HIJMS Mikasa - A Significant Ship in the History of Naval Warfare

Probably ranking with its contemporaries in fame and development of technology in naval warships, including the battleship HMS Dreadnought (1906), and Commodore George Dewey’s flagship at Manila Bay, the protected cruiser USS Olympia (1895), is the Japanese battleship HIJMS Mikasa.

Although not homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, the USS Princeton (CV-37, CVS-37 subsequently LPH-5) spent a lot of its commissioned service with the US 7th Fleet, frequently spending extended in-port periods at the United States Naval Base, Yokosuka, in the 1958-1960 timeframe. While stationed in the Princeton at the time, I had the opportunity to visit HIJMS Mikasa several times.

The USS Princeton (then CVS-37) moored at pier in Yokosuka, Japan, and the USS Saint Paul (CA-73), flagship of Commander, 7th Fleet, as seen from the carrier's flight deck.

Here are three of my photographs of Mikasa taken at the time. Unfortunately either I did not take, or cannot find any interior pictures, so that is why I was recently elated over the following photographic essay that was found on the Internet. Hopefully the more recent photographer producing the essay, Geoffrey Morrison, who is a far superior photographer, will not take serious umbrage with my reference to his web site; https://www.cnet.com/news/japans-114-year-old-battleship-mikasa-a-relic-of-another-time/  I am taking the liberty of using three of his photographs, with full acknowledgement and significant gratitude. As the reader can discern, different times (1959 vs 2017), different color paint, same ship.

 The Mikasa, named after a mountain in Japan (aka Mount Wakakusa) was the flagship of Marshal-Admiral The Marquis Tōgō Heihachirō, OM, GCVO at the Battle of Tsushima (Straits) on 27 May 1905. A son of a samurai, he is generally considered internationally as one of Japan’s greatest naval heroes. Marshal-Admiral Tōgō received the totality of his early formal training as a cadet in the training ship HMS Worcester at the Thames Naval College in 1872, graduating second in his class. He participated in the evolution and emergence of the Japanese Navy as an exact model in almost every aspect of the Royal Navy, and a world naval power at the turn of the 20th Century.

As would be suspected the Mikasa was built at Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness, England, launched 8 November 1900, and commissioned 1 March 1902. Basic specifications are from a very early edition of Jane’s Fighting Ships, and a diagram of the arrangement of one of its twin 12in./40 cal. gun turrets are detailed in the next two diagrams. Although with some obvious trepidation, the Royal Navy and Vickers-Armstrong greatly benefited from the the design and technology which was incorporated into the construction of Mikasa. Serving as a prototype and transition, it culminated in the design of HMS Dreadnought, a revolutionary warship, in 1906.

The combination of its main armament of four 12in./40cal. guns in two turrets, combined with its dual armored belts (lower belt 9in. Krupp steel amidships, upper belt 6in., 10in. to 14in. in the barbettes, 8in. to 10in. in the turrets, and 14in. in the forward conning station) afforded Mikasa with a formidable balanced capability to both deliver and sustain the effects of substantial naval gunfire, which at that time were previously unachieved ranges. The guns of the main battery had an effective maximum range of 7.55 naut mi. (14 km.). All of this was integrated with a coal-fired steam power plant capable of providing a top speed of 18.5 knots. At the Battle of Tsushima the Russians recognized and knew it was Admiral Togo's flagship, concentrating their gunnery on the Mikasa, which did incur limited damage and personnel casualties, however throughout the battle it effectively maintained its full offensive capacity. What was even more incredible was the fact that Admiral Togo never left the totally exposed open bridge during the entire battle (without even a helmet or life preserver).

Just a bit of trivia. In the following painting, the single international signal flag for the letter "Z" ("Zulu" in NATO naval parlance) is prominately depicted. The flag is seen in the majority of paintings of Admiral Togo, and usually displayed to this day from one of the foremast yardarms of the Mikasa itself (as seen in one of the previous photographs). It was employed as a prearranged signal by Admiral Togo to mean, "The fate of the Empire rests upon the outcome of this battle. Let every man do his utmost." Analogous to Nelson's signal at Trafalgar, "England expects that every man will do his duty."

