Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms By Flag By Year By Tag

IJN Ibuki

1907 WORLD WAR 1

IJN Ibuki Story

The IJN Ibuki was a turbo-powered three-hopper armored cruiser/battlecruiser serving Japan prior to World War I. Since the country joined the Industrial Revolution much later than the West, nations came together to be at the forefront of naval weapons in their growing national ambitions. Therefore, the Japanese Empire vigorously developed and acquired powerful warships at the beginning of the last century, making the Japanese Empire one of the preeminent military powers on the high seas, a status that will remain until its eventual collapse.

World 2 1945 World War.

In fact, its naval prowess was demonstrated in the naval victory over the Russian Empire at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905 - a decisive victory for Japan during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).

The IJN Ibuki ordered in 1904 was named after Mount Ibuki and assigned to the Kure Naval Shipyard, where it was laid on 22 May 1907. The ship was launched on October 21, 1907, and officially commissioned on November 11, 1907. Ijn Ibuki became the first Imperial Japanese warship to have a turbine engine as part of its propulsion system.

However, due to turbine installation problems, her sister IJN Kurama - equipped with a more conventional reciprocating engine - began construction in August 1905, well before Ibuki's lead ship.

The IJN Ibuki was constructed as a "battleship", displacing 14,870 tons under standard load and 15,845 tons under full load. Dimensions include a barrel length of 485 feet, a beam of 75.5 feet and a draft of 26.2 feet. Power comes from a Mirabura boiler unit feeding 2 x Curtis geared steam turbines producing 24,000 hp driving 2 x axles.

The warship can travel at 21.5 knots and has a range of up to 5,000 nautical miles (the latter has a speed of 14 knots). Ibuki was loaded with 2,000 tons of coal and another 218 tons of fuel oil.

There are 844 crew members on board. Armor (forged by Krupp) includes belts up to 7", turrets up to 7", main turrets up to 7", conning towers up to 7.9" and decks up to 5".

The armament was concentrated on the 4 x 12 inch 41 main gun, placed in two main turrets with two main guns, one in the front and the other in the rear. Secondary armament consisted of 8 x 8 in (200 mm) Type 41 guns arranged in four twin gun turrets.

This is supported by 14 x 4.7" (120 mm) Type 41st Year Tertiary Guns and 8 x 3.1" (8 cm) Guns. Like other ships of the time, Ibuki was equipped with torpedo tubes, 3 x 450 mm (45 cm/17.7 in) launchers.

On August 28, 1912, Ibuki was reclassified as a "Battle Cruiser" to be closer to a Western product, and took part in World War I-related operations on the Allied side. She escorted Australian and New Zealand troops across the Indian Ocean to the Dardanelles to fight in the war, and was involved in the search for the German light cruiser SMS Emden. With the end of the war in November 1918, and due to restrictions imposed by the new Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, IJN Ibuki and her sister were abandoned.

IJN Ibuki was removed from the Naval Register on September 20, 1923, although her main guns were recovered as coastal guns at Hakodate, Hokkaido, and installed at positions in the Tsugaru Strait between Honshu and Hokkaido.