Katori-class battleship

Newly completed Kashima at anchor, 1906
Class overview
Name:	Katori class
Builders:	Vickers, Armstrong Whitworth
Operators:	Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by:	Mikasa
Succeeded by:	Satsuma class
Built:	1904–1906
In service:	1906–1922
In commission:	1906–1923
Completed:	2
Scrapped:	2
General characteristics
Type:	Pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	15,950–16,383 long tons (16,206–16,646 t)
Length:	456.25–470.6 ft (139.1–143.4 m)
Beam:	78–78.16 ft (23.8–23.8 m)
Draught:	26.6–27 ft (8.1–8.2 m)
Installed power:	15,600–16,000 ihp (11,600–11,900 kW) 20 Niclausse boilers
Propulsion:	2 shafts, 2 Vertical triple-expansion steam engines
Speed:	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range:	12,000 nmi (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement:	864
Armament:	2 × twin 12-inch (305 mm) guns 4 × single 10-inch (254 mm) guns 12 × single 6-inch (152 mm) QF guns 12–16 × single 3-inch (76.2 mm) QF guns 5 × 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Waterline belt: 2.5–9 in (64–229 mm) Deck: 1–3 in (25–76 mm) Barbettes: 5–12 in (127–305 mm) Gun turrets: 9 in (229 mm) Conning tower: 9 in (229 mm)

The Katori class (香取型戦艦, Katori-gata senkan^?) was a two-ship class of pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the early 1900s. As Japan lacked the industrial capacity to build such warships itself, they were designed and built in the UK. They were the last battleships to be built for Japan at overseas shipyards, and the last to be equipped with a ram. The ships were delivered after the end of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. They saw no action during World War I, although both were present when Japan joined the Siberian Intervention in 1918. They were disarmed and scrapped in 1923–25 in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922.

The Katori-class ships were ordered under the 1903 Third Fleet Extension Program. As with the earlier battleships, Japan lacked the technology and capability to construct its own battleships, and turned again to the United Kingdom, placing orders with Armstrong and Vickers in January 1904. The next class of battleships, the Satsuma class, were built in Japan.

The design of the Katori class was a modified and improved version of the King Edward VII-class battleships of the Royal Navy. The Vickers-built Katori was slightly smaller than her sister ship, Kashima. They had an overall length of 456.25–470.6 feet (139.1–143.4 m), a beam of 78–78.16 feet (23.8–23.8 m), and a normal draught of 26.6–27 feet (8.1–8.2 m). They displaced 15,950–16,383 long tons (16,206–16,646 t) at normal load. The crew consisted of 864 officers and enlisted men.