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JAPANESE IRONCLAD WARSHIP FUSō


The Japanese ironclad warship ''Fusō''
Career
Japanese Navy Ensign
Built:Samuda Brothers Naval Yards, Great Britain
Ordered:1875 Fiscal Year
Laid downSeptember 24 1875
Launched:April 17 1877
Completed:January 1878
Fate:Scrapped 1910
General Characteristics
Displacement:3,717 tons
Length:67.0 meters at waterline
Beam:14.6 meters
Draught:5.5 meters
Propulsion:2-shaft reciprocating; 3932 HP
Speed:13 knots
Fuel:360 tons coal
Complement:250
Armament:
★ 4 × 240 mm guns
★ 2 × 170 mm guns
★ 6 x 80 mm guns
★ 1 x Nordenfeld quadruple machine gun
Armor:100-230 mm belt; 200 mm battery; 175 mm bulkhead;

The IJN '''Fusō''' (扶桑) was an ironclad warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was built by the Samuda Brothers on the Isle of Dogs, London, Great Britain, and commissioned in 1878. She was the first armored warship to be built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in England. Togo Heihachiro, later a prominent Japanese admiral, supervised its construction. It should not be confused with the later (1914-era) battleship ''Fusō''.
Delivered to Japan and based in Yokohama from 1881, the ''Fusō'' was scheduled for retirement in 1891. However, in the First Sino-Japanese War, the ''Fusō'' saw combat at the Battle of the Yalu River (during which it took 8 direct hits, with 2 crewmen killed and 12 wounded), and at the Battle of Weihaiwei.
On 29 October 1897, the ''Fusō'' collided with the cruiser ''Matsushima'' in rough weather off the coast of Iyo (Shikoku) and sank. Captain Uryu Sotokichi was confined to the brig for three months over the incident. Refloated the following year, the ''Fusō'' was re-classed as a Second-Class Battleship on 21 March 1898, and refitted with new Krupp cannons; repairs continued through April 1900.
The ''Fusō'' again saw service during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, where it was assigned to the blockade of Port Arthur, and patrol of the sea lanes around the Strait of Tsushima. It was the flagship of Rear Admiral Hosoya, Seventh Division, Third Squadron, held in reserve independent of the Combined Fleet.
Already extremely obsolete, the ''Fusō'' was re-classed as a Second-Class Coastal Defense Vessel immediately after the Russo-Japanese War, on 11 December 1905, and officially retired on 1 April 1908. It was broken up for scrap in Yokohama in 1910.


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