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Naval Warfare

IJN Tsukuba


Cruiser / Battlecruiser Warship [ 1907 ]



IJN Tsukuba was ordered by the IJN to replace Japanese naval losses in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 - it saw service in World War 1.



Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 03/30/2020 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]
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To shore up losses incurred during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was given approval for the construction of new warships. In June 1904, the Emergency Fleet Replenishment Budget gave resources to this initiative and the cruiser Tsukuba, and her sister Ikoma, were realized from the venture. The warships were used to replace IJN Yashima and IJN Hatsuse lost to Russian naval mines in the early going.

Tsukuba was laid down on January 14th, 1905 and commissioned on January 14th, 1907 - too late to see service in the conflict with Russia. Nevertheless the two-strong group continued service into the post-war period. However, by this time, ever-more powerful battlecruisers were being completed for the IJN and this forced a reclassification of Tsukuba to that of "battlecruiser" on August 28th, 1912.

As completed, Tsukuba displaced 14,000 tons under normal load and 15,600 tons under full load. She showcased a length of 450 feet with a beam of 75 feet and a draught of 26 feet. Power was from 20 x Miyabara boilers feeding 2 x vertical triple expansion steam engines driving 20,500 horsepower to 2 x shafts. Maximum speed could reach 20.5 knots with ranges out to 5,000 nautical miles. The crew complement numbered 879. Armor protection ranged from 7" at the belt and turrets to nearly 8" at the conning tower. Decks were covered in 3" of protection.

Armament was led by 4 x 12" main guns with 12 x 6" secondary guns. 12 x 4.7" guns were also carried as were 4 x QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss weapons. A torpedo-laying element was also installed by way of 3 x 450mm launch tubes - a common feature of warships of the period.

Throughout the decade, Tsukuba undertook several peacetime voyages to America and Europe. It participated in the United States Navy's "Great White Fleet" passage through Japanese waters during October 1908. The warship remained in service by the time of World War 1 (1914-1918) and was used to blockade Tsingtao, China as it remained under German control (by treaty). She was then used to hunt the German East Asiatic Squadron which was ultimately destroyed at the Battle of the Falklands in December of 1914. From then on, Tsukuba was recalled home and remained there for the duration of the war.

On January 14th, 1917, her magazine ignited when she berthed at Yokosuka which killed between 200 and 300 of her crew. The blast was blamed on aging shell powder which combusted unexpectedly. The vessel sunk but not completely, leading her to be raised after some effort. The warship then served as a target for IJN aviators before being removed from the Naval Register on September 1st, 1917, stripped of her war-making usefulness and sold for scrapping in 1918.

Her sister, IJN Ikoma, was scrapped in 1923 under the terms of the Washington Naval Agreement of 1922.©MilitaryFactory.com
Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.
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Specifications



Service Year
1907

Origin
Imperial Japan national flag graphic
Imperial Japan

Status
DECOMMISSIONED
Destroyed, Scrapped.
Complement
879
PERSONNEL


Class
Tsukuba-class
Number-in-Class
2
VESSELS
Ships-in-Class


IJN Tsukuba; IJN Ikoma


National flag of modern Japan Imperial Japan
(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
Offshore Bombardment
Offshore bombardment / attack of surface targets / areas primarily through onboard ballistic weaponry.
Land-Attack
Offshore strike of surface targets primarily through onboard missile / rocket weaponry.
Maritime Patrol
Active patroling of vital waterways and maritime areas; can also serve as local deterrence against airborne and seaborne threats.
Airspace Denial / Deterrence
Neutralization or deterrence of airborne elements through onboard ballistic of missile weaponry.
Fleet Support
Serving in support (either firepower or material) of the main surface fleet in Blue Water environments.


Length
450.0 ft
137.16 m
Beam
74.8 ft
22.80 m
Draught
26.0 ft
7.92 m
Displacement
14,000
tons


Installed Power: 20 x Miyabara boilers feeding 2 x Vertical triple expansion steam engines developing 20,500 horsepower to 2 x Shafts.
Surface Speed
20.5 kts
(23.6 mph)
Range
5,001 nm
(5,755 mi | 9,262 km)


kts = knots | mph = miles-per-hour | nm = nautical miles | mi = miles | km = kilometers

1 kts = 1.15 mph | 1 nm = 1.15 mi | 1 nm = 1.85 km
4 x 12" (305mm) main guns
12 x 6" (152mm) secondary guns
12 x 4.7" (120mm) guns
4 x QF 3-pounder (47mm) Hotchkiss guns
3 x 18" (450mm) torpedo tubes


Supported Types


Graphical image of a historical warship turreted main gun armament
Graphical image of an aircraft aerial torpedo


(Not all weapon types may be represented in the showcase above)
None.


Military lapel ribbon for the Cold War period
Military lapel ribbon for early warship designs
Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War
Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War
Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War
Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Military lapel ribbon for the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2


Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective naval campaigns / operations / periods.

Images Gallery



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Image of the IJN Tsukuba
Image from the Public Domain.


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