List of battleships of Japan

Yamato and Musashi, the two largest battleships ever built

In the late 19th century, the strategy of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was based on the radical Jeune Ecole naval philosophy, as promoted by French military advisor and naval architect Emile Bertin. This emphasized cheap torpedo boats and commerce raiding to offset expensive, heavily armoured ships. The acquisition of two German-built Dingyuan-class ironclads by the Imperial Chinese Beiyang Fleet in 1885 threatened Japan's interests in Korea. A visit by the Chinese warships to Japan in early 1891 forced the Japanese government to acknowledge that the IJN required similarly armed and armoured ships of its own to counter the ironclads; the three lightly armored Matsushima-class cruisers ordered from France would not suffice, despite their powerful guns. The IJN decided to order a pair of the latest battleships from the United Kingdom^[1] as Japan lacked the technology and capability to construct its own battleships.^[2]

Combat experience in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 convinced the IJN that the Jeune Ecole doctrine was untenable. Therefore, Japan promulgated a ten-year naval build-up in early 1896, to modernize and expand its fleet in preparation for further conflicts, with the construction of a total of six battleships and six armored cruisers at its core.^[3] These ships were provided for from the £30,000,000 indemnity paid by China after losing the First Sino-Japanese War and the four remaining battleships of the program were also built in the UK.^[4]

Rising tensions between the Japanese and the Russian Empire over control of Korea and Manchuria in the early 1900s caused the former to begin the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–5 with a surprise attack on the Russian base at Port Arthur. The Imperial Japanese Army captured the port, and the surviving ships of the Pacific Squadron by the end of the year, but the Russians had dispatched the bulk of their Baltic Fleet to relieve Port Arthur before then. It did not reach the Korea Strait until May 1905 and was virtually annihilated by the IJN in the Battle of Tsushima despite significantly outnumbering the Japanese. During the war, Japan captured a total of six Russian pre-dreadnoughts. These were all repaired and commissioned into the Japanese fleet; of these, three were later returned to Russia during World War I, as the two countries were by then allies. The magnitude of the victory at Tsushima caused the leadership of the IJN to believe that a surface engagement between the main fleets was the only decisive battle in modern warfare and would be decided by battleships armed with the largest guns. The corollary to this was that Japanese ships had to be qualitatively superior to those of their opponents to ensure victory.^[5]

After the war, the Japanese Empire immediately turned its focus to the two remaining rivals for imperial dominance in the Pacific Ocean: Britain and the United States.^[6] Satō Tetsutarō, an IJN admiral and military theorist, speculated that conflict would inevitably arise between Japan and at least one of its two main rivals. To that end, he called for the IJN to maintain a fleet with at least 70% as many capital ships as the US Navy. This ratio, Satō theorized, would enable the Imperial Japanese Navy to defeat the US Navy in one major battle in Japanese waters in any eventual conflict. Accordingly, the 1907 Imperial Defense Policy called for the construction of a battle fleet of eight modern battleships, 20,000 long tons (20,321 t) each, and eight modern armored cruisers, 18,000 long tons (18,289 t) each.^[7] This was the genesis of the Eight-Eight Fleet Program, the development of a cohesive battle line of sixteen capital ships.^[8]

The launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 by the Royal Navy raised the stakes,^[9] and complicated Japan's plans as she rendered all existing battleships obsolete.^[10] The launch of the battlecruiser HMS Invincible the following year was a further setback for Japan's quest for parity.^[11] When the two new Satsuma-class battleships and two Tsukuba-class armored cruisers, launched by 1911, were outclassed by their British counterparts, the Eight-Eight Fleet Program was restarted.^[12]

The first battleships built for the renewed Eight-Eight Fleet Program were the two dreadnoughts of the Kawachi class, ordered in 1907 and laid down in 1908. In 1910, the Navy put forward a request to the Diet (parliament) to secure funding for the entirety of the program at once. Because of economic constraints, the proposal was cut first by the Navy Ministry to seven battleships and three battlecruisers, then by the cabinet to four armored cruisers and a single battleship. The Diet amended this by authorizing the construction of four battlecruisers (the Kongō class) and one battleship, later named Fusō, in what became the Naval Emergency Expansion bill.^[13]

Key^[14]

Armament	The number and type of the primary armament
Armor	The thickness of the belt armor
Displacement	Ship displacement at normal load
Propulsion	Number of shafts, type of propulsion system, and top speed/horsepower generated
Service	The dates work began and finished on the ship and its ultimate fate
Laid down	The date the keel began to be assembled
Commissioned/Captured	The date the ship was commissioned or captured

Pre-Dreadnoughts

Fuji class

Fuji at anchor, c. 1908

The Fuji-class ships were the first battleships in the IJN, and were ordered in response to the Chinese acquisition of two ironclad battleships. The design for Fuji was based on the Royal Sovereign-class battleships being built for the Royal Navy at that time, albeit slightly smaller and faster with improved armor and guns.

