of the Russo–Japanese War, the ships never saw combat. Katori had a major fire in one of her secondary-gun turrets in 1907 that killed 34 men and wounded 8 others.Template:Sfn While they saw no action during World War I, they both participated in Japan's intervention in Siberia in 1918.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In 1921, the sisters carried Crown Prince Hirohito on his tour of Europe where he met King George V.Template:Sfn Under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty, both ships were disarmed and scrapped between 1923 and 1925.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	2 × twin 12 in gunsTemplate:Sfn	9 inTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	2 shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines, 18 knotsTemplate:Sfn	27 April 1904Template:Sfn	20 May 1906Template:Sfn	Sold for scrap, April 1924Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)			Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn		29 February 1904Template:Sfn	23 May 1906Template:Sfn	Broken up, 1924–1925Template:Sfn

Satsuma class

Satsuma at anchor

The Satsuma-class battleships, Satsuma and Aki, were the first battleships to be built in Japan. They marked a transitional stage in battleship design,Template:Sfn as the sisters were intended to mount a dozen Template:Convert guns. Material shortages in Japan and the expense of construction led to a redesign that armed the sisters with four 12-inch and a dozen Template:Convert guns.Template:Sfn If built as planned, the Satsuma class would have been the world's first "all big-gun" battleships.Template:Sfn Satsuma was powered traditionally with two vertical triple-expansion engines, but Aki was the first Japanese battleship to use steam turbines.Template:Sfn

The introduction of Template:HMS in 1906 ensured that the Satsuma class was obsolete before the ships were even launched. Nevertheless, Aki was launched on 15 November, while Satsuma followed on 15 April 1907.Template:Sfn Satsuma would go on to serve as Rear Admiral Tatsuo Matsumura's flagship in the Second South Seas Squadron as it seized the German possessions of the Caroline and the Palau Islands in October 1914 in the opening months of World War I. Satsuma would later be refitted at Sasebo Naval Arsenal in 1916 and served with the 1st Squadron for the rest of the war. Aki was also assigned to the 1st Squadron until she was transferred to the 2nd Battleship Squadron in 1918.Template:Sfn Both ships were sunk as targets by Template:Ship and Template:Ship in 1924.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	2 × twin 12 in guns 6 × twin 10 inTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	2 shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	15 May 1905Template:Sfn	25 March 1910Template:Sfn	Sunk as a target ship, 7 September 1924Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)			Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	2 shafts, 2 steam turbine sets, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	15 March 1906Template:Sfn	11 March 1911Template:Sfn	Sunk as a target ship, 2 September 1924Template:Sfn

Dreadnought battleships

Kawachi class

Postcard of Japanese battleship Kawachi

The Template:Nihongo, Kawachi and Settsu, were a pair of dreadnought battleships ordered in the Navy's Warship Supplement Program after the Russo-Japanese War.Template:Sfn They were the IJN's first dreadnoughts and marked one of the first steps in achieving Japan's recently adopted Eight-Eight Fleet Program.Template:Sfn The sisters were armed with four 50-caliber 12-inch and eight 45-caliber 12-inch main guns,Template:Sfn arranged in the hexagonal layout used by the German dreadnoughts of the Template:Sclass and Template:Sclasses.Template:Sfn They had originally been designed with a dozen 45-caliber guns, but after the IJN received word that the Royal Navy had adopted the more powerful and expensive 50-caliber guns, it upgraded the four centerline guns to the longer caliber as it could not afford to upgrade all of them.Template:Sfn

Settsu and Kawachi bombarded German fortifications at Tsingtao during the Battle of Tsingtao in 1914, but saw no other combat in World War I. Kawachi sank in 1918 after an explosion in her ammunition magazine with the loss of over 600 officers and crewmen.Template:Sfn Settsu was disarmed in 1922 and converted into a target ship. She was heavily damaged in 1945 by American carrier aircraft and eventually beached to avoid sinking. The ship was subsequently scrapped in 1946–1947.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	6 × twin 12 in gunsTemplate:Sfn	12 inTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	2 shafts, 2 steam turbines, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	1 April 1909Template:Sfn	31 March 1912Template:Sfn	Sunk by magazine explosion, 12 July 1918Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)			Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn		18 January 1909Template:Sfn	30 March 1911Template:Sfn	Scrapped, 1946–1947Template:Sfn

Fusō class

Fusō on trials in 1933 after her modernization

The Template:Nihongo, Fusō and Yamashiro, were a pair of dreadnoughts built for the IJN during World War I.Template:Sfn Both patrolled briefly off the coast of China before being placed in reserve at the war's end. Although they were extensively modernized during the 1930s, the sisters were considered obsolescent by the eve of World War II, and neither saw significant action in its early years. Fusō and Yamashiro briefly served as troop transports in 1943, but mostly served as training ships that year.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn They were the only two Japanese battleships at the Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944, the southernmost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and were sunk by torpedoes and naval gunfire during the night battle with the loss of almost all of their crews.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	6 × twin [[Vickers 14 inch/45 naval gun|Template:Convert guns]]Template:Sfn	12 inTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	11 March 1912Template:Sfn	8 November 1915Template:Sfn	Sunk during the Battle of Surigao Strait, 25 October 1944Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)					20 November 1913Template:Sfn	31 March 1917Template:Sfn

