Kasuga-class cruiser

Kasuga in 1900
Class overview
Name:	Kasuga class
Builders:	Ansaldo, Genoa, Italy
Operators:	Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by:	Azuma
Built:	1902–1904
In commission:	1904–1945
Completed:	2
Lost:	2
General characteristics
Type:	Armored cruiser
Displacement:	7,628 long tons (7,750 t) Kasuga 7,698 long tons (7,822 t) Nisshin
Length:	108.8 m (356 ft 11 in) w/l 111.73 m (366 ft 7 in) o/a
Beam:	18.9 m (62 ft 0 in)
Draught:	7.32 m (24 ft 0 in)
Propulsion:	2 shaft Reciprocating Vertical Triple Expansion (VTE) Engines 8 boilers 13,500 shp (10,100 kW)
Speed:	20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Range:	7,000 nmi (13,000 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)
Complement:	600
Armament:	1 × BL 10 inch gun Mk I – IV (Kasuga only) 4 × 20.3 cm/45 Type 41 naval guns (2 in Kasuga) 14 × 6-inch (152 mm) rapid fire guns 10 × 3-inch (76.2 mm) rapid fire guns 6 × QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss guns 2 × Maxim guns 4 × 457 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Main Belt: 70–150 mm (2.8–5.9 in) Deck: 25–38 mm (0.98–1.50 in) Barbette, Turret, Casemate & Conning tower: 100–150 mm (3.9–5.9 in)

The Kasuga-class cruiser (春日型巡洋艦, Kasuga-gata jun'yōkan^?) was a class of two armored cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) based on the Giuseppe Garibaldi-class cruisers developed by Italy at the end of the 19th century.

The Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi-class design was a private venture by Gio. Ansaldo & C., which was hoping to profit from the need for the world's navies to modernize towards heavily armored steam warships. The design was so popular that between 1894 and 1902 ten cruisers were purchased by four different countries: The first five by the Italian Navy, four by the Argentine Navy and one by the Spanish Navy.

The Italian Navy ordered the final two vessels of this class in 1902 as Mitre and Roca. Sold to the Argentine Navy before completion, they were renamed as Rivadavia and Mariano Moreno. The Argentines in turn sold them to the Imperial Japanese Navy before final completion in 1904, and they were renamed the Kasuga and Nisshin.

Designed by Edoardo Masdea, the Garibaldi-class cruiser was a hybrid between a cruiser and a battleship. At 20 knots (37 km/h) maximum speed, the design was slightly slower than contemporary cruisers, but was very heavily armed and also heavily armored, in a package with very low displacement and moderate dimensions.

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