The ships participated in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, including the Battle of Port Arthur in February 1904 and two bombardments of Port Arthur during the following month. Yashima struck a mine off the city in May and capsized while under tow several hours later. Fuji fought in the Battles of the Yellow Sea and Tsushima and was lightly damaged in the latter action. She was reclassified as a coastal defence ship in 1910 and served as a training ship for the rest of her active career. The ship was hulked in 1922 and converted into a barracks ship fitted with classrooms. Fuji was finally broken up for scrap in 1948.

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Fuji	4 × 12 in (300 mm) /40 guns[15]	18 in (460 mm) Harvey armor[16]	12,230–12,533 long tons (12,426–12,734 t)[16]	2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 13,500 ihp (10,100 kW), 18.25 kn (33.80 km/h; 21.00 mph)[17]	1 August 1894[18]	17 August 1897[18]	Broken up, 1948[19]
Yashima					6 December 1894[20]	9 September 1897[21]	Foundered, 15 May 1904 after hitting a mine[21]

Shikishima class

Shikishima in 1905

The design of the Shikishima class was a modified and improved version of the Majestic-class battleships of the Royal Navy. They had the same armament and similar machinery as the Fuji class which was intended to allow them to work together as a homogenous group.^[22] The ships participated in the Russo-Japanese War, including the Battle of Port Arthur on the second day of the war. Hatsuse sank after striking two mines off Port Arthur in May 1904. Shikishima fought in the Battles of the Yellow Sea and Tsushima and was lightly damaged in the latter action, although shells prematurely exploded in the barrels of her main guns in each battle. The ship was reclassified as a coastal defence ship in 1921 and served as a training ship for the rest of her career. She was disarmed and hulked in 1923 and finally broken up for scrap in 1948.

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Shikishima	4 × 12 in /40 guns[23]	9 in (230 mm) Harvey armor[24]	14,850–15,000 long tons (15,090–15,240 t)[4]	2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 14,500 ihp (10,800 kW), 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)[4]	29 March 1897[18]	26 January 1900[18]	Broken up, January 1948[18]
Hatsuse					10 January 1898[4]	18 January 1901[4]	Sank 15 May 1904 after hitting two mines[19]

Asahi

Asahi in July 1900

Asahi's design was a modified version of the Formidable-class battleships of the Royal Navy, with two additional 6-inch (152 mm) guns.^[25] Shortly after her arrival in Japan, she became flagship of the Standing Fleet, the IJN's primary combat fleet. She participated in every major naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War and was lightly damaged during the Battles of the Yellow Sea and Tsushima. Asahi saw no combat during World War I, although the ship participated in the Siberian Intervention in 1918.

Reclassified as a coastal defence ship in 1921, Asahi was disarmed two years later to meet the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty, after which she served as a training and submarine depot ship. She was modified into a submarine salvage and rescue ship before being placed in reserve in 1928. Asahi was recommissioned in late 1937, after the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and used to transport Japanese troops. In 1938, she was converted into a repair ship and based first at Japanese-occupied Shanghai, China, and then Camranh Bay, French Indochina, from late 1938 to 1941. The ship was transferred to occupied Singapore in early 1942 to repair a damaged light cruiser and ordered to return home in May. She was sunk en route by the American submarine USS Salmon, although most of her crew survived.

