Asahi (battleship)

Asahi (battleship) was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Built in the United Kingdom by John Brown & Company at Clydebank, she served as a front-line capital ship during the Russo-Japanese War, notably at the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Battle of Tsushima. After being severely damaged in the decisive naval engagement, she was reconstructed and later served in auxiliary roles, ultimately being sunk by the United States Navy submarine USS *Salmon* during World War II.

Design and description

*Asahi* was the second and final vessel of the Shikishima-class battleship, a British-built design that formed the core of Japan's battle line. Her design was an improved version of the *Majestic*-class, featuring a main battery of four Elswick 12-inch guns mounted in two twin gun turrets. Her secondary armament consisted of fourteen 6-inch guns and numerous lighter weapons for defense against torpedo boats. Protection was provided by a Harvey steel belt armor up to 9 inches thick and a heavily armored conning tower. Propulsion was supplied by two triple-expansion steam engines driving two shafts, giving a top speed of 18 knots.

Service history

Commissioned in 1900, *Asahi* immediately became a flagship unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy. During the Russo-Japanese War, she was assigned to the 1st Fleet under Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō. She participated in the Blockade of Port Arthur and engaged the Russian Pacific Fleet at the Battle of the Yellow Sea in August 1904. Her most significant action came at the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905, where she was heavily engaged but sustained major damage from shells fired by the Russian battleship *Oryol*. Following the war, she underwent a major reconstruction at Kure Naval Arsenal from 1907 to 1908, which included the replacement of her original boilers with Miyabara water-tube boilers. By World War I, she was used as a coastal defence ship and later converted into a submarine tender and then a repair ship.

Loss

During World War II, *Asahi* was serving as a submarine depot ship and was stationed in the South China Sea. On the night of 25 May 1942, while traveling from Singapore to Japan, she was intercepted southwest of Cap St. Jacques, French Indochina. The American *Gato*-class submarine USS *Salmon*, commanded by Lieutenant Commander E.B. McKinney, fired a spread of torpedoes. Two torpedoes struck *Asahi* on her port side, causing catastrophic flooding. The vessel sank quickly, taking 16 crew members with her; the remaining 582 were rescued by the escorting destroyers.

Wreck

The wreck of *Asahi* lies at a depth of approximately 40 meters in the South China Sea, near the modern Vũng Tàu peninsula of Vietnam. The site was positively identified in 2018 by a team from the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology. The hull is largely intact but heavily corroded, lying on its starboard side. The wreck is considered a war grave by the Japanese government and is also a protected archaeological site under Vietnamese law, with access restricted to authorized research dives.

Legacy

*Asahi* is remembered as one of the most successful pre-dreadnought battleships in history, playing a pivotal role in Japan's victory at Tsushima, a battle that cemented Japan's status as a major naval power. Her design influenced subsequent Japanese capital ships, including the Satsuma-class battleship. The ship's bell was salvaged and is preserved at the Yūshūkan war museum in Tokyo. Her loss in 1942 symbolizes the end of an era for the Imperial Japanese Navy's first generation of modern battleships, many of which were obsolete by the time of the Pacific War.

Category:Battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy Category:Ships built on the River Clyde Category:World War II shipwrecks in the South China Sea Category:Maritime incidents in May 1942