Fuso-class Battleship
| Country | Japan |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
This article refers to the entire Fuso-class; it is not about an individual vessel.
ww2dbaseThe Fuso-class battleships of the Japanese Navy had an unusual turret arrangement: six turrets on each ship, with two turrets forward, two turrets aft, and two turrets amidships separated by funnels. This arrangement gave each turret independence to engage a greater number of targets, but the gains achieved in this respect was concluded to be negligible, especially considering that the two ships, Fuso and Yamashiro, were lengthened, thus becoming more vulnerable to hostile fire. Although they were modernized in the 1930s, they were too slow to function as fast battleships by the time the Pacific War began. As a result, they were kept in Japan, largely taking up training roles. They largely stayed out of combat until Battle of Surigao Strait in Oct 1944, in which engagement they were both sunk.
Last Major Revision: Mar 2009
Fuso-class Battleship Interactive Map
Photographs
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Fuso-class Battleship Operational Timeline
| 18 Nov 1915 | Fuso was commissioned into service. |
| 31 Mar 1917 | Yamashiro was commissioned into service. |
| 15 Nov 1934 | Captain Chuichi Nagumo was named the commanding officer of the battleship Yamashiro. |
| 17 Oct 1943 | Yamato, Musashi, Fuso, Nagato, Kongo, Haruna, Shokaku, Zuikaku, Takao, Atago, Maya, Chokai, Mogami, Suzuya, Tone, Chikuma, Agano, Oyodo, and a destroyer screen sortied from Truk, Caroline Islands to Eniwetok, Marshall Islands with Combined Fleet under Admiral Mineichi Koga's command in response to US Task Force 16 carrier raids on Wake Island. |
| 19 Oct 1943 | Yamato, Musashi, Fuso, Nagato, Kongo, Haruna, Shokaku, Zuikaku, Takao, Atago, Maya, Chokai, Mogami, Suzuya, Tone, Chikuma, Agano, Oyodo, and a destroyer screen arrived at Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands. |
| 23 Oct 1943 | Yamato, Musashi, Fuso, Nagato, Kongo, Haruna, Shokaku, Zuikaku, Takao, Atago, Maya, Chokai, Mogami, Suzuya, Tone, Chikuma, Agano, Oyodo, and a destroyer screen departed Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands and sortied to a position 250 miles south of Wake Island. |
| 26 Oct 1943 | Yamato, Musashi, Fuso, Nagato, Kongo, Haruna, Shokaku, Zuikaku, Takao, Atago, Maya, Chokai, Mogami, Suzuya, Tone, Chikuma, Agano, Oyodo, and a destroyer screen arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
9 Aug 2009 09:49:15 AM
personnally, being a native of the state of Maryland, I find it very satisfying that the USS Maryland participated in the last battleship fight in history and *** satisfying she and the other 5 US ships hammered the Japanese ships to the bottom. And yes I know the PT boats and destroyers did a lot of the damage with torpedoes but our BBs still got in their licks.
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
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31 Dec 2008 12:41:39 PM
"The Fuso-class battleships of the Japanese Navy had an unusual turret arrangement: five turrets on each ship"
-should say "...six turrets on each ship"