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Asahi	4 × 12 in /40 guns[23]	9 in Harvey armor[26]	15,200 long tons (15,400 t)[27]	2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 15,000 ihp (11,200 kW), 18 kn[28]	1 August 1897[29]	31 July 1900[30]	Sunk by USS Salmon, 25/26 May 1942[31]

Mikasa

Mikasa as a museum ship, 2010

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Mikasa	4 × 12 in /40 guns[23]	9 in Harvey armor[32]	15,140 long tons (15,380 t)[27]	2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 15000 ihp, 18 kn[33]	24 January 1899[34]	1 March 1902[34]	Preserved as a museum ship[35]

Tango

Tango at anchor, c. 1908–09

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Captured	Fate
Tango	4 × 12 in /40 guns[36]	14.5 in (370 mm) Krupp armor[36]	11,500 long tons (11,700 t)[36]	2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 10,600 ihp (7,900 kW), 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph)[36]	19 May 1892[37]	2 January 1905[38]	Returned to Russia, 1916,[39] scrapped, 1924[40]

Peresvet class

Sagami, still in Russian service as Peresvet in 1901

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Captured	Fate
Sagami	2 × 10 in (250 mm) /45 guns[41]	9 in Harvey armor[41]	13,810 long tons (14,030 t)[41]	2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 14,500 ihp (10,800 kW), 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)[41]	21 November 1895[42]	2 January 1905[43]	Mined off Port Said, Egypt, 4 January 1917[44]
Suwo			13,320 long tons (13,530 t)[41]		21 February 1899[45]	2 January 1905[46]	Probably scrapped, 1922–23[47]

Hizen

Hizen at anchor

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Captured	Fate
Hizen	4 × 12 in /40 guns[48]	9 in Krupp armor	12,780 long tons (12,985 t)[49]	2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 16,000 ihp (11,900 kW), 18 kn[49]	29 July 1899[50]	2 January 1905[51]	Sunk as gunnery target[52]

Iwami

Iwami at anchor with a floatplane overhead

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Captured	Fate
Iwami	4 × 12 in /40 guns[53]	7.64 in (194 mm) Krupp armor[54]	14,151 long tons (14,378 t)[55]	2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 15,800 ihp (11,800 kW), 18 kn[56]	1 June 1900[55]	28 May 1905[57]	Sunk as target, 10 July 1924,[58]

Katori class

Kashima shortly after entering service in 1906

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Katori	4 × 12-in /45 guns, 4 × 10 in /45 guns[59]	9 in Krupp cemented armor[59]	15,950 long tons (16,210 t)[60]	2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 15,600 to 16,000 ihp (11,600 to 11,900 kW), 18 kn[60]	27 April 1904[61]	20 May 1906[61]	Sold for scrap, April 1924[62]
Kashima			16,400 long tons (16,700 t)[60]		29 February 1904[61]	23 May 1906[61]	Broken up, 1924–25[62]

Satsuma class

Postcard of Satsuma at anchor

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Satsuma	4 × 12 in /45 guns, 12 × 10 in/45 guns[63]	9 in Krupp cemented armor[63]	19,372 long tons (19,683 t)[63]	2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 17,300 to 16,000 ihp (12,900 to 11,900 kW), 18.25 kn[63]	15 May 1905[64]	25 March 1910[64]	Sunk as a target ship, 7 September 1924[64]
Aki			20,100 long tons (20,400 t)[63]		15 March 1906[64]	11 March 1911[64]	Sunk as a target ship, 2 September 1924[64]

Dreadnoughts battleships

Kawachi class

Postcard of Kawachi

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Kawachi	4 × 12 in /50 guns, 8 × 12 in /45 guns[65]	12 in Krupp cemented armor[65]	20,823 long tons (21,157 t)[65]	2 shafts, 2 steam turbines, 25,000 shp (18,600 kW), 21 kn (39 km/h; 24 mph)[65]	1 April 1909[66]	31 March 1912[66]	Sunk by magazine explosion, 12 July 1918[66]
Settsu			21,443 long tons (21,787 t)[65]		18 January 1909[66]	30 March 1911[66]	Sunk, 24 July 1945[66]

Fusō class

Fusō on trials in 1933 after her modernization

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Fusō	12 × 14 in (360 mm) /45 guns[66]	12 in[66]	28,863 long tons (29,326 t)[67]	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, 40,000 shp (29,800 kW), 22.5 kn (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph)[66]	11 March 1912[68]	8 November 1915[68]	Sunk during the Battle of Surigao Strait, 25 October 1944[66]
Yamashiro					20 November 1913[69]	31 March 1917[69]

Ise class

Ise underway after her modernization

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Ise	12 × 14 in /45 guns[70]	12 in[70]	30,770 long tons (31,260 t)[70]	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, 45,000 shp (33,600 kW), 23 kn (43 km/h; 26 mph)[70]	10 May 1915[71]	15 December 1917[71]	Sunk, 28 July 1945[70]
Hyūga					6 May 1915[71]	30 April 1918[71]	Sunk, 24 July 1945[70]

