The Japanese ironclad warship ''Fusō'' |
| Career |  Japanese Navy Ensign |
|---|---|
| Built: | Samuda Brothers Naval Yards, Great Britain |
| Ordered: | 1875 Fiscal Year |
| Laid down | September 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.