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Fuso file photo [1279]

Fuso

CountryJapan
Ship ClassFuso-class Battleship
BuilderKure Naval Arsenal
Laid Down11 Mar 1912
Launched28 Mar 1914
Commissioned18 Nov 1915
Sunk25 Oct 1944
Displacement34,700 tons standard; 39,154 tons full
Length698 feet
Beam100 feet
Draft32 feet
Machinery6 Kampon boilers, Kampon turbines, 4 shafts
Power Output75,000 shaft horsepower
Speed25 knots
Crew1,800
Armament2x3x356mm guns, 2x2x356mm guns, 4x2x127mm Type 89 dual purpose guns, 17x1x25mm AA guns, 16x2x25mm AA guns, 8x3x25mm AA guns, 10x13.2mm machine guns

Contributor:

ww2dbaseWhen battleship Fuso was completed in 1914, she was the largest and the most powerfully armed battleship in the world. She did not participate in any major action during WW1. During the inter-war years, between Apr 1930 and May 1933, she was modernized; her armor was increased to a total of 12,199 tons (or 42% of total displacement), her boilers were replaced with new Kampon boilers, and her torpedo tubes were removed. During the remainder of the 1930s, she served largely in the Inland Sea in Japan as a training ship.

ww2dbaseIn Apr 1942, Fuso entered front line service as she was ordered to search, unsuccessfully, for the American task force that launched the Doolittle Raiders under the command of Captain Mitsuo Kinoshita. During the Battle of the Aleurian Islands, she was a part of the screening force. Between 5 Dec 1942 and 1 Jun 1943, she was under the command of Captain Keizo Komura. During this time, considerations were given to convert Fuso into a battleship-carrier hybrid as a response to the losses at the Battle of Midway, but the plans were canceled before the scheduled construction date of Jun 1943. Between 1 Jun 1943 and 23 Feb 1944, Fuso was under the command of Captain, later Rear Admiral, Nobumichi Tsuruoka. In Jul 1943, she received 21 additional anti-aircraft guns and a Type 21 radar. On 23 Feb 1944, Captain, later Rear Admiral, Masami Ban took command of her. In Aug 1944, she received further anti-aircraft weapons, two Type 13 and two Type 22 radars.

ww2dbaseIn Oct 1944, Fuso sailed as part of Admiral Shoji Nishimura's Southern Force which engaged in the Battle of Surigao Strait. En route, she was attacked by carrier aircraft and sustained a bomb hit in the Sulu Sea, damaging her catapult and aircraft. At 0309 on 25 Oct, she was hit by one or two torpedoes fired by the American destroyer Melvin. At 0338, fires spread to the magazines of her C and Q turrets. At 0345, one or both of the magazine exploded, breaking Fuso into two separate sections and nearly killing every man aboard. The bow section sank as the result of gunfire from American cruiser Louisville, and the stern section sank off Kanihaan Island. Those few who survived refused to be rescued by Americans.

ww2dbaseSources: Imperial Japanese Navy Battleships 1941-45, Wikipedia.

Last Major Revision: Oct 2008

Battleship Fuso Interactive Map

Photographs

Launching of battleship Fuso, Kure, Japan, 28 Mar 1914Battleship Fuso undergoing trials, 24 Aug 1915
See all 15 photographs of Battleship Fuso

Fuso Operational Timeline

18 Nov 1915 Fuso was commissioned into service.




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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Alan says:
11 Feb 2009 02:49:26 PM

Looking for help to locate info on an officer (Isakawa) who served on the Fuso in WW2. He was injured in battle and served in Home Defense thereafter. He was from Okinawa. I have his personal dagger and good luck scarf. Thanks for your help.
2. STEELWOLVES says:
30 Sep 2011 09:49:09 AM

I read somewhere that a couple of Fuso's crew were recently found living in the Phillipines where they had married local women, and were still alive in their 90's. They did, incidentally, know that japan had lost the war.

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More on Fuso
Personnel:
» Nobuhito
» Abe, Hiroaki
» Kondo, Nobutake
» Kusaka, Jinichi
» Ota, Minoru

Event(s) Participated:
» Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands
» Philippines Campaign, Phase 1, the Leyte Campaign

Related Books:
» Imperial Japanese Navy Battleships 1941-45

Partner Sites Content:
» Fuso Tabular Record of Movement

Battleship Fuso Photo Gallery
Launching of battleship Fuso, Kure, Japan, 28 Mar 1914Battleship Fuso undergoing trials, 24 Aug 1915
See all 15 photographs of Battleship Fuso


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