Japanese battleship Aki

The Satsuma class was ordered in late 1904 under the 1904 War Naval Supplementary Program during the Russo-Japanese War.Itani, Lengerer & Rehm-Takahara, p. 53 Unlike the previous {{sclass|Katori|battleship|0}} pre-dreadnought battleships, they were the first battleships ordered from Japanese shipyards.Evans & Peattie, p. 159 They were originally designed with a dozen {{convert|12|in|adj=on|0}} guns, but had to be redesigned because of a shortage of guns in Japan and to reduce costs.

File:NH 66115 AKI (Japanese Battleship, 1907).tif

The ship had an overall length of {{convert|492|ft|m|0}}, a beam of {{convert|83|ft|7|in|m|1}}, and a normal draft of {{convert|27|ft|6|in|m|1}}. She displaced {{convert|20100|LT|t|lk=on}} at normal load. The crew consisted of 931 officers and enlisted men.Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 23

Aki was fitted with a pair of Curtiss steam turbine sets, each driving one shaft using steam from 15 Miyabara water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of {{convert|24000|shp|lk=in}} for a design speed of {{convert|20|kn}}. The ship reached a top speed of {{convert|20.25|kn|1}} during her sea trials from {{convert|27740|shp|abbr=on}}.Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, pp. 23–24 She carried enough coal and oil to give her a range of {{convert|9100|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}. Unlike her half-sister, she had three funnels.Preston, p. 195

The ship's main battery consisted of four 45-caliber 12-inch (305 mm) 41st Year Type guns in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. Her intermediate armament consisted of six twin-gun turrets equipped with 45-caliber Type 41 10-inch (254 mm) guns, three turrets on each side of the superstructure. Her heavy intermediate armament of guns larger than {{convert|9|in|0}} is why the ship is considered to be a semi-dreadnought.

Aki{{'}}s secondary armament consisted of eight 45-caliber 6-inch (152 mm) 41st Year Type guns, mounted in casemates in the sides of the hull. The ship was also equipped with eight quick-firing (QF) 40-caliber QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun"Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. and four 28-caliber 12-pounder QF guns. In addition, the battleship was fitted with five submerged {{convert|18|in|adj=on|0}} torpedo tubes, two on each broadside and one in the stern.

The waterline main belt of the Satsuma-class vessels consisted of Krupp cemented armor that had a maximum thickness of nine inches amidships. It tapered to a thickness of {{convert|4|in|mm|0|spell=in}} at the ends of the ship. A six-inch strake of armor protected the casemates. The barbettes for the main guns were {{convert|7|-|9.5|in|spell=in}} thick. The armor of Aki{{'}}s main gun turrets had a maximum thickness of {{convert|8|in|0|spell=in}}. The deck armor was {{convert|2|-|3|in|mm|0|spell=in}} thick and the conning tower was protected by six inches of armor.Gardiner & Gray, p. 238

Aki was laid down at Kure Naval Arsenal on 15 March 1906. She was launched on 15 April 1907, but construction was suspended for about five months after the decision was made on 26 November to install steam turbines on Aki and the armored cruiser {{ship|Japanese armored cruiser|Ibuki||2}}. Aki{{'}}s turbines were already behind schedule and the suspension allowed the less valuable ship to be completed first, and changes made to its turbines after testing were also incorporated into Aki{{'}}s turbines.Itani, Lengerer & Rehm-Takahara, pp. 60 and footnote 19, p. 79 Aki was finally completed on 11 March 1911 and her first captain was Tatsuo Matsumura.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2096099?searchTerm=battleship%20aki&searchLimits=l-decade=191|title=Japanese Squadron Visiting Training Ships|date=14 June 1916|work=The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)|page=9|access-date=13 July 2013}}

When World War I began in August 1914, Aki was refitting at Kure Naval Arsenal. She was assigned to the 1st Battleship Squadron upon the completion of her refit and remained with it until she was transferred to the 2nd Battleship Squadron in 1918, seeing no combat during the war. From December 1915 to December 1916, she was commanded by Captain Kiyokazu Abo. The ship was disarmed at Yokosuka in 1922 to comply with the provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty, stricken from the navy list during 1923 and converted into a target ship. Her guns were turned over to the Imperial Japanese Army for use as coastal artillery. The rest of her guns were placed in reserve and ultimately scrapped in 1943.Gibbs & Tamura, pp. 192, 194 Two of her 10-inch gun turrets were installed as coastal artillery batteries on Jōgashima island to protect Tokyo Bay.{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/13811272/Survey-of-Japanese-Seacoast-Artillery-1946|title=Survey of Japanese Seacoast Artillery|date=1 February 1946|publisher=General Headquarters, United States Army Forces, Pacific|page=92|access-date=13 July 2013}} Aki was sunk by the battlecruiser {{ship|Japanese battleship|Kongō||2}} and the battleship {{ship|Japanese battleship|Hyūga||2}} on 2 September 1924 in Tokyo Bay.Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 24

{{reflist|group=Note}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite book | last = Evans | first = David| first2 = Mark R. |last2=Peattie | year = 1997 | title = Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887–1941 | publisher =Naval Institute Press | location =Annapolis, Maryland | isbn = 0-87021-192-7|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=Naval Weapons of World War One|publisher=Seaforth|location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK|year=2011|isbn=978-1-84832-100-7}}
• {{cite book |editor1-last=Gardiner |editor1-first=Robert |editor2-last=Gray |editor2-first=Randal |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 |year=1985 |location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=0-87021-907-3 |name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Gibbs |first1=Jay|last2=Tamura|first2=Toshio |title=Question 51/80 |journal=Warship International |date=1982 |volume=XIX |issue=2 |pages=190, 194–195|issn=0043-0374|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book|title=Warship 1992|editor=Gardiner, Robert|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|year=1992|isbn=0-85177-603-5|last1=Itani|first1=Jiro|last2=Lengerer|first2=Hans|last3=Rehm-Takahara|first3=Tomoko|chapter=Japan's Proto-Battlecruisers: The Tsukuba and Kurama Classes|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book| last = Jentschura| first = Hansgeorg| first2 = Dieter |last2=Jung|first3=Peter |last3=Mickel| year = 1977| title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945| publisher = United States Naval Institute| location = Annapolis, Maryland| isbn = 0-87021-893-X|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book |last1=Lengerer |first1=Hans |last2=Ahlberg |first2=Lars |title=Capital Ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1868–1945: Ironclads, Battleships and Battle Cruisers: An Outline History of Their Design, Construction and Operations|volume=I: Armourclad Fusō to Kongō Class Battle Cruisers |date=2019 |publisher=Despot Infinitus |location=Zagreb, Croatia |isbn=978-953-8218-26-2|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book|last=Preston|first=Antony|title=Battleships of World War I: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Battleships of All Nations 1914–1918|publisher=Galahad Books|location=New York|year=1972|isbn=0-88365-300-1}}
• {{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships|year=1984|publisher=Hippocrene Books|location=New York|isbn=0-88254-979-0}}

{{Commons category|Aki (ship, 1911)}}

{{Satsuma class battleship}}

{{1924 shipwrecks}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aki}}

Category:Satsuma-class battleships

Category:Ships built by Kure Naval Arsenal

Category:1907 ships

Category:World War I battleships of Japan

Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean

Category:Ships sunk as targets

Category:Maritime incidents in 1924