Everything about Japanese Battleship Shikishima totally explained
was the
lead ship in the
Shikishima-class of
pre-dreadnought battleships in the
Imperial Japanese Navy, and one of the six battleships (
Fuji,
Yashima,
Hatsuse,
Shikishima,
Asahi, and
Mikasa) that formed the main Japanese
battle line in the
Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.
History
Following the 1894-1895
Sino-Japanese War, and the forced return of the
Liaotung Peninsula to
China under
Russian pressure,
Japan began to build up its military strength in preparation for further confrontations. In particular, Japan embarked on a ten-year naval expansion program, with the construction of six
battleships and six
armored cruisers at its core.
Shikishima was ordered to
Thames Iron Works,
England in 1897. She was designed by Phillip Watts and was basically an improved version of the
British Navy's
Majestic-class.
Shikishimaarrived at
Kure on
1900-04-17. She served in the
Russo-Japanese War, was damaged in the bombardment of
Port Arthur, fighting at the
Battle of the Yellow Sea, and taking 10 hits at the
Battle of Tsushima.
After the Russo-Japanese War ended,
Shikishima was based out of
Sasebo and used to patrol the waters of the
East China Sea. She suffered damage from an explosion on
1916-07-24 and again on
1917-08-16. Rendered obsolete by the development of the
Dreadnought class battleships.
Shikishima later served in Japanese home waters during
World War I.
In 1920,
Shikishima was used as a support vessel, to cover the landings of Japanese troops in Russia during Japan's
Siberian Intervention.
Refitted in 1921,
Shikishima was de-rated to First-class
Coastal defence ship and relegated to training duties the same year. Disarmed under the provisions of the
Washington Naval Treaty, she was used as a training school for
submarine crews after 1923. She was then briefly designated as a transport, and then officially stricken from the navy list in 1926, but remained moored at Sasebo as a damage control hulk, floating
barracks ship, and training center.
Shikishima was still afloat after the
Pacific War, somehow escaping
American air attacks, but hadn't moved under her own power for over two decades. She was broken up for scrap in 1948 at the
Sasebo Naval Arsenal.
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