Table of Contents
Mutsu Class Battleships
The Yamashiro class battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy were originally conceived as an 8×16“ variant of the Royal Navy Queen Elizabeth class, these ships were redesigned after the appearance of the New Mexico class. These formidable ships were amongst the best balanced ships available to any Navy at the start of the Global War.
They entered service in 1921 and were used as part of the Japanese Tour of 1927 to the European nations. They were also reconstructed in the early 1930s, receiving improved powerplants, armor, fire control, and internal protection.
During the Global War the ships participated in all major encounters of the Pacific but the IJN Mutsu was lost in a 1934 accident in port, were the ship sank in what is supposed to be a magazine explosion. The remaining ships were ceded to Australia and Thailand as per the Treaty of San Francisco in the later part of 1938. On Thai service the ship was used as flagship of their fleet until 1975 while the two ships in Australian service received upgrades in 1958 and continued service until the early 1980's.
Ships
General Characteristics
Displacement: 39,800 tons Length: 760 feet Beam: 100 feet Draft: 30 feet Speed: 27 knots Armament: ten 16-inch(5×2), 20 five.five-inch, eight 24-inch torpedo tubes.