As a brief segue, from a weapon systems engineering perspective, it is interesting to research the quality of optics the Japanese had achieved, and incorporated into their main coincidence range-finders for gunnery fire control, i.e. accuracy as a function of range. The Mikasa had 80 centimeter Barr and Stroud FA3 Rangefinders (obviously British manufacture, not Japanese), which were accurate out to 7.3 km. (approximately half the range of its main armament). As can be observed this rangefinder is totally unprotected and highly vulnerable on the aft portion of the open bridge. To a weapons systems engineer this would be identified as an extremely weak, if not critical link. One possible solution would be a second rangefinder installed within the armored conning station, or far aft at the secondary conning station (physically separated) from the bridge. Uncorrected this would obviously be a limiting factor in the ship's overall effectiveness, and combat survivability, as a total weapons system. Investigated whether there actually was another rangefinder at the aft secondary conning station, and there was (but not in the restored ship). It was, however, still totally exposed and unprotected.

For those readers who may be serious (really serious) naval engineering historians, naval architects, or otherwise interested, the following article was published in the British professional magazine, ENGINEERING: in 1902 (Apologies for the physical size, but it can be somewhat enlarged using the Zoom In feature on your computer for reasonably clear readability). As an alternative, and a more cursory assessment, please see the video referenced in the link listed below. 

As part of the terms of the Unconditional Surrender of Japan ending World War II, the Soviet Union wanted the Mikasa totally destroyed, as it served as an ugly and severely humiliating reminder of the Russo-Japanese War. It was already encased in, and filled with concrete, having been sunk as the result of a major magazine explosion in 1905 (days after the Battle of Tsushima), subsequently raised and used for a short period as a coastal defense ship, then retired as a memorial ship.  In addition to his wisdom in maintaining the status of Emperor Hirohito, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur allowed the Japanese to preserve the Mikasa, albeit the ship obviously remained encased and filled with concrete. It still resides at the United States Naval Base, Yokosuka, Japan (a former major base of the Imperial Japanese Navy).

The following is a brief narrative of Marshal-Admiral Tōgō’s decisive victory over the Russian fleet at Tsushima:

“Leading the Japanese fleet to sea, Togo approached from the north with his ships in a line ahead formation. Spotting the Russians at 1:40 PM, the Japanese moved to engage. Aboard his flagship, Knyaz Suvorov, Rozhestvensky pressed on with the fleet sailing in two columns. Crossing in front of the Russian fleet, Togo ordered the fleet to follow him through a large u-turn. This allowed the Japanese to engage Rozhestvensky's port column and block the route to Vladivostok. As both sides opened fire, the superior training of the Japanese soon showed as the Russian battleships were pummeled.

Striking from around 6,200 meters (Editorial note: relatively point-blank range considering Mikasa's armament, but not considering its range finding limitation), the Japanese hit Knyaz Suvorov (also 12in./40cal. main armament), badly damaging the ship and injuring Rozhestvensky. With the ship sinking, Rozhestvensky was transferred to the destroyer Buiny. With the battle raging, command devolved to Rear Admiral Nikolai Nebogatov. As the firing continued, the new battleships Borodino and Imperator Alexander III (both with 12in./40 cal. main armament) were also put out of action and sunk. As the sun began to set, the heart of the Russian fleet had been destroyed with little damage inflicted upon the Japanese in return.

After dark, Togo launched a massive attack involving 37 torpedo boats and 21 destroyers. Slashing into the Russian fleet, they relentlessly attacked for over three hours sinking the battleship Navarin and crippling the battleship Sisoy Veliki. Two armored cruisers were also badly damaged, forcing their crews to scuttle them after dawn. The Japanese lost three torpedo boats in the attack.

When the sun rose the next morning, Togo moved in to engage the remnants of Nebogatov's fleet. With only six ships left, Nebogatov hoisted the signal to surrender at 10:34 AM. Believing this a ruse, Togo opened fire until the signal was confirmed at 10:53. Throughout the rest of the day, individual Russian ships were hunted and sunk by the Japanese.”

“The Battle of Tsushima was the only decisive fleet action in hisory fought solely between steel battleships. In the fighting, the Russian fleet was effectively destroyed with 21 ships sunk and six captured. Of the Russian crews, 4,380 were killed and 5,917 captured."

"Only three ships escaped to reach Vladivostok, while another six were interned in neutral ports. Japanese losses were a remarkably light 3 torpedo boats as well as 117 killed and 583 wounded. The defeat at Tsushima badly damaged Russia's international prestige while signaling Japan's ascent as a naval power. In the wake of Tsushima, Russia was forced to sue for peace.”

Marshal-Admiral Togo's victory at Tsushima certainly ranks with that of Vice-Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson against the combined French and Spanish navies at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, as well as that of Admirals Chester Nimitz, Jack Fletcher and Raymond Spruance, against the Japanese navy at the Battle of Midway in 1942.

With full acknowledgement and expressed gratitude to the World of Warships, the following is a short, but highly informative video about HIJMS Mikasa.