They were designed to be the best…
They met enemies face to face,
endured tragedies and enjoyed victories…
they went down in history due to the bravery of their crews…
they are the ships that deserve to be called
“Naval Legends!”
In this episode:
Battleship Mikasa, the flagship of the legendary Admiral Togo Heihachiro
There is often a mystical connection
between a ship and those who serve on it.
A perfect example of this is the story of
Admiral Togo Heihachiro and his battleship Mikasa
In the late 19th century, Japan launched an ambitious ship-building program
that intended to put 111 warships into service over a period of 10 years.
The new ships were meant to be the best in the world and remain up-to-date
despite the rapid development of naval engineering.
Mikasa became the last of four Japanese battleships built under that program.
Battleship Mikasa was built at the Vickers shipyard, England,
starting from 1899 until 1902,
at the cost of 15 million yen—
this was equal to 6% of the Japanese government budget,
which was 260 million yen.
It was a very expensive project for the country at that time.
The Japanese government leaders acknowledged that the further development of the
country was only possible through the adoption of advanced foreign technologies.
In the late 19th century, the leading naval power in the world was Great Britain.
Therefore, it is hardly worth mentioning that the Japanese Navy
was based on the British traditions and technologies.
England provided Japan with a superb battleship,
equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry, engines, and hull.
The English people wondered:
“Why are we building such an advanced ship for Japan?
It is way more advanced than any of our ships!”
But Englishmen used the experience they gained during the construction
and built their next ship, which was even more advanced
and considerably less expensive than battleship Mikasa.
However, at the time of its construction, Mikasa
was the most powerful ship in the world, even more powerful than British warships.
The new battleship was worth its price tag—
she was one of the most advanced warships in not only Japan
but the whole world.
Total displacement:
15,979 t;
the second among all battleships in the world at that time.
Length: over 130 meters
Beam: about 23 meters
Draft: almost 8 meters
Armament
The primary armament of Mikasa complied with the applicable standards of that time:
Two twin barbette mounted Mark IX guns
by the Armstrong company.
Caliber: 305 mm
Medium caliber Fourteen QF Elswick Ordnance Company guns.
Caliber: 152 mm
Ten of these guns arranged in the common battery
along the side gave Mikasa a great advantage in battle.
Secondary armament: Twenty Elswick Pattern N guns.
Caliber: 76 mm
Small-caliber artillery: Twelve Hotchkiss guns
Caliber: 47 mm
Torpedo Tubes Four submerged beam torpedo tubes
Armor has an English design.
It is compact in size and reliable in protecting vital parts of the ship.
Main belt: 102 to 229 mm
Upper belt: 152 mm
Main Turrets: 203 to 254 mm
Conning tower: 356 mm
The mechanical equipment also met the highest standards of that time.
Power plant
Two Vickers engines and twenty-five Belleville water-tube boilers
Power: 16,000 hp
Maximum speed: 18 knots
Cruising range: About 4,000 nautical miles at a speed of 10 knots
Mikasa greatly influenced both the further development
of Japanese naval artillery and tactics in sea battles.
Back in those times,
there was a popular opinion that a huge ship equipped
with powerful guns guaranteed an easy victory.
This is the main battery of battleship Mikasa.
Each shell weighed 400 kg
The effective range amounted to over 10 km
This shell, on the right, is a high-explosive shell.
This one on the left is an armor piercing shell.
During the Russo-Japanese War, high-explosive shells were used more often by our ships.
This is the gun room number 4.
Here you can see a 152-mm gun.
The gun slit was open in the beginning of a battle.
Ten sailors operated the gun.
These wheels were used to tilt the gun up or down.
In December, 1903,
Togo Heihachiro was appointed to command the
Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy,
which was established that year.
He formed three squadrons and took the lead of the first squadron,
choosing Mikasa as his flagship.
He established his headquarters on the ship, which became his home for two years.
This is where Admiral Togo Heihachiro ate.
This is the ship mess.
The decorations were also like this when Mikasa was the flagship.
Next to the mess there is the Admiral’s private cabin.
This spacious room was for meetings held by the officers of the ship.
Admiral Togo Heihachiro sat at the head of the table,
surrounded by his officers.
They ate and discussed plans in this room.
Togo Heihachiro traveled a long and difficult path
to become the head of the most powerful battleship of that time.
In the Imperial Japanese Navy,
he started from the very bottom of the career ladder
and rapidly moved up the ranks while constantly participating in sea battles.
He felt the spirit of war with every fiber of his being.
The future admiral of the Japanese fleet studied maths at Cambridge,
attended the Royal Naval Academy in Portsmouth,
and Royal Naval College in Greenwich.
During his stay in Britain, he understood what had helped
this country maintain its status as queen of the seas:
through naval knowledge, centuries of battle experience,
and advanced ship-building technologies.
This is the only part of Mikasa where you can
see the ship's original deck made of teak.
