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Kasuga file photo [28923]

Kasuga

CountryJapan
Ship ClassKasuga-class Armored Cruiser
BuilderGio. Ansaldo & C., Genoa, Italy
Ordered23 Dec 1901
Laid Down10 Mar 1902
Launched22 Oct 1902
Commissioned7 Jan 1904
Sunk18 Jul 1945
Displacement7,700 tons standard
Length367 feet
Beam61 feet
Draft24 feet
Machinery8 Scotch marine boilers, 2 Vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 2 Shafts
Power Output13,500 shaft horsepower
Speed20 knots
Range5,500nm at 10 knots
Crew560
Armament1x10in/40 Type 41 gun, 1x2x8in/45 Type 41 guns, 14x6in/40 Type 41 guns, 10x3in/40 Type 41 guns, 6x3pdr Hotchkiss guns, 4x457mm torpedo tubes
Armor70-150mm waterline belt, 20-40mm deck, 100-150mm barbette, 150mm conning tower

Contributor:

ww2dbaseThe Kasuga was originally one of the famous armoured cruisers of Admiral Heihachiro Togo's fleet during the Russo-Japanese War 1904-05. The cruiser, together with her sister ship, the Nisshin, were built in Italy for the Argentine Republic's Navy. Before the ships were completed and only a few months prior to the outbreak of the war with Russia, the two ships were offered to both Russia and Japan with Japan purchasing them. The cruiser was delivered to Japan by a crew of British Royal Naval Reservists. During that war Kasuga participated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea and was slightly damaged during the subsequent Battle of Tsushima. In addition she frequently bombarded the defences of Port Arthur (now Lushunkou District, Dalian, Liaoning Province, China). The ship played a limited role in World War I and was used to escort Allied convoys and search for German commerce raiders in the Indian Ocean and Australasia. She was then used as a training vessel until 1942 when she was given the role of a harbour defence vessel.

ww2dbaseHer main armament consisted of one 40-caliber Armstrong Whitworth 10-inch/40 Type 41 gun in a single turret forward and two 8-inch/45 Type 41 guns, in a twin-gun turret aft. Both guns being made at the Armstrong factory in Newcastle upon Tyne in England, Uinted Kingdom that also made the ten of the 6-inch/40 Type 41 guns that comprised her secondary armament that were arranged in casemates amidships on the main deck. The remaining four guns were mounted on the upper deck. Kasuga also had ten QF 3-inch/40 Type 41 guns and six rapid firing 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns to defend herself against torpedo boats. She was fitted with four submerged 457-millimeter (18.0-inch) torpedo tubes, two starboard and two portside.

ww2dbaseThe ship's waterline armoured belt had a maximum thickness of 5.9 inches amidships that tapered to 2.8 inches towards the ends of the ship. Between the main gun barbettes it covered the entire side of the ship up to the level of the upper deck. ww2dbaseKasuga capsized at her mooring at Yokosuka, Japan in Jul 1945 during a raid conducted by aircraft of US Navy squadron TF-38. Her wreck was salvaged in Aug 1948 and broken up for scrap by the Uraga Dock Company.

Last Major Revision: Aug 2019

Armored Cruiser Kasuga Interactive Map

Photographs

Armored cruiser Kasuga, 1904-1905Kaga, Hiei, Kasuga, and a Takao-class cruiser in harbor, 1932-1934

Kasuga Operational Timeline

23 Dec 1901 Argentina placed the order for the construction of what would later become the Japanese cruiser Kasuga.
10 Mar 1902 The keel of San Mitra/Bernardino Rivadavia was laid down by the Ansaldo shipyard in Genoa, Italy.
22 Oct 1902 San Mitra/Bernardino Rivadavia launched at the Ansaldo shipyard in Genoa, Italy.
30 Dec 1903 San Mitra was sold to Japan while the ship was in Genoa, Italy.
1 Jan 1904 The Japanese Navy renamed the cruiser San Mitra to Kasuga while the ship was in Genoa, Italy.
7 Jan 1904 Kasuga was commissioned into Japanese service in Genoa, Italy.
9 Jan 1904 Kasuga departed Genoa, Italy under the command of British captains and manned by British seamen and Italian stokers.
14 Jan 1904 Kasuga arrived at Port Said, Egypt.
2 Feb 1904 Kasuga arrived at Singapore.
16 Feb 1904 Kasuga arrived at Yokosuka, Japan.
15 Apr 1904 Kasuga bombarded Russian positions near Port Arthur in Manchuria Region, China at a range of 9.5 kilometers (5.9 miles).
15 May 1904 Kasuga collided with protected cruiser Yoshino while sailing in heavy fog in the Yellow Sea. Yoshino capsized and sank with the loss of 318 lives.
10 Aug 1904 Kasuga partcipated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea as a member of the rear battle line. She suffered 3 hits, with 11 crewmen wounded.
26 May 1905 Kasuga participated in the Battle of Tsushima as the fifth in the line of battle.
27 May 1905 Kasuga hit Russian battleship Imperator Nikolai I with one hit, damaging the funnel.
2 Sep 1911 Kasuga escorted torpedo depot ship Anegawa to Vladivostok, Russia, where the depot ship, originally a Russian Navy ship, could be returned to Russia.
13 Dec 1915 Kasuga was made the flagship of Destroyer Squadron 3.
13 May 1916 Kasuga was relieved as the flagship of Destroyer Squadron 3.
12 Sep 1916 Kasuga was made the flagship of Destroyer Squadron 3.
13 Apr 1917 Kasuga was relieved as the flagship of Destroyer Squadron 3.
11 Jan 1918 Kasuga ran aground on a sand bank in the Bangka Strait in the Dutch East Indies. She would remain stuck in that position for five months.
3 Jul 1920 Kasuga arrived at Portland, Maine, United States to attend the centennial celebrations of the state.
22 Aug 1920 Kasuga arrived at Cristóbal, Panama Canal Zone.
25 Aug 1920 Kasuga departed Cristobal, Panama for San Francisco, California, United States.
15 Jun 1926 Kasuga helped in the rescue of the crew of the freighter SS City of Naples that struck a rock off the coast of Japan and broke up. Two of Kasuga crewmen were later awarded medals by King George V for their gallantry during the rescue.
27 Jul 1928 Kasuga rescued the crew of the semi-rigid airship N3 after it exploded in heavy weather during fleet maneuvers.
18 Jul 1945 Kasuga capsized in her mooring during a US Navy raid on Yokosuka, Japan.




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More on Kasuga
Personnel:
» Suzuki, Kantaro

Event(s) Participated:
» Preparations for Invasion of Japan

Armored Cruiser Kasuga Photo Gallery
Armored cruiser Kasuga, 1904-1905Kaga, Hiei, Kasuga, and a Takao-class cruiser in harbor, 1932-1934


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