Ise class

Ise underway after her modernization

The Template:Nihongo were another pair of dreadnoughts built during World War I.Template:Sfn Both ships carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. They were modernized in the interwar period with improvements to their armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Afterward they played a minor role in the Second Sino-Japanese War.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Despite the expensive reconstructions, both vessels were considered obsolete by the eve of the Pacific War, and neither saw significant action in the early years of the war. Following the loss of most of the IJN's large aircraft carriers during the Battle of Midway in mid-1942, they were rebuilt with a flight deck replacing the rear pair of gun turrets to give them the ability to operate an air group of floatplanes. A lack of aircraft and qualified pilots, however, meant that they never actually operated their aircraft in combat.Template:Sfn While awaiting their air group, the sister ships were occasionally used to ferry troops and material to Japanese bases.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn They participated in the Battle off Cape Engaño in late 1944, where they decoyed the American carrier fleet supporting the invasion of Leyte away from the landing beaches.Template:Sfn Afterward, both ships were transferred to Southeast Asia; in early 1945 they participated in Operation Kita, where they transported petrol and other strategic materials to Japan. The sisters were then reduced to reserve until they were sunk during American airstrikes in July. After the war, they were scrapped in 1946–1947.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	6 × twin 14 in gunsTemplate:Sfn	Template:CvtTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	10 May 1915Template:Sfn	15 December 1917Template:Sfn	Sunk, 28 July 1945Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)					6 May 1915Template:Sfn	30 April 1918Template:Sfn	Sunk, 24 July 1945Template:Sfn

Nagato class

File:Nagato1924.jpg

Nagato at anchor, c. 1924

The Template:Nihongo were the third pair of dreadnoughts built during World War I, although they were not completed until after the end of the war.Template:Sfn Both ships carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. Modernized during the 1930s, Nagato and her sister ship Mutsu briefly participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and Nagato was the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto during the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 that began the Pacific War.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The sisters participated in the Battle of Midway in June 1942, although they did not see any combat.Template:Sfn Mutsu participated in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in August before returning to Japan in early 1943.Template:Sfn One of her magazines exploded in June, destroying the ship.Template:Sfn Nagato spent most of the first two years of the war training in home waters. She was transferred to Truk in mid-1943, but did not see any combat until the Battle of the Philippine Sea in mid-1944 when she was attacked by American aircraft. Nagato did not fire her main armament against enemy vessels until the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. She was lightly damaged during the battle and returned to Japan the following month for repairs. The IJN was running out of fuel by this time and decided not to fully repair her.Template:Sfn Nagato was converted into a floating anti-aircraft platform and assigned to coastal defense duties. After the war, the ship was a target for US nuclear weapon tests during Operation Crossroads in mid-1946. She survived the first test with little damage, but was sunk by the second test.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	4 × twin [[41 cm/45 3rd Year Type naval gun|Template:Convert guns]]Template:Sfn	12 in Vickers cemented armorTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	28 August 1917Template:Sfn	25 November 1920Template:Sfn	Sunk during Operation Crossroads, 29/30 July 1946Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)					1 June 1918Template:Sfn	24 October 1921Template:Sfn	Sunk by internal explosion, 8 June 1943Template:Sfn

Tosa class

File:Japanese battleship Tosa.jpg

Tosa being towed to Nagasaki, 1 September 1922

The Template:Nihongo were ordered during the early 1920s. They were larger versions of the preceding Nagato class, and carried an additional twin-gun 41 cm turret. Both ships were launched in late 1921, but the first ship, Template:Ship, was cancelled in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty before she could be completed, and was used in experiments testing the effectiveness of its armor scheme before being scuttled.Template:Sfn The hull of the second ship, Template:Ship, was converted into an aircraft carrier to replace an Template:Sclass that had been wrecked by the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923.Template:Sfn The carrier supported Japanese troops in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War and took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor and the invasion of Rabaul in the Southwest Pacific in January 1942. The following month her aircraft participated in a combined carrier airstrike on Darwin, Australia, during the Dutch East Indies campaign. She was sunk during the Battle of Midway in 1942.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	5 × twin 41 cm gunsTemplate:Sfn	Template:Convert Template:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	16 February 1920Template:Sfn	Template:N/a	Scuttled, 9 February 1925Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)					19 July 1920Template:Sfn	31 March 1928Template:Sfn	Converted into an aircraft carrier, sunk during the Battle of Midway, 4 June 1942Template:Sfn

Kii class

The Kii-class battleship was a planned class of four fast battleships to be built during the 1920s. Only two of the ships received names. They were intended to reinforce Japan's "Eight-Eight fleet" of eight battleships and eight battlecruisers after the United States announced the reinitiation of a major naval construction program in 1919.Template:Sfn However, after the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922, work on the ships was suspended; one pair was cancelled in November 1923 and the other in April 1924.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Kii (Template:Nowrap)	5 × twin 41 cm gunsTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a
Owari (Template:Nowrap)					Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a
No. 11					Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a
No. 12					Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a