During the battle, they would place a hoist
system here to lift shells to the upper decks.
This deck is about 110 years old, but it is still in good condition.
Teak is a very hard type of wood, and it doesn't rot, as you can see.
This is the wheelhouse. Various equipment for steering the ship was mounted here.
These systems were used to control the propulsion system,
speeding up or slowing down its two shafts.
Some of this equipment is from another ship, built by the same shipyard.
But it’s all identical to the systems that were installed on Mikasa.
This is the steering wheel.
The inscriptions on it are in English, because Mikasa was built in England.
British standards—height, size, and arrangement of guns—
were very different from those used in Japan.
So Japanese sailors were forced to eat beef and drink milk
to become taller and stronger.
However, many members of the crew couldn’t eat
animal products due to their religion.
When the Navy began to insist that they “eat meat and drink milk
to become strong,” the sailors refused to do that.
They confined themselves to the lower deck and declared that they would not come out.
The sailors were removed and spent the next four years in prison,
and Mikasa’s crew was almost completely renewed.
That way, resolutely breaking its age-old national traditions,
Japan was building a new Navy.
With Spartan conditions and Japanese discipline,
the nation was building the fighting spirit of its sailors.
This weapon was operated by about 10 men.
In those times, every sailor assigned to the gun
would train, eat, and even rest here.
The ones on duty would sleep in these hammocks.
All these efforts were not in vain.
By the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War,
the Imperial Japanese Navy had become a formidable power.
The warrior spirit and good fortune became the decisive factors
for Vice Admiral Togo and his flagship during the Russo-Japanese War.
Since its beginning, Mikasa was the primary target for the Imperial Russian Navy.
The Battle of the Yellow Sea, the Battle of Tsushima
each time the admiral's battleship was showered with a hail of shells,
but each time Mikasa managed to survive with honor.
Multiple sailors and officers lost their lives,
but Mikasa was still proudly carrying the flag.
A lucky star was guiding the Japanese commander-in-chief
and his flagship through all the battles to victory.
Starting with the very first battles, Mikasa
was losing officers and sailors to Russian shells...
Admiral Togo stood on the open bridge instead of in the protected conning tower...
Why did he do that?
Well, firstly, he didn’t have experience from major naval battles.
Secondly, from the open bridge he could see the ships better.
Ready to fall in battle, Togo was observing the situation and giving commands.
And he only received light wounds in his early engagements.
The Battle of the Yellow Sea was a major engagement of the Russo-Japanese War...
The Russian squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Vitgeft,
was trying to break through to Vladivostok...
Just like Admiral Togo, Vitgeft preferred to stay on the open bridge...
And the very first shell that hit the bridge was fatal for him.
In the Battle of Tsushima, Mikasa also sustained
more hits than any other Japanese ship.
Despite this, Admiral Togo and his officers
remained on the bridge and never stepped away from it.
And he survived.
The Battle of Tsushima became a triumph for
the Japanese navy and its commander-in-chief.
Three months later, on September 5, the Russo-Japanese War
concluded with a peace treaty.
The Imperial Japanese Navy was getting ready to celebrate the victory
with a grand naval parade in Tokyo Bay.
So Admiral Togo and his staff left the ship to report to the Emperor
and took all his luck with him:
Mikasa never made it to the parade.
Just a month after the commander’s flag was taken down on Mikasa,
the battleship suffered a disaster: on September 11, 1905, a fire started
in her magazines and caused an explosion.
It took the lives of 250 men, with over 300 injured.
The explosion created a huge breach in her hull.
Mikasa immediately began to take on water,
and she sunk on even keel to the bottom of the Sasebo Bay
The battleship’s brilliant career came to an end.
The Japanese managed to lift and repair Mikasa,
but the ship never managed to regain her glory.
In 1925, the battleship was taken to a custom-made dock in Yokosuka,
where she was covered with earth and concrete up to the waterline—
the legendary ship became a museum.
The museum’s opening ceremony was attended by Admiral Togo, who passed away in 1934.
Admiral Togo became a Japanese national hero,
he received all of the highest merits possible:
orders, awards, honor, and glory.
And he was put in charge of the education of Hirohito,
the heir apparent to the Emperor’s throne.
After World War II, Mikasa was in ruin—
all the guns and most of the systems were dismantled.
There were proposals to sell the battleship as scrap metal—
but this didn’t happen.
Then the American military arranged
a dance hall on the gun deck.
When some young Britons once saw this, they wrote to Japan Times,
“What is wrong with this country? While England has preserved HMS Victory,
why can’t the Japanese do this for their ship?”
The letter gathered a wide public response in Japan,
and a movement began to restore Mikasa and reopen it as a museum.
In order to restore the ship’s historic image,
most of her elements had to be recreated anew.
Today, the exposition on board Mikasa
is dedicated to Japan’s victory in the Battle of Tsushima and to...
Admiral Togo Heihachiro.
They are together again—the admiral and his flagship.