Japanese cruiser Kasuga

Kasuga at Sasebo after the Battle of Tsushima, May 1905
History
Empire of Japan
Name:	Kasuga
Namesake:	Kasuga Shrine
Ordered:	23 December 1901
Builder:	Gio. Ansaldo & C., Genoa-Sestri Ponente
Laid down:	10 March 1902
Launched:	22 October 1902
Acquired:	30 December 1903
Commissioned:	7 January 1904
Fate:	Sunk, 18 July 1945 Salvaged and broken up for scrap, 1948
General characteristics
Class and type:	Giuseppe Garibaldi-class armored cruiser
Displacement:	7,700 t (7,578 long tons)
Length:	111.73 m (366 ft 7 in) (o/a)
Beam:	18.71 m (61 ft 5 in)
Draft:	7.31 m (24 ft 0 in)
Depth:	12.1 m (39 ft 8 in)
Installed power:	13,500 ihp (10,100 kW) 8 Scotch marine boilers
Propulsion:	2 Shafts 2 Vertical triple-expansion steam engines
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range:	5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	560
Armament:	1 single 10 in/40 Type 41 gun (forward) 1 twin 8 in/45 Type 41 guns (aft) 14 single QF 6 in/40 Type 41 guns 10 single QF 3 in/40 Type 41 guns 6 single QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns 4 × 457 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Waterline belt: 70–150 mm (2.8–5.9 in) Deck: 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) Barbette: 100–150 mm (3.9–5.9 in) Conning tower: 150 mm (5.9 in)

Kasuga (春日^?) was the name ship of the Kasuga-class armored cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, built in the first decade of the 20th century by Gio. Ansaldo & C., Sestri Ponente, Italy, where the type was known as the Giuseppe Garibaldi class. The ship was originally ordered by the Argentine Navy during the Argentine–Chilean naval arms race, but the lessening of tensions with Chile and financial pressures caused the Argentinians to sell her before delivery. At this time tensions between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire were rising, and the ship was offered to both sides before she was purchased by the Japanese.

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, Kasuga participated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea and was lightly damaged during the subsequent Battle of Tsushima. In addition she frequently bombarded the defenses of Port Arthur. The ship played a limited role in World War I and was used to escort Allied convoys and search for German commerce raiders in the Indian Ocean and Australasia. Kasuga became a training ship in the late 1920s and was then disarmed and hulked in 1942 for use as a barracks ship. The ship was sunk shortly before the end of World War II in 1945 and was salvaged three years later and broken up for scrap.