Most military fans know that during World War II, in order to make up for the gap with the United States in terms of tonnage and number of battleships, Japan built the "Yamato" class super battleships, with a full load displacement of more than 70,000 tons, equipped with 9 460 mm guns, and strong armor protection. Japan's tactic is to make up for the lack of quantity through the quality of a single ship, because Japan's shipbuilding industry and steel production are far inferior to the United States, and conventional armaments cannot match the US Navy at all, so the Japanese Navy's idea is to replicate the glory of the Battle of Tsushima in the Russo-Japanese War by developing super battleships to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the US Navy!
However, what many military fans don't know is that as early as the pre-dreadnought era at the beginning of the last century, Japan produced the world's first dreadnought, which is the "Satsuma" class battleship. With a full load displacement of more than 20,000 tons and four 305 mm guns and 12 254 mm secondary guns, it was the most powerful former dreadnought in the world before the appearance of the British epoch-making "Dreadnought" class battleships, and used a turbine engine that was ahead of other countries. Let's introduce it to you in detail.
The "Satsuma" class is the largest tonnage of former dreadnoughts
First, the development background
At the beginning of the last century, Japan and Russia fought in the Far East for the sake of competing interests, and since Japan was inferior to Russia in terms of overall military strength, it was necessary to increase its military strength as soon as possible, and the navy was the focus of development. The Japanese Combined Fleet, which was significantly inferior in the number of capital ships, built its own capital ships in addition to purchasing capital ships from various countries. Japan's planned self-built capital ships are very powerful, with a full load displacement of more than 20,000 tons, and this is the "Satsuma" class battleship. There are two ships in this class, "Satsuma" and "Yasui", which can be called the strongest former dreadnoughts in the world.
2. Performance data
The main characteristics of the battleships of the "Satsuma" class: length 146.9 meters, width 25.4 meters, draft 8.4 meters, main turret frontal armor thickness 254 mm, conning tower armor thickness 254 mm, broadside armor belt thickness 229 mm, deck armor thickness 51 mm, standard displacement 19400 tons, full load displacement 20100 tons, crew establishment 877 people. It is powered by two three-expansion reciprocating steam engines with 17,300 horsepower, two axles, a speed of 18.5 knots, and a cruising range of 7,400 nautical miles / 10 knots. The second ship, "Aki", had a larger tonnage and a larger crew (931 people), powered by 2 steam turbines, 24,000 horsepower, and reached a speed of 20 knots.
The flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet "Mikasa".
Equipped with 4 x 305mm/45x guns, 2 twin mounts, one main turret in the bow and stern. 12 254 mm/45 x 2 II guns, 6 twin turrets, 3 on each side. There are also 12 120 mm/40x RAP, 4 76mm/40x RAP, and 4 76mm/28x RAP. 5 x 457 mm torpedo tubes. However, the type and number of rapid-fire guns of the second ship "Aki" differed.
3. Construction
The first ship, the Satsuma, was started on May 15, 1905 at the Yokosuka Naval Yard, launched on November 15, 1906, and completed on March 25, 1910. The second ship, "An Yi", was started on March 15, 1906 at the Kure Naval Factory, launched on April 15, 1907, and completed on March 11, 1911.
Fourth, comprehensive evaluation
Side view of the battleship of the "Satsuma" class
The "Satsuma" class is undoubtedly a formidable former dreadnought, and it is the most powerful pre-dreadnought in human history! However, what is embarrassing is that shortly after the construction of the first ship, the "Satsuma," Britain began to build the epoch-making battleship "Dreadnought." The "Dreadnought" is equipped with 10 guns of a uniform caliber / double diameter (305 mm), which not only increases the firepower of the battleship, but also allows the command staff on the ship to unify all the main guns to aim at the same target for salvo, and use the covering fire projection range to improve the hit rate of the main guns. In terms of firepower, the "Dreadnought" is significantly superior to the "Satsuma" class!
In terms of protection, the thickness of the broadside armor of the "Satsuma" class is 229 mm, and the main turret and command tower are 254 mm. And the British "Dreadnought" had broadside armor up to 279 mm thick, as well as the turret and conning tower 279 mm. In addition, in terms of speed, the "Satsuma" class is also about 3 knots lower than the "Dreadnought". As the three important performance indicators of warships, there is a certain gap between the "Satsuma" class and the "Dreadnought" in terms of firepower, protection and speed, and the "Satsuma" class was eliminated before it was put into service!