Japanese battleship Yamashiro

Yamashiro with Fusō and Haruna (in the distance), Tokyo Bay, 1930s
History
Empire of Japan
Name:	Yamashiro
Namesake:	Yamashiro Province
Builder:	Yokosuka Naval Arsenal
Laid down:	20 November 1913
Launched:	3 November 1915
Commissioned:	31 March 1917
Struck:	31 August 1945
Fate:	Sunk during the Battle of Surigao Strait, 25 October 1944
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Fusō-class battleship
Displacement:	29,326 long tons (29,797 t) (standard) 35,900 long tons (36,500 t) (full load)
Length:	192.024 meters (630 ft 0 in) (p.p.) 202.7 meters (665 ft) (o.a.)
Beam:	28.7 meters (94 ft 2 in)
Draft:	8.7 meters (28 ft 7 in)
Installed power:	40,000 shp (30,000 kW) 24 × Miyahara water-tube boilers
Propulsion:	4 × shafts 2 × Brown-Curtis steam turbine sets
Speed:	22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph)
Range:	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement:	1,193
Armament:	6 × 2 - 356 mm (14 in) guns 16 × 1 - 152 mm (6 in) guns 6 × submerged 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 305 mm (12 in) Deck: 32–51 mm (1.3–2.0 in) Bulkheads: 102–305 mm (4.0–12.0 in) Barbettes: 203–305 mm (8.0–12.0 in) Turrets: 228.6 to 279 mm (9.0 to 11.0 in) Conning Tower: 351 mm (13.8 in)
General characteristics (1944)
Displacement:	34,700 long tons (35,300 t)
Length:	212.75 m (698.0 ft) (o.a.)
Beam:	33.1 m (108 ft 7 in)
Draft:	9.69 meters (31 ft 9 in)
Installed power:	75,000 shp (56,000 kW) 6 × water-tube boilers
Propulsion:	4 × steam turbines
Speed:	24.5 knots (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph)
Range:	11,800 nmi (21,900 km; 13,600 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement:	approximately 1,900
Sensors and processing systems:	1 × Type 21 air search radar 1 × Type 13 early warning radar 1 × Type 22 surface search radar
Armament:	6 × 2 - 356 mm guns 14 × 1 - 152 mm guns 4 × 2 - 127 mm (5 in) dual-purpose guns 92 × 25 mm (1 in) AA guns
Armor:	Deck: 152–51 mm (6–2 in)
Aircraft carried:	3 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities:	1 × catapult

Yamashiro (山城, "Mountain castle", named for Yamashiro Province^?) was the second of two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1915 and commissioned in 1917, she initially patrolled off the coast of China, playing no part in World War I. In 1923, she assisted survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake.

Yamashiro was modernized between 1930 and 1935, with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nevertheless, with only 14-inch guns, she was outclassed by other Japanese battleships at the beginning of World War II, and played auxiliary roles for most of the war.

By 1944, though, she was forced into front-line duty, serving as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Shōji Nishimura's Southern Force at the Battle of Surigao Strait, the southernmost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. During fierce night fighting in the early hours of 25 October against a superior American force, Yamashiro was sunk by torpedoes and naval gunfire. Nishimura went down with his ship, and only 10 crewmembers survived.

The ship had a length of 192.024 meters (630.00 ft) between perpendiculars and 202.7 meters (665 ft) overall. She had a beam of 28.7 meters (94 ft 2 in) and a draft of 8.7 meters (29 ft).Yamashiro displaced 29,326 long tons (29,797 t) at standard load and 35,900 long tons (36,500 t) at full load. Her crew consisted of 1,198 officers and enlisted men in 1915 and about 1,400 in 1935.