Gps Coordinates / 35.2853276,139.6738748
Japanese Battleship Mikasa 1890 VR Japan
82-19 Inaokacho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 238-0003, Japan
A suicidal sailor attempted to blow her up at anchor near Kobe. During World War I, she served on coast-defence duties, based at Maizuru, during 1914 - 15 and was then assigned to the Second and Fifth Squadrons, in that order, for the rest of the war.
Explosion at Sasebo on the night of 11/12 September 1905 that killed 251 crewmen.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2856228 / Gps Link 35.2855983 / Gps Link 35.2855983
Gps Coordinates / 35.2856228,139.674252 / 35.2855983,139.6742447 / 35.2857999,139.6745083
Battle of Tsushima on 27 May 1905 (Battle within Sea of Japan) Mikasa was hit more than 40 times during the battle (Russo-Japanese War) Mikasa suffered 113 personnel casualties, the entire Japanese force combined lost 117 men killed and 583 wounded to all causes during the battle.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2857736 / Gps Link 35.2859449 / Gps Link 35.2856501
Gps Coordinates / 35.2857736,139.6746446 / 35.2859449,139.6745192 / 35.2856501,139.6743006
Pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2848661 / Gps Link 35.2848823 / Gps Link 35.2849469
Gps Coordinates / 35.2848661,139.6739551 / 35.2848823,139.6740215 / 35.2849469,139.6740173
Named after Mount Mikasa in Nara, Japan, the ship served as the flagship of Vice Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō throughout the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 - 1905, including the Battle of Port Arthur on the second day of the war and the Battles of the Yellow Sea and Tsushima.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2849521 / Gps Link 35.2849202 / Gps Link 35.2846801
Gps Coordinates / 35.2849521,139.6741224 / 35.2849202,139.6741596 / 35.2846801,139.6741486
Days after the end of the war, Mikasa's magazine accidentally exploded and sank the ship.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2846437 / Gps Link 35.284916 / Gps Link 35.2849828
Gps Coordinates / 35.2846437,139.6743999 / 35.284916,139.6744441 / 35.2849828,139.6745573
She was salvaged and her repairs took over two years to complete.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2849778 / Gps Link 35.285126 / Gps Link 35.2852876
Gps Coordinates / 35.2849778,139.6746435 / 35.285126,139.6745208 / 35.2852876,139.6745511
Afterwards, the ship served as a coast-defence ship during World War I and supported Japanese forces during the Siberian Intervention in the Russian Civil War.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2852988 / Gps Link 35.2853625 / Gps Link 35.2853557
Gps Coordinates / 35.2852988,139.6746389 / 35.2853625,139.6746634 / 35.2853557,139.6746904
After 1922, Mikasa was decommissioned in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty and preserved as a museum ship at Yokosuka.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.285232 / Gps Link 35.285188 / Gps Link 35.285222
Gps Coordinates / 35.285232,139.6746429 / 35.285188,139.67459 / 35.285222,139.6744757
She was badly neglected during the post-World War II Occupation of Japan and required extensive refurbishing in the late 1950s.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2852385 / Gps Link 35.2851752 / Gps Link 35.2852493
Gps Coordinates / 35.2852385,139.6744006 / 35.2851752,139.6743021 / 35.2852493,139.6743558
She has been partially restored, and is now a museum ship located at Mikasa Park in Yokosuka.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2852607 / Gps Link 35.2852997 / Gps Link 35.28533
Gps Coordinates / 35.2852607,139.6742965 / 35.2852997,139.6741342 / 35.28533,139.674127
Mikasa is the last remaining example of a pre-dreadnought battleship anywhere in the world and also the last example of a British-built battleship.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2854023 / Gps Link 35.2855048 / Gps Link 35.2855017
Gps Coordinates / 35.2854023,139.6741352 / 35.2855048,139.6741443 / 35.2855017,139.6741978
The combat experience of the lightly armoured Matsushima-class cruisers during the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894 -1895
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2855976 / Gps Link 35.2856345 / Gps Link 35.2856794
Gps Coordinates / 35.2855976,139.6742152 / 35.2856345,139.6742181 / 35.2856794,139.6742236
Convinced the Imperial Japanese Navy of weaknesses in the Jeune Ecole naval philosophy, and Japan embarked on a program to modernize and expand its fleet in preparation for further confrontations.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2857163 / Gps Link 35.2857071 / Gps Link -10.4302518
Gps Coordinates / 35.2857163,139.674231 / 35.2857071,139.6742804 / 35.2856869,139.6743476
In particular, Japan promulgated a ten-year naval build-up programme, with the construction of six battleships and six armoured cruisers at its core.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2857115 / Gps Link 35.2857014 / Gps Link 35.2856184
Gps Coordinates / 35.2857115,139.6743497 / 35.2857014,139.6744459 / 35.2856184,139.674438
These ships were paid for from the £30,000,000 indemnity paid by China after losing the First Sino-Japanese War.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2855415 / Gps Link 35.2855389 / Gps Link 35.2855657
Gps Coordinates / 35.2855415,139.6744241 / 35.2855389,139.67446 / 35.2855657,139.6744601
As with the earlier Fuji and Shikishima-class battleships, Japan lacked the technology and capability to construct its own battleships, and turned again to the United Kingdom for the four remaining battleships of the programme.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2855925 / Gps Link 35.2855957 / Gps Link -10.4302518
Gps Coordinates / 35.2855925,139.6744649 / 35.2855957,139.6744245 / 35.2855994,139.6743851
Mikasa, the last of these ships, was ordered from the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness in 1898 at the cost of £880,000 (8.8 million yen at that time).
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2856022 / Gps Link 35.2856578 / Gps Link 35.2857218
Gps Coordinates / 35.2856022,139.6743514 / 35.2856578,139.6743541 / 35.2857218,139.6743835
Although she closely resembled several of the other ships ordered in this program, she was the only ship in her class.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2857453 / Gps Link 35.2857155 / Gps Link 35.2857218
Gps Coordinates / 35.2857453,139.6744507 / 35.2857155,139.6744453 / 35.2857218,139.6743835
On 5 August 2009, Mikasa was repainted by sailors from USS Nimitz.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.285711 / Gps Link 35.2856418 / Gps Link 35.2855895
Gps Coordinates / 35.285711,139.6745001 / 35.2856418,139.674508 / 35.2855895,139.6744937
The ship was decommissioned on 23 September 1923 following the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and scheduled for destruction.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2855406 / Gps Link 35.2855117 / Gps Link 35.2855191
Gps Coordinates / 35.2855406,139.6744864 / 35.2855117,139.6744465 / 35.2855191,139.6743704
However, at the request of the Japanese government, each of the signatory countries to the treaty agreed that Mikasa could be preserved as a memorial ship with her hull encased in concrete.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2855532 / Gps Link 35.2854828 / Gps Link 35.2854751
Gps Coordinates / 35.2855532,139.6743422 / 35.2854828,139.6743622 / 35.2854751,139.6744416
On 12 November 1926, Mikasa was opened for display in Yokosuka in the presence of Crown Prince Hirohito and Tōgō.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2854398 / Gps Link 35.285451 / Gps Link 35.2854089
Gps Coordinates / 35.2854398,139.674435 / 35.285451,139.6743573 / 35.2854089,139.6743503
Following the surrender of Japan in 1945, the ship deteriorated under control of the occupation forces.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2853993 / Gps Link 35.2854794 / Gps Link 35.2854127
Gps Coordinates / 35.2853993,139.674429 / 35.2854794,139.6743296 / 35.2854127,139.6743156
In 1955, American businessman John Rubin, formerly of Barrow, England, wrote a letter to the Japan Times about the state of the ship, which was the catalyst for a new restoration campaign.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2852856 / Gps Link 35.2852778 / Gps Link 35.2852708
Gps Coordinates / 35.2852856,139.6742918 / 35.2852778,139.6743646 / 35.2852708,139.6744414
With the support of the Japanese public, and also Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the restored battleship reopened in 1961.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2853948 / Gps Link 35.2854578 / Gps Link 35.2851319
Gps Coordinates / 35.2853948,139.674465 / 35.2854578,139.6744745 / 35.2851319,139.6744419
Mikasa is the only surviving example of a pre-dreadnought battleship in the world.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2850206 / Gps Link 35.2849647 / Gps Link 35.2849772
Gps Coordinates / 35.2850206,139.6744159 / 35.2849647,139.6743685 / 35.2849772,139.6743168
She carried a maximum of 2,000 long tons (2,000 t) of coal which allowed her to steam for 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km - 10,000 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h)
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2849858 / Gps Link 35.284911 / Gps Link 35.2848203
Gps Coordinates / 35.2849858,139.6742444 / 35.284911,139.6743097 / 35.2848203,139.6743274
Mikasa is remembered in Barrow-in-Furness, the town of its construction, by Mikasa Street on Walney Island.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2848229 / Gps Link 35.2848244 / Gps Link 35.2847488
Gps Coordinates / 35.2848229,139.674274 / 35.2848244,139.6742167 / 35.2847488,139.6742091
The ship supported the Japanese intervention in Siberia during the Russian Civil War during 1921 and was reclassified on 1 September 1921 as a first-class coast-defence ship.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.284694 / Gps Link 35.2846498 / Gps Link 35.2846275
Gps Coordinates / 35.284694,139.6742081 / 35.2846498,139.6742192 / 35.2846275,139.6741847
Ten of these guns were positioned on the main deck and the other four guns were placed above them at the corners of the superstructure
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2845819 / Gps Link 35.2846175 / Gps Link 35.2846454
Gps Coordinates / 35.2845819,139.67424 / 35.2846175,139.6743054 / 35.2846454,139.6742712
She was hit twenty times, two of which knocked out her aft 12-inch gun turret, and suffered 125 casualties among her crew.
Link Location Gps / Gps Link 35.2846909 / Gps Link 35.2847382
Gps Coordinates / 35.2846909,139.6743051 / 35.2847382,139.6743161
In turn, she concentrated most of her fire upon the battleships Poltava and Tsesarevich ships
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- MOST WANTED during it's time of battle -
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During the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 10 August, Mikasa was at the head of the column of Japanese battleships and was one of the primary targets of the Russian ships.
