Japanese battleship Yamashiro

Yamashiro at Tateyama, December 1934
History
Japan
NameYamashiro
NamesakeYamashiro Province
BuilderYokosuka Naval Arsenal
Laid down20 November 1913
Launched3 November 1915
Commissioned31 March 1917
Stricken31 August 1945
FateSunk during the Battle of Surigao Strait, 25 October 1944
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeFusō-class battleship
Displacement
Length
  • 192.1 m (630 ft 3 in) (pp)
  • 202.7 m (665 ft) (o/a)
Beam28.7 meters (94 ft 2 in)
Draft8.7 meters (28 ft 7 in)
Installed power
Propulsion4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph)
Range8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement1,193
Armament
Armor
General characteristics (1944)
Displacement34,700 long tons (35,300 t)
Length212.75 m (698 ft) (o.a.)
Beam33.1 m (108 ft 7 in)
Draft9.69 meters (31 ft 9 in)
Installed power
  • 6 × water-tube boilers
  • 75,000 shp (56,000 kW)
Propulsion4 × steam turbines
Speed24.5 knots (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph)
Range11,800 nmi (21,900 km; 13,600 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complementapproximately 1,900
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
ArmorDeck: 51–152 mm (2–6 in)
Aircraft carried3 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities1 × catapult

Yamashiro (Japanese: 山城, "Mountain castle", named after the ancient Yamashiro Province) was the second of two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1915 and commissioned in 1917, she initially patrolled off the coast of China, playing no part in World War I. In 1923, she assisted survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake.

Yamashiro was modernized between 1930 and 1935, with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nevertheless, with only 14-inch guns, she was outclassed by other Japanese battleships at the beginning of World War II, and played auxiliary roles for most of the war.

By 1944, though, she was forced into front-line duty, serving as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Shōji Nishimura's Southern Force at the Battle of Surigao Strait, the southernmost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. During fierce night fighting in the early hours of 25 October against a superior American and Australian force, Yamashiro was sunk by torpedoes and naval gunfire. Nishimura went down with his ship, and only 10 crewmembers survived.