Nagato class

Nagato at anchor, c. 1924

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Nagato	8 × 41 cm (16 in) /45 guns[72]	12 in Vickers cemented armor[72]	32,720 long tons (33,250 t)[72]	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, 80,000 shp (59,700 kW), 26 kn (48 km/h; 30 mph)[72]	28 August 1917[73]	25 November 1920[73]	Sunk during Operation Crossroads, 29/30 July 1946[72]
Mutsu					1 June 1918[73]	24 October 1921[73]	Sunk by internal explosion, 8 June 1943[72]

Tosa class

Scale model of Kaga, had she been completed as a battleship

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Tosa	10 × 41 cm /45 guns[74]	11 in (280 mm) Vickers cemented armor[74]	39,300 long tons (39,900 t)[74]	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, 91,000 shp (67,900 kW), 26.5 kn (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph)[74]	16 February 1920[74]	—	Scuttled, 9 February 1925[75]
Kaga					19 July 1920[74]	31 March 1928[74]	Converted into an aircraft carrier, sunk during the Battle of Midway, 4 June 1942[74]

Kii class

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Kii	10 × 41 cm /45 guns[74]	292 mm (11.5 in)[74]	41,900 long tons (42,600 t)[74]	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, 131,200 shp (97,800 kW), 29.75 kn (55.10 km/h; 34.24 mph)[74]	—	—	—
Owari
No. 11
No. 12

Number 13 class

Line-drawing of the No. 13 design

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
No. 13	8 × 45.7 cm (18.0 in) /45 guns[76]	330 mm (13 in)[76]	46,700 long tons (47,500 t)[76]	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, 150,000 shp (111,900 kW), 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)[76]	—	—	—
No. 14
No. 15
No. 16

Yamato class

Yamato on trials in 1941

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Yamato	9 × 46 cm (18.1 in) /45 guns[77]	410 mm (16 in) Vickers Hardened[77]	61,331 long tons (62,315 t)[77]	4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, 150,000 shp, 27 kn (50 km/h; 31 mph)[77]	4 November 1937[77]	16 December 1941[77]	Sunk in air attack, 7 April 1945[77]
Musashi					29 March 1938[77]	5 August 1942[77]	Sunk in air attack, 24 October 1944[77]
Shinano					4 May 1940[77]	19 November 1944[77]	Converted to an aircraft carrier, sunk 28 November 1944[78]
No. 111					7 July 1940[77]	—	—

Design A-150

Ship	Armament	Armor	Displacement	Propulsion	Service
					Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
No. 798	6 × 51 cm (20 in) /45 guns[79]	Probably 457 mm[77]	Approximately 70,000 long tons (71,000 t)[80]	Unknown	—	—	—
No. 799

