Japanese Battleship Mikasa

Listen first. Gulls cry over the water, and a light wind blows in from Tokyo Bay. Under your feet, the deck planks feel warm and slightly worn. Grey steel rises around you, cool to the touch. You are standing on a battleship that will never sail again. Its hull sits locked in concrete at the edge of the park. Yet it still points out to sea, as if it is waiting for orders.

This is the Mikasa. It is a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Pre-dreadnought means it belongs to the generation of warships built just before 1906. That year, the British launched HMS Dreadnought and changed naval design overnight. The Mikasa comes from the era just before that change. Today it is one of the very few ships of its type left anywhere in the world. That alone makes this quiet corner of Yokosuka unusual.

Here is the first surprise. This ship was not built in Japan. It was built in England, at the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, on the northwest coast. Japan at the turn of the twentieth century was modernising fast. It did not yet have the yards to build a battleship this large. So the navy ordered its most powerful ships from Britain. The Mikasa was launched in 1900 and joined the fleet in 1902.

Look at the shape of the vessel. The ship has a long, low hull, two tall funnels, and two masts. Big gun turrets sit at the front and at the back. Each turret holds a pair of heavy guns. Along the sides, smaller guns sit in armoured positions. Designers of this era wanted a ship that could hit hard, take damage, and keep fighting. You can see that idea in every thick plate of steel.

The ship's fame comes from one war and one battle. In 1904, Japan and the Russian Empire went to war. They fought over influence in Korea and Manchuria. The Mikasa served as the flagship of Admiral Togo Heihachiro, the commander of the Japanese fleet. A flagship carries the admiral and his staff. From this deck, Togo directed his ships through the hardest months of the war.

In May 1905, the decisive moment came. A large Russian fleet had sailed almost halfway around the world to reach the Far East. Togo met it in the Tsushima Strait, the channel between Japan and Korea. The battle lasted about two days. By the end, most of the Russian fleet was sunk, captured, or scattered. Japan lost very few ships. Historians often describe Tsushima as one of the most one-sided fleet battles of the modern era.

Before the fighting began, Togo raised a signal flag from this ship. It was the Z flag. Its message is usually translated along these lines: the fate of the empire depends on this battle, so let every man do his utmost. Many visitors notice a link here. The words echo Admiral Nelson's famous signal at Trafalgar, a century earlier. Togo had trained with the British as a young officer. That echo was probably no accident.

The victory shook the world. For the first time in the modern age, an Asian nation had defeated a European great power in a major war. The news spread across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. In Russia, the defeat added to the unrest of the 1905 revolution. In Japan, the Mikasa became a national symbol almost at once. But the ship's story did not run smoothly after that.

Here is the second surprise. Only months after the great victory, the Mikasa sank. In September 1905, a fire and an explosion in the ammunition store tore through the ship. It was moored in the harbour at Sasebo, in southern Japan. Many sailors died. The ship went down in shallow water. The navy raised it, repaired it, and returned it to service. The flagship of Tsushima had nearly been lost, not to the enemy, but to an accident at anchor.

In the 1920s, international treaties limited the size of the world's navies. Older warships had to be scrapped or retired. Japan chose to preserve the Mikasa as a memorial. The ship was brought here to Yokosuka, a naval town for generations. The hull was set into concrete so it could never sail or fight again. That is why the ship sits so low and so still. It is part ship and part monument.

The years after the Second World War were hard on the old flagship. Japan's armed forces were dismantled, and the ship was stripped of many fittings. For a time it was used for entertainment, and the deck lost much of its original look. Then help came from an unexpected place. Several Americans, including Admiral Chester Nimitz, spoke out for its restoration. Nimitz had admired Togo since his youth. Japanese and American supporters raised funds, and the restored ship reopened in the early 1960s.

As you walk through the ship today, remember that much of what you see is restoration work. Some guns and fittings are faithful reconstructions rather than originals. Inside, the rooms hold exhibits, models, and photographs from the war. Take your time on the bridge, the high open platform near the front mast. From there, Togo and his officers watched the battle unfold. Paintings often show the admiral standing in that exposed position.

Outside, the park around the ship is calm and green. A statue of Admiral Togo stands nearby, and benches face the water. On clear days, ships move slowly across the bay. Yokosuka is still an active naval port, for both Japan and the United States. So the view around you is not only history. Modern warships and container vessels pass by the old flagship almost every day.

Before you leave, stand at the rail for a moment. Feel the wind and hear the water against the seawall. Look along the deck toward the bow, where the anchor chains run down into concrete. More than a century ago, this steel carried hundreds of sailors into battle. Now it holds families, students, and travellers like you. As you walk back through the park, glance over your shoulder. The two funnels will stay on the skyline for a long time.