Japanese battleship Mutsu
Service
- as Mutsu24 October 1921 — 1 September 19431,461 days of the war
- Name
- Mutsu
- Namesake
- Mutsu Province
- Builder
- Yokosuka Naval Arsenal
- Laid down
- 1 June 1918
- Launched
- 31 May 1920
- Commissioned
- 24 October 1921
- Struck
- 1 September 1943
- Fate
- Sunk by internal explosion, 8 June 1943
By accident (1943) - Status
- Wreck
Specifications — As built
- Displacement, standard
- 32,203 long tons (32,720 t)
- Length
- 215.8 m (708 ft) OA
- Beam
- 28.96 m (95 ft)
- Draught
- 9 m (29.5 ft)
- Speed
- 26.5 knots (49.1 km/h, 30.5 mph)
- Range
- 5,500 nmi (10,186 km)
- Complement
- 1,333
- Main gun
- 410 mm (16.1 in)
Mutsu was a Nagato-class battleship in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship was named after Mutsu Province. Yokosuka Naval Arsenal laid her keel on 1 June 1918. Launched on 31 May 1920, she entered service on 24 October 1921.
She was one of two ships of her class. The class followed the Ise-class battleship and was succeeded by the Tosa-class battleship.
Displacement was 32,203 long tons. She measured 215.8 m (708 ft) long with a beam of 29.0 m (95 ft). Her designed speed was 26.5 knots, and she carried a complement of 1,333.
Her main battery was eight 410 mm (16.1 in) guns in four twin mountings. Her machinery developed 80,000 shp through four shafts.
She was in commission for 1,461 days of the Second World War. She was struck from the register on 1 September 1943.
She was sunk on 8 June 1943 by accident, at 33°58′N 132°24′E. The wreck survives.
Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.
Armament and machinery
This vessel is recorded in 2 configurations. Wartime refits changed armament and complement substantially, so each is kept separately rather than averaged into one set of figures. The figures above are as built.
As built
- Propulsion
- 4 shafts; 4 × steam turbines
- Power
- 21 × water-tube boilers
- 80000 shp
- Armament
- 4 × twin 41 cm (16.1 in) guns
- 20 × single 14 cm (5.5 in) guns
- 4 × single 76 mm (3 in) AA guns
- 8 × 533 mm torpedo tubes
- Armour
- Waterline belt: 305 - 100 mm
- Deck: 69 mm + 75 mm
- Gun turrets: 356 - 190 mm
- Barbettes: 305 mm
- Conning tower: 369 mm
1943
- Displacement, standard
- 38,433 long tons (39,050 t)
- Length
- 224.94 m (738 ft)
- Beam
- 34.6 m (113.5 ft)
- Draught
- 9.46 m (31 ft)
- Speed
- 25.3 knots (46.8 km/h, 29.1 mph)
- Range
- 8,650 nmi (16,020 km)
- Complement
- 1,475
- Main gun
- 410 mm (16.1 in)
- Power
- 10 × water-tube boilers
- 82578 shp
- Armament
- 4 × twin 41 cm guns
- 18 × single 14 cm guns
- 4 × twin 12.7 cm DP guns
- 10 × twin 25 mm AA guns
- Armour
- Deck: 69 mm + 100 mm + 38 mm
- Gun turrets: 508 - 190 mm
- Barbettes: 457 mm
- Aircraft
- 3 × floatplanes
Sister ships
Sources
- Facts harvested from Japanese battleship Mutsu on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Photograph: user:Akagi — http://www.bosamar.com/files/nagato03.jpg — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons