Japanese cruiser Asama

Asama (淺間) was the lead ship of an early class of armored cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship was named after Mount Asama, located north of Tokyo. Its sister ship was the JAPANESE CRUISER Tokiwa.

Background
The Asama was one of six armored cruisers ordered to overseas shipyards after the First Sino-Japanese War as part of the "Six-Six Program" (six battleships-six cruisers) intended to form the backbone of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Construction of the Asama began as a private venture by the British shipbuilder Armstrong Whitworth of Elswick, and the design had to be modified slightly to meet Japanese requirements. At the time of its completion, the Asama was considered the fastest, most heavily armed and most heavily armored cruiser in the world. It arrived in Yokosuka on 17 May 1899.

Service record
The Asama provided support for Japanese forces in China during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. It 1902, it was part of the delegation dispatched to Great Britain for the Spithead Fleet Review in celebration of the coronation of King Edward VII. It made port calls at Singapore, Colombo, Suez and Malta on the way to Great Britain, and Cardiff, Lisbon, Gibraltar and Naples, Aden, Colombo, Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong on the return voyage.

Russo-Japanese War
The Asama participated in the Russo-Japanese War as part of the second squadron of the Second Fleet. It played a leading role in the opening Battle of Chemulpo Bay in the sinking of the Russian cruiser RUSSIAN CRUISER Varyag and the gunboat Korietz. Although some Russian sources claimed that the Asama was damaged in this battle, Japanese sources claim no damage, and there is no evidence to that the Asama needed any repairs before it was assigned to patrol duties off of Hokkaidō and the Kurile Islands, and in the blockade of the port of Vladivostok. It participated at the Battle of Tsushima, as the rearmost ship in the line of battle, suffering damage by gunfire (mostly from the battleship Imperator Nikolai I), which disabled her steering gear. Repaired after about two hours, the Asama retired from the battle, taking the captured Russian battleship Oryol in tow back to Sasebo.

World War I
During World War I, the Asama was part of the Japanese fleet involved in the capture of German colonies in the South Pacific (Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands, and Palau). During early 1915, the Asama created a minor diplomatic incident after running aground on the west coast of Mexico during patrols against the German navy. After being refloated, Asama steamed north to the British naval base at Nanaimo, British Columbia for repairs.

Post-War
After World War I, the Asama was used primarily for long range oceanic navigation training by officer candidates. On 21 August 1920, it made a training voyage to Hong Kong, Singapore, Columbo, Durban, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Valparaíso, Tahiti, Truk and Saipan, thus circumnavigating the globe east to west.

The Asama was re-designated a "1st-class Coastal Defense Vessel" on 1 September 1921. On 26 June 1922, the Asama departed Yokosuka for Honolulu, Los Angeles, Panama Canal, Rio de Janeiro, where it participated in the Brazilian Centenary celebrations; then Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Durban, Colombo, Singapore and Hong Kong, returning to Yokosuka after thus circumnavigating the globe west to east. The following year, the Asama made a shorter cruise to Acapulco, Balboa, San Francisco, and Vancouver. On 1 December 1926, the Asama departed Yokosuka on a training cruise to Los Angeles, Honolulu, Victoria, Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Balboa, the Panama Canal, Colon, Havana, Baltimore, New York, Colon, Jaluit, Truk and Saipan, returning to Yokosuka after a voyage of 24608 nmi.

Due to poor maintenance, her speed deteriorated to 19 kn and she was fitted with new Kampon boilers and re-designated as a "Coastal Defense Vessel" on 30 March 