Footnotes

1. Evans & Peattie, pp. 15, 19–20, 60
2. Brook 1999, p. 123
3. Evans & Peattie, pp. 15, 57–60
4. Brook 1999, p. 125
5. Evans & Peattie, pp. 85–86, 110, 116–32
6. Stille, p. 4
7. Evans & Peattie, pp. 143, 150
8. Stille, p. 7
9. Evans & Peattie, p. 152
10. Sandler, p. 90
11. Evans & Peattie, p. 154
12. Evans & Peattie, p. 159
13. Evans & Peattie, p. 160
14. All figures are for the ship as completed
15. Lengerer 2009, pp. 27, 36
16. Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 16
17. Lengerer September 2008, pp. 23, 27
18. Silverstone, p. 327
19. Silverstone, p. 328
20. Brook 1985, p. 268
21. Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 17
22. Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 221
23. Brook 1999, p. 126
24. Brook 1999, pp. 125–26
25. Preston, p. 189
26. Lengerer September 2008, p. 27
27. Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 18
28. Lengerer September 2008, pp. 22, 24, 26
29. Silverstone, p. 326
30. Lengerer September 2008, p. 30
31. Hackett & Kingsepp
32. Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 222
33. Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, pp. 18–19
34. Silverstone, p. 334
35. Corkill, Ednan (18 December 2011). "How The Japan Times Saved a Foundering Battleship, Twice". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
36. McLaughlin 2003, pp. 84–85, 90
37. McLaughlin 2003, pp. 84, 86, 90
38. Silverstone, p. 337
39. Watts & Gordon, p. 26
40. McLaughlin 2003, p. 91
41. McLaughlin 2003, pp. 107–08, 112–14
42. McLaughlin 2003, p. 107
43. McLaughlin 2008, p. 46
44. Preston, p. 207
45. McLaughlin 2003, p. 108
46. McLaughlin 2003, p. 48
47. McLaughlin 2008, p. 49
48. McLaughlin 2000, p. 57
49. McLaughlin 2000, pp. 54–55
50. McLaughlin 2000, p. 54
51. McLaughlin 2000, p. 64
52. McLaughlin 2000, p. 64
53. McLaughlin 2003, p. 142
54. McLaughlin, pp. 136–37
55. McLaughlin 2003, p. 136
56. McLaughlin 2003, pp. 137, 144
57. Forczyk, pp. 70–71
58. Lengerer September 2008b, p. 66
59. Gardiner & Gray, p. 227
60. Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 22
61. Silverstone, p. 332
62. Brook 1985, p. 282
63. Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 23
64. Silverstone, p. 336
65. Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 24
66. Gardiner & Gray, p. 229
67. Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 25
68. Silverstone, p. 328
69. Silverstone, p. 339
70. Gardiner & Gray, p. 230
71. Whitley, p. 193
72. Gardiner & Gray, p. 231
73. Whitley, p. 200
74. Gardiner & Gray, p. 232
75. Lengerer 2010, p. 26
76. Gardiner & Gray, p. 235
77. Chesneau, p. 178
78. Chesneau, p. 184
79. Garzke & Dulin, p. 85
80. Breyer, p. 330

References

• Breyer, Siegfried (1973). Battleships and Battle Cruisers, 1905–1970. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. OCLC 702840.
• Brook, Peter (1985). "Armstrong Battleships for Japan". Warship International (Toledo, Ohio: International Naval Research Organization) XXII (3): 268–82. ISSN 0043-0374.
• Brook, Peter (1999). Warships for Export: Armstrong Warships 1867 – 1927. Gravesend, Kent, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-89-4.
• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
• Forczyk, Robert (2009). Russian Battleship vs Japanese Battleship, Yellow Sea 1904–05. Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84603-330-8.
• Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
• Hackett, Bob & Kingsepp, Sander (2010). "IJN Repair Ship Asahi: Tabular Record of Movement". Kido Butai. Combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
• Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Lengerer, Hans (September 2008). Ahlberg, Lars, ed. "Japanese Battleships and Battlecruisers – Part II". Contributions to the History of Imperial Japanese Warships (Paper V): 6–32.(subscription required)(contact the editor at [e-mail] for subscription information)
• Lengerer, Hans (September 2008b). Ahlberg, Lars, ed. "Iwani (ex-Orël)". Contributions to the History of Imperial Japanese Warships (Paper V): 64–66.(subscription required)
• Lengerer, Hans (March 2009). Ahlberg, Lars, ed. "Japanese Battleships and Battlecruisers – Part III". Contributions to the History of Imperial Japanese Warships (Paper VI): 7–55.(subscription required)
• Lengerer, Hans (June 2010). Ahlberg, Lars, ed. "Battleships of the Kaga Class and the so-called Tosa Experiments". Contributions to the History of Imperial Japanese Warships (Special Paper I). (subscription required)
• McLaughlin, Stephen (September 2008). Ahlberg, Lars, ed. "Peresvet and Pobéda". Contributions to the History of Imperial Japanese Warships (Paper V): 45–49.(subscription required)
• McLaughlin, Stephen (2000). Preston, Anthony, ed. The Retvizan: An American Battleship for the Czar. Warship. 2000–2001. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 48–65. ISBN 0-85177-791-0.
• McLaughlin, Stephen (2003). Russian & Soviet Battleships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-481-4.
• Sandler, Stanley (2004). Battleships: An Illustrated History of their Impact. Weapons and Warfare. Santa Barbara, California: ABC Clio. ISBN 1-85109-410-5.
• Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
• Stille, Mark (2008). Imperial Japanese Navy Battleships 1941-45. New Vanguard 146. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84603-280-6.
• Watts, Anthony John & Gordon, Brian G. (1971). The Imperial Japanese Navy. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. OCLC 202878.
• Whitley, M. J. (1998). Battleships of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-184-X.

External links

• Combinedfleet.com