Number 13 class

File:IJN battleship design of Project-13 class.jpg

Line-drawing of the No. 13 design

The Number 13–class battleship was a planned class of four fast battleships to be built after the Kii class during the 1920s. The ships never received any names, being known only as Numbers 13–16. They were intended to reinforce Japan's "Eight-Eight Fleet" of eight battleships and eight battlecruisers after the United States announced the reinitiation of a major naval construction program in 1919.Template:Sfn The Number 13 class was designed to be superior to all other existing battleships, planned or building. After the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922, they were cancelled in November 1923 before construction could begin.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
No. 13	4 × twin Template:Convert gunsTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a
No. 14					Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a
No. 15					Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a
No. 16					Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a

Kongō-class battlecruiser

File:Haruna at Yokosuka 1916.jpg

IJN battlecruiser Haruna, Yokosuka, Japan, 1916

The Kongō-class battlecruisers were rebuilt as fast battleships during the 1920s and '30s. Their turbines and boilers were replaced by lighter, more powerful models, they were bulged to improve their underwater protection, their horizontal armor was increased and the range of their guns was increased.Template:Sfn

The Kongōs were the most active capital ships of the IJN during the Pacific War, participating in most of the major engagements. Hiei and Kirishima acted as escorts during the attack on Pearl Harbor, while Kongō and Haruna supported the Dutch East Indies Campaign. All four participated in the Battles of Midway and Guadalcanal. Hiei and Kirishima were both sunk during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942, while Haruna and Kongō jointly bombarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. The two remaining sisters spent most of 1943 shuttling between Japanese naval bases before participating in the major naval campaigns of 1944. They helped to sink two American destroyers and an escort carrier during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Kongō was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine Template:USS in November, while Haruna was sunk at her moorings by an air attack on Kure Naval Base in late July 1945; she was raised and scrapped in 1946.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	4 × twin 14 in gunsTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	17 January 1911Template:Sfn	16 August 1913Template:Sfn	Sunk, 21 November 1944Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)					4 November 1911Template:Sfn	4 August 1914Template:Sfn	Sunk, 13 November 1942Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)					16 March 1912Template:Sfn	19 April 1915Template:Sfn	Sunk, 28 July 1945 Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)					17 March 1912Template:Sfn		Sunk, 15 November 1942Template:Sfn

Yamato class

File:Japanese battleships Yamato and Musashi moored in Truk Lagoon, in 1943 (L42-08.06.02).jpg

Yamato and Musashi, the two largest battleships ever builtTemplate:Sfn

The Template:Nihongo were built at the beginning of the Pacific War. The ships were the largest and most heavily armed battleships ever constructed.Template:Sfn Two ships (Template:Ship and Template:Ship) were completed as battleships, while a third (Template:Ship) was converted to an aircraft carrier during construction. A fourth ship was scrapped while still under construction and a planned fifth ship was never begun.Template:Sfn

Due to the threat of American submarines and aircraft carriers and worsening fuel shortages, both Yamato and Musashi spent the majority of their careers in naval bases at Brunei, Truk, and Kure—deploying on several occasions in response to American raids on Japanese bases—before participating in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, as part of Vice Admiral Kurita's Center Force.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Musashi was sunk during the battle by American airplanes. Shinano was sunk ten days after her commissioning in November 1944 by the American submarine Template:USS while Yamato was sunk by US carrier aircraft in April 1945 during Operation Ten-Go.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)	3 × triple [[40 cm/45 Type 94 naval gun|Template:Convert guns]]Template:Sfn	410 mmTemplate:Sfn	Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	4 November 1937Template:Sfn	16 December 1941Template:Sfn	Sunk in air attack, 7 April 1945Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)					29 March 1938Template:Sfn	5 August 1942Template:Sfn	Sunk in air attack, 24 October 1944Template:Sfn
Template:Ship (Template:Nowrap)					4 May 1940Template:Sfn	19 November 1944Template:Sfn	Converted to an aircraft carrier, sunk by submarine, 28 November 1944Template:Sfn
No. 111					7 July 1940Template:Sfn	Template:N/a	Template:N/a

Design A-150

"Design A-150", popularly known as the Super Yamato class, was a planned class of battleships. In keeping with the IJN's long-held doctrine of qualitative superiority, they were designed to be the most powerful battleships afloat. As part of this, the class would have been armed with six Template:Cvt guns, the largest weapons carried aboard any warship in the world. Design work on the A-150s began after the preceding Yamato class was mostly finished by early 1941, when the Japanese began focusing on aircraft carriers and other smaller warships in preparation for the coming conflict. No A-150 would ever be laid down, and many details of the class's design were destroyed near the end of the war.Template:Sfn

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
No. 798	3 × twin Template:Convert gunsTemplate:Sfn	Probably Template:CvtTemplate:Sfn	Approximately Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn	Unknown	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a
No. 799					Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a

References

Books

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Journals

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News

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Combined Fleet

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External links

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