View source for Japanese battleship Yashima

{|{{Infobox Ship Begin}}
{{Infobox Ship Image
|Ship image=[[Image:HIJMS Yashima.jpg|300px]]
|Ship caption=Japanese battleship ''Yashima'' in 1897
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=[[Empire of Japan|Japan]]
|Ship flag=[[Image:Naval Ensign of Japan.svg|50px]]
|Ship name=''Yashima''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=1894
|Ship builder=[[Armstrong Whitworth]], [[United Kingdom|UK]]
|Ship laid down=[[1894-12-28]]
|Ship launched=[[1896-02-28]]
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=[[1897-09-09]]
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=1897
|Ship out of service=[[1904-05-15]]
|Ship struck=[[1905-06-15]]
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Mined [[1904-05-15]]
|Ship status=|[[1904-05-15]] Mined off Port Arthur {{coor dm|38|34|N|121|40|E}}
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox Ship Characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=
|Ship displacement=12,320 tons
|Ship length={{convert|412|ft|m|0}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|73.3|ft|m|0}} 
|Ship draught={{convert|26.6|ft|m|0}} 
|Ship propulsion=Two Shaft Reciprocating [[Steam engine#Multiple expansion|VTE steam engine]]; 11 boilers, {{Auto shp|13500|-1}}
|Ship speed={{convert|18.25|kn|km/h|1}}
|Ship range=1117 tons [[coal]]; {{convert|7000|nmi|km|-3}} at {{convert|10|kn|km/h|0}}
|Ship complement=741
|Ship armament=<br>
*4 ×{{convert|12|in|mm|0|adj=on}} guns
*10 ×{{convert|6|in|mm|0|adj=on}} QF guns
*20 x 3 pounder guns
*4 x 2.5 pounder guns
*5 ×{{convert|18|in|mm|0|adj=on}} [[torpedo]]es
|Ship armour=<br>
*457 mm main belt armor 
*63 mm deck armor; 
*152 mm turret, casement
*356 mm conning tower
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

{{nihongo|'''''Yashima'''''|八島 (戦艦)|Yashima (senkan)}}  was the second ship of the [[Fuji class battleship|''Fuji''-class]] of early [[pre-dreadnought]] [[battleship]]s of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]], and one of the six battleships ([[Japanese battleship Shikishima|''Shikishima'']], [[Japanese battleship Fuji|''Fuji'']], [[Japanese battleship Hatsuse|''Hatsuse'']], ''Yashima'', [[Japanese battleship Asahi|''Asahi'']], and [[Japanese battleship Mikasa|''Mikasa'']]) that formed the main Japanese [[line of battle|battle line]] in the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904–1905. The ''Yashima'' had a very brief career. The name "Yashima" is from an ancient poetic name for "Japan".

==History==
''Yashima'' and her sister-ship ''Fuji'' were the first two battleships built for [[Japan]]. As the Japanese were still incapable of building modern steel warships themselves, ''Yashima'' was ordered from [[Armstrong Whitworth]], at the [[Elswick, Tyne and Wear|Elswick]] Yard, [[Great Britain]] in 1894. 

To help sell their products before the days of [[computer graphics]], manufacturers would commission highly detailed [[scale model]]s of the proposed ship. The model of ''Yashima'' still survives and is currently on display at the RHS ([[Royal Hospital School]]) [[Holbrook, Suffolk|Holbrook]] in [[Suffolk]], [[England]]. The plaque reads 'Japanese Armourclad ''"Yashima"'' 19 3/4 knots speed, built by Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ld. Elswick Shipyard 1897 Newcastle on Tyne. Designed by Sir Philip Watts, KCB, FRS etc.

''Yashima'' arrived at [[Yokosuka, Kanagawa|Yokosuka]] on [[1897-11-30]], too late for combat in the [[First Sino-Japanese War]], and was designated as a 1st class battleship.

After the start of the [[Russo-Japanese War]], ''Yashima'' was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 1st Division of the [[IJN 1st Fleet]], under [[Rear Admiral]] [[Nashiba Tokioki]]. On [[1904-05-14]] Admiral Nashiba put to sea with the battleships ''Hatsuse'' (flag), ''Shikishima'', and ''Yashima'', cruiser [[Japanese cruiser Kasagi|''Kasagi'']], and dispatch-vessel ''Tatsuta'' to relieve the Japanese blockading force off [[Lüshunkou|Port Arthur]]. On the morning of [[1904-05-15]], the squadron proceeded to patrol to east by north across the mouth of the port. This course brought the Japanese fleet into a [[naval mine|minefield]] previously laid by the [[Russian minelayer Amur|Russian minelayer ''Amur'']]. Both ''Hatsuse'' and ''Yashima'' struck two mines each and were lost in one of the greatest Japanese naval disasters during the Russo-Japanese War.

Few hours after being mined, ''Yashima'' sank while under tow to Korea for repairs. Her loss was concealed by the Japanese for the duration of the war as not to discourage the its public with news of the loss of the irreplaceable battleship and nearly 200 of its crew with it.

[[Image:IJN Yashima sinking.jpg|250px]]

''Yashima'' sinking in a Russian minefield; [[May 15]], [[1904]]

== References ==
*{{cite book
 | last = Andidora 
 | first = Ronald 
 | year = 2000
 | title = Iron Admirals: Naval Leadership in the Twentieth Century
 | publisher = Greenwood Press 
 | location = 
 | isbn = 0-313-31266-4
}}
*{{cite book
 | last = Brown 
 | first = D. K. 
 | year = 1999 
 | title = Warrior to Dreadnought, Warship Development 1860-1906 
 | publisher = Naval Institute Press
 | location = 
 | isbn = 1-84067-529-2
}}
*{{cite book
 | last = Evans 
 | first = David 
 | year = 1979
 | title = Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941 
 | publisher = US Naval Institute Press 
 | location = 
 | isbn = 0870211927
}}
*{{cite book
 | last = Howarth
 | first = Stephen 
 | year = 1983
 | title = The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945
 | publisher = Atheneum 
 | location = 
 | isbn = 0689114028
}}
* Jane, Fred T. ''The Imperial Japanese Navy''. Thacker, Spink & Co (1904) ASIN: B00085LCZ4
*{{cite book
 | last = Jentsura 
 | first = Hansgeorg 
 | year = 1976
 | title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945 
 | publisher = Naval Institute Press 
 | location = 
 | id = ISBN 087021893X 
}}
*{{cite book
 | last = Schencking
 | first = J. Charles
 | year = 2005
 | title = Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922
 | publisher = Stanford University Press 
 | location = 
 | isbn = 0804749779
}}

==External links==
*[http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0107.htm Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy]
*[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=950CE1D81E3DE633A25751C0A9609C946497D6CF New York Times June 2 1905 on loss of Yashima]

{{Fuji class battleship}}
{{IJN}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yashima}}
[[Category:Battleships of Japan]]
[[Category:Fuji class battleships]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the East China Sea]]
[[Category:Tyne-built ships]]

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[[it:Yashima (corazzata)]]
[[ja:八島 (戦艦)]]
[[ru:Ясима (броненосец)]]
[[fi:Yashima]]
[[zh:八島號戰艦]]