Every Japanese Battleship Ever Built: 1878–1945
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Japan built the two largest battleships in history, and they spent most of the
war at anchor. The ships that did Japan's fighting were four battlecruisers
ordered from Britain in 1911 — worn out, thirty years old, and sent into
night actions the newer ships were considered too valuable to risk.
This is every battleship the Imperial Japanese Navy ever owned: 25 built and 7
captured, from a small iron-hulled ship bought on the Thames in 1878 to a
64,000-ton giant whose guns were a state secret.
Along the way: the two ships lost to a single minefield in one morning in 1904,
the loss Tokyo concealed for over a year, the six Russian battleships Japan took
at Tsushima — two of which it later sold back to Russia — the ship that carried
a future Emperor to Europe, the battleships rebuilt with flight decks that never
flew an aircraft in combat, and the last time in history that battleships fought
each other.
Thirty-one of the thirty-two are gone. One is still there, set in concrete at
Yokosuka, and you can walk aboard her today.
0:00 Thirty-Two Battleships
0:42 Part One — Fuso & Chin'en: The Ironclad and the Prize (1878)
3:14 Part Two — Fuji Class: Britain Builds Japan a Navy (1897)
5:38 Part Three — Shikishima Class: Ninety Seconds (1900)
7:20 Part Four — Asahi: The Battleship That Became a Salvage Ship (1900)
8:53 Part Five — Mikasa: The Only One Left (1902)
11:41 Part Six — The Russian Prizes: Six Battleships Japan Did Not Build (1905)
14:46 Part Seven — Katori Class: The Last Ships Japan Bought (1906)
16:31 Part Eight — Satsuma Class: The All-Big-Gun Ship That Wasn't (1910)
18:03 Part Nine — Kawachi Class: Japan's First Dreadnoughts (1912)
20:22 Part Ten — Kongo Class: The Old Ships That Did the Fighting (1913)
24:32 Part Eleven — Fuso Class: Into the American Line (1915)
27:16 Part Twelve — Ise Class: The Battleships With Flight Decks (1917)
29:34 Part Thirteen — Nagato Class: The Flagship That Outlived the Empire (1920)
32:13 Part Fourteen — The Cancelled Generation: The Ships the Treaty Killed (1922)
34:26 Part Fifteen — Yamato Class: The Largest, and the Least Used (1941)
38:19 Epilogue — The Reckoning
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Every Japanese Battleship Ever Built: 1878–1945
Bold History
21,881 views
Japan built the two largest battleships in history, and they spent most of the
war at anchor. The ships that did Japan's fighting were four battlecruisers
ordered from Britain in 1911 — worn out, thirty years old, and sent into
night actions the newer ships were considered too valuable to risk.
This is every battleship the Imperial Japanese Navy ever owned: 25 built and 7
captured, from a small iron-hulled ship bought on the Thames in 1878 to a
64,000-ton giant whose guns were a state secret.
Along the way: the two ships lost to a single minefield in one morning in 1904,
the loss Tokyo concealed for over a year, the six Russian battleships Japan took
at Tsushima — two of which it later sold back to Russia — the ship that carried
a future Emperor to Europe, the battleships rebuilt with flight decks that never
flew an aircraft in combat, and the last time in history that battleships fought
each other.
Thirty-one of the thirty-two are gone. One is still there, set in concrete at
Yokosuka, and you can walk aboard her today.
0:00 Thirty-Two Battleships
0:42 Part One — Fuso & Chin'en: The Ironclad and the Prize (1878)
3:14 Part Two — Fuji Class: Britain Builds Japan a Navy (1897)
5:38 Part Three — Shikishima Class: Ninety Seconds (1900)
7:20 Part Four — Asahi: The Battleship That Became a Salvage Ship (1900)
8:53 Part Five — Mikasa: The Only One Left (1902)
11:41 Part Six — The Russian Prizes: Six Battleships Japan Did Not Build (1905)
14:46 Part Seven — Katori Class: The Last Ships Japan Bought (1906)
16:31 Part Eight — Satsuma Class: The All-Big-Gun Ship That Wasn't (1910)
18:03 Part Nine — Kawachi Class: Japan's First Dreadnoughts (1912)
20:22 Part Ten — Kongo Class: The Old Ships That Did the Fighting (1913)
24:32 Part Eleven — Fuso Class: Into the American Line (1915)
27:16 Part Twelve — Ise Class: The Battleships With Flight Decks (1917)
29:34 Part Thirteen — Nagato Class: The Flagship That Outlived the Empire (1920)
32:13 Part Fourteen — The Cancelled Generation: The Ships the Treaty Killed (1922)
34:26 Part Fifteen — Yamato Class: The Largest, and the Least Used (1941)
38:19 Epilogue — The Reckoning
(Please note that there are also a few other minor errors and dramatized descriptions besides the ones listed below).
Fuso and the Battle of the Yalu River:
Claiming that the 1878 Fuso was "the whole of Japan's capital fleet" is incorrect. While she participated, she was already obsolete. The actual core of the Japanese fleet consisted of protected cruisers like Matsushima.
Zhenyuan and the Quick-Firing Guns:
The video states Japanese shells couldn't penetrate Zhenyuan's armor. While true for the main belt, the video omits that Japan's medium-caliber quick-firing guns actually decided the battle. The sheer volume of high-explosive shells completely destroyed the unarmored upper structures, causing massive fires and stripping the Chinese battleship of her combat capability.
Yamato at Samar:
Saying Yamato "failed to sink" enemy ships is a huge understatement. Yamato actively contributed (alongside other ships) to the sinking of the escort carrier USS Gambier Bay and destroyers like USS Johnston and USS Hoel. It is widely accepted that Yamato's near-misses on Gambier Bay dealt fatal damage.
Admiral Nishimura at Surigao Strait:
While it's true Admiral Nishimura lost his son in an aviation crash, portraying this as a personal, emotional motive for a "suicide charge" is a dramatic exaggeration. He was strictly following military orders (the Leyte operation) and the coordinated plan with Kurita's fleet. Painting it as him looking for a place to die lacks historical objectivity.
Kirishima vs. Washington:
The video mentions Kirishima being battered by USS Washington but completely omits her fierce duel with USS South Dakota just moments before. In reality, Kirishima and her escorts focused their fire on South Dakota, crippling her radars and communications. It was while Kirishima was preoccupied with this that the undamaged Washington closed in under the cover of darkness and ambushed her with radar-guided fire.