Displacement 12450 tons.
Material Steel.
Length between perpendiculars 374 ft.
” over all 400 ft.
Beam 73½ ft.
Draught 30 ft.
Armament Four 12-in. 40 cals.
Ten 6-in. Q.F. 40 cals.
Twenty 3-pdr. Q.F.
Four 2½ pdr. Q.F.
One torpedo tube in bow.
Four broadside tubes (submerged).
Horse-power (natural draught)
on trials (10,000) Fuji, 10200.
Yashima, 9750.
Speed (natural draught) Fuji, 16.8 knots.
Yashima, 17.7 knots.
Horse-power (forced draught)
(14,000) Fuji, 14,100.
Yashima, 14,075.
Speed (forced draught) (contract
18 knots) Fuji, 18.5 knots.
Yashima, 19.2 knots.
Boilers Cylindrical
(with Humphrys’ ferrules).
Engines (by Humphrys and
Tennant) Triple expansion.
Screws Two.
Weight of armour 3000 tons.
Material of armour Harvey steel.
Normal coal 700 tons.
Bunker capacity 1100 tons.
Complement 600.
[Illustration: PLAN OF FUJI AND YASHIMA.]
These ships are, as has been before noted, improved Royal Sovereigns.
As designed, they would have differed from these ships only in that,
being some 1500 tons smaller, they are able to carry less weight
in the way of coal, etc. Their big guns, 12 in. against 13.5 in.,
are lighter, but against this must be put the fact that they carry
heavy shields to them. Further, the introduction of Harvey steel
in the place of compound armour greatly increased the value of
their armour without adding to its weight. Regarded in the light
of present-day developments, they are defective in protection to
the secondary armament nearly as much as the Royal Sovereigns were
before reconstruction. A comparison of the two ships, Fuji and Royal
Sovereign, is of interest.
ROYAL
FUJI. SOVEREIGN.
Guns 4 A (12-in.). 4 A (13.5-in.).
10 D (6-in. Q.F.). 10 D (6-in. Q.F.).
Steel armour deck on slopes 2½ ins. 3 ins.
Belt (water-line) 18-16 ins. 18-8 ins.
Length of belt 226 ft. 250 ft.
Lower deck 4 ins. 4 ins.
Barbettes 14 ins. 17 ins.
Barbette guns Inclined thick No protection.
shields.
Bulkheads 14 ins. 16 ins.
Casemates (main deck),
thickness in front 6 ins. 6 ins.
Casemate backs 2 ins. 2 ins.
Coal carried normally 700. 900.
Capacity 1100. 1450.
The difference in armour value, caused by the introduction of Harvey
process in time to allow of its adoption on the Fuji, is very marked.
Since then, of course, Harvey has given place to Harvey nickel, and
this in its turn to Krupp process armour, of which 9 ins. would nearly
equal 17 ins. of Royal Sovereign armour. But their fine 12-in. guns, as
powerful still as any afloat, keep the Fuji class still in the ranks of
good fighting ships.
[Illustration: FUJI.]
[Illustration: PLAN OF SHIKISHIMA.]
In appearance the two ships are almost identical, the only difference
being in the arrangement of the ventilators.
Between them, however, an important difference exists; the Yashima has
her dead wood cut away aft, while the Fugi has not. Consequently, the
Yashima is much the handier vessel, but, in part from the fact that
she was the first ship to have the dead wood aft cut away, in part
from inherent weaknesses thereby engendered, the Fuji is regarded as
the better ship of the two. The Yashima, being docked without proper
precautions suitable to the case, exhibited some dropping aft, in
consequence of the effect of the unsupported weight. This led to such
sterns being countermanded for subsequent Japanese battleships, though
in cruisers it is always applied. The turning circle of the Yoshima, it
may be mentioned, is extremely small.
Finally, it may be noted that these two ships were the first to be
fitted with the Elswick submerged torpedo tube. They have the earliest
pattern, and it will not deliver torpedoes very successfully when the
ship is at high speed.