Posted on 08/05/2016 6:43:02 AM PDT by C19fan
An hour south of Tokyo, on the edge of the bay is a piece of history unique in the world. Embedded in concrete just a few feet from the water is the 114-year-old battleship Mikasa. It's the only surviving pre-dreadnought battleship, not to mention one of the only Imperial navy vessels still intact from that era.
After 21 years in service, the Mikasawas decommissioned, but not scrapped. Instead she was preserved at the request of the Japanese government, with her engines and armament removed, and her hull encased in concrete.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnet.com ...
Whoever went on the tour and did the write up is more than a little ignorant of naval matters.
Is Nova included?
“People forget that during WWI, Japan was on our side.”
People also do not realize that Japan was able to make military use of a whole lot of South Sea islands because those islands had belonged to Germany before WWI, and were taken away from Germany and given to Japan to administer under a League of Nations “mandate” as a result of the war.
In 1905 Japan destroyed Russia’s Baltic Fleet in the Straight of Tsushima /Manchuria. Likely this vessel participated in that epic sea battle.
That goes fine with my 1:1 scale model of the solar system
They also beat the Russians at Port Arthur in the Russo-Sino War. The first time a European power was defeated by and Asian one.
Well, now I know where my good dishes got their name from.
It'll take a bit of scrolling to view it, that's for sure!
You are correct, it seems. Wikipedia has a photo of the Mikasa with a title that it was taken at the start of the battle.
They probably meant ammunition. The big guns are definitely still there. Mock ups maybe?
I’m sold.
That’s the Yamato, not the Mikasa. The Yamato rests at the bottom of the sea somewhere due north of Okinawa.
It is on my bucket list.
After WW2 the Soviets wanted the Mikasa as war reparations, but Nimitz refused.
The battleship Texas is only 104 years old.
Same guns, just de-mil. Not operational, certain components removed. The Texas is the same way.
While only 104 years old, the USS Texas still floats. It looks like this boat is permanently dry docked.
If you're used to modern ships, this thing is small! One reason so many ships of that era went down with all hands is that a serious hit or an internal explosion doesn't leave a lot of room to hide or time to get off. Not much sound-proofing, either, in fact, not much of anything but steel and engines and explosives.
Texas has sprung a lot of leaks over the years and has almost sunk a couple of times. I would guess that it will probably end up like the Mikasa eventually. It would sure make the upkeep a lot easier (I would think, but I’m no expert).
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