Tosa at Nagasaki on 31 July 1922; the ship is only complete up to the main deck, hence the lack of any superstructure aside from the small bridge
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History | |
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Empire of Japan | |
Name: | Tosa |
Namesake: | Tosa Province |
Ordered: | 1918 Fiscal Year |
Builder: | Mitsubishi, Nagasaki |
Laid down: | 2 February 1920 |
Launched: | 12 December 1921 |
Fate: |
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General characteristics | |
Class and type: | Tosa-class battleship |
Displacement: |
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Length: | 234.1 m (768 ft 1 in) |
Beam: | 30.5 m (100 ft 1 in) |
Draught: | 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in) |
Installed power: | 91,000 shp (67,859 kW) |
Propulsion: |
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Speed: | 26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph) |
Range: | 5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
Complement: | 1,333 |
Armament: |
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Armour: |
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Tosa (土佐?) was a planned battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Designed by Yuzuru Hiraga, she was envisioned as the lead ship of the Tosa class of two 39,900-long-ton (40,540 t) ships. The battleships would have been armed with ten 410 mm (16.1 in) guns and bring Japan closer to its goal of an "Eight-four" fleet (eight battleships and four battlecruisers). However, after the Washington Naval Conference and the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, all work on the ship was halted. With the vessel required to be destroyed in accordance with the terms of the treaty, the incomplete Tosa was then subjected to various tests to gauge the effect of Japanese weaponry before being scuttled on 9 February 1925.
Designed by Yuzuru Hiraga, Tosa was intended to be part of a Japanese "Eight-four fleet", comprising eight battleships and four battlecruisers, the successor to the proposed "Eight-eight fleet". Tosa and her sister ship Kaga were intended to be the second set of high-speed battleships (after the Nagato class) under the plan, and were approved for construction in the Diet's 14 July 1917 warship-building authorization. Engineering blueprints for the two ships were completed by Japanese naval engineers in 1919. Based on Japanese studies of the British experience at the Battle of Jutland, the ships were to include new features over previous designs, including higher steaming speed despite increased tonnage, flush decks, and inclined armor.