was a 1st class armored cruiser

Armored cruiser

The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...

 of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

, designed and built by the Stettiner Vulcan AG

Stettiner Vulcan AG

Aktien-Gesellschaft Vulcan Stettin was a German shipbuilding and locomotive builder company, located in Stettin . AG Vulcan Stettin played a significant role in both World Wars, building U-boats and warships for the Kaiserliche Marine...

 shipyards in Stettin, Germany

German Empire

The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...

. The Yakumo was named from a stanza of the Waka

Waka (poetry)

Waka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...

 by Susanoo

Susanoo

, also known as is the Shinto god of the sea and storms. He is also considered to be ruler of Yomi.-Myths:In Japanese mythology, Susanoo, the powerful storm of Summer, is the brother of Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, and of Tsukuyomi, the god of the moon. All three were born from Izanagi, when...

 in the Japanese mythology

Japanese mythology

Japanese mythology is a system of beliefs that embraces Shinto and Buddhist traditions as well as agriculturally based folk religion. The Shinto pantheon comprises innumerable kami...

.

Background

The Yakumo was one of six armored cruiser

Armored cruiser

The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...

s ordered for construction by overseas shipyards after the First Sino-Japanese War

First Sino-Japanese War

The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...

 as part of the "Six-Six Program" (six battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

s-six cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

s) intended to be the backbone of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

. Almost all of the orders were placed with shipyards in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

, but for political and diplomatic reasons, the Yakumo was ordered from Germany and her near-sister ship

Sister ship

A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...

, the was ordered from France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. The Yakumo was the only cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy built by Germany, but was armed with British guns, to keep its ammunition

Ammunition

Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...

 compatible with other ships in the fleet.

Design and armament

Although the basic design for all six cruisers in this program was essentially the same (utilizing Armstrong

Armstrong Gun

The term Armstrong Gun was primarily used to describe the unique design of the rifled breech-loading field and heavy guns designed by Sir William Armstrong and manufactured in England from 1855 by the Elswick Ordnance Company and the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich...

-type 8 inches (203 mm) guns and with desired speed of 20-21 knots), each shipyard had considerable freedom to modify the details of the design. In the case of the Yakumo, the German shipbuilder used a relatively standard flush-deck hull

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

 with high freeboard, and turrets front and back. The Yakumo used 24 Belleville boilers, which were considered very advanced for its day.

The main armament for the Yakumo was a pair of twin-mounted 203 mm, 45 caliber

Caliber

In guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....

 guns of a new design in fore and aft gun turret

Gun turret

A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...

s. The turrets were capable of 150 degree rotation left and right, and the guns could be elevated to 30 degrees, giving the guns a range of 18,000 meters. The secondary side-mounted 152 mm, 40 caliber guns had a range of 9,140 meters, and could fire at the rate of five shells per minute (up to seven per minute for a very skilled gun crew). The Yakumo was also equipped with a ram

Naval ram

A naval ram was a weapon carried by varied types of ships, dating back to antiquity. The weapon consisted of an underwater prolongation of the bow of the ship to form an armoured beak, usually between six and twelve feet in length...

.

Service record

The Yakumo participated in the Russo-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...

 of 1904-1905, and took part in the Battle of the Yellow Sea

Battle of the Yellow Sea

The Battle of the Yellow Sea was a major naval engagement of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 10 August 1904. In the Russian Navy, it was referred to as the Battle of 10 August. The battle foiled an attempt by the Russian fleet at Port Arthur to break out and form up with counterparts from...

, and in the final crucial Battle of Tsushima

Battle of Tsushima

The Battle of Tsushima , commonly known as the “Sea of Japan Naval Battle” in Japan and the “Battle of Tsushima Strait”, was the major naval battle fought between Russia and Japan during the Russo-Japanese War...

, where it played a major role in the sinking of Russian

Imperial Russian Navy

The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...

 battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

 . Afterwards, it served as the flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 of the 3rd Fleet in the operation to capture Sakhalin

Sakhalin

Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...

 from Russia.

In World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the Yakumo fought at the Battle of Tsingtao

Battle of Tsingtao

The Siege of Tsingtao was the attack on the German-controlled port of Tsingtao in China during World War I by Imperial Japan and the United Kingdom....

, and later participated in the pursuit of the German East Asia Squadron

German East Asia Squadron

The German East Asia Squadron was a German Navy cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the 1870s and 1914...

 under German Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee

Maximilian von Spee

Vice Admiral Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee was a German admiral. Although he was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the counts von Spee belonged to the prominent families of the Rhenish nobility. He joined the Kaiserliche Marine in 1878. In 1887–88 he commanded the Kamerun ports, in German West...

 and the German raider .

On 1 September 1921, the Yakumo was re-designated as a Coastal Defense Vessel and used primarily for training duties in oceanic navigation and cadet officer training. In this capacity, it participated in over 14 long distance voyages to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 and the South Pacific

Oceania

Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...

. In 1930, together with the Izumo, it visited Tsingtao and Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

 in China. In 1931, it made a long distance navigational training voyage, visiting Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, the Suez Canal

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...

, Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, and Marseilles before returning to Sasebo

Sasebo, Nagasaki

is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...

. It was further downgraded to Coastal Defense ship on 30 May 1931. In 1933 the "Yakumo" and the "Iwate" called the Mexican port of Acapulco and continued to Panama.In 1936, while on a training voyage between Saipan

Saipan

Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

 and Truk

Chuuk

Chuuk — formerly Truk, Ruk, Hogoleu, Torres, Ugulat, and Lugulus — is an island group in the south western part of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia , along with Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. Chuuk is the most populous of the FSM's...

, on its way to North America, the Yakumo suffered an accidental explosion in its front magazine, killing four sailors and flooding its front food locker. Repairs were made underway, and the Yakumo completed its mission, returning home after a cruise of 23272 nautical miles (43,100 km).

After the start of the Pacific War

Pacific War

The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

, although hopelessly obsolete, the Yakumo was re-armed on 1 July 1942, anti-aircraft guns were added, and it was reinstated to the active list, again as a 1st class cruiser. It remained within the Inland Sea throughout the war assigned to training duties, and was not used in any combat operations.

After the end of the Pacific War

Pacific War

The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

, the Yakumo was briefly used as a transport to return troops and civilians to the home islands from Japan's former overseas possessions, primarily from Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 and mainland China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. On its final departure from China with Japanese evacuees, troops from the Chinese government

Kuomintang

The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

 stripped the Yakumo bare of all its furnishings, including the German-made wooden furniture in the captain's cabin (some sources, however, stated that these furnishings were removed as the Yakumo was being scrapped and installed into the Atada, ex-ROCN "light cruiser" Yat-Sen that was at that time about to be reverted back to her former identity and returned to China, by the Japanese themselves). Sent to the breakers on 20 July 1946, the Yakumo was scrapped on 1 April 1947 at the Maizuru

Maizuru, Kyoto

is a city located in Kyōto, Japan, on an inlet of the Sea of Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 89,626 and the density of 264 persons per km². The total area is .The city was founded on May 27, 1943....

 shipyard of Hitachi Shipbuilding & Engineering. The main anchor of the Yakumo is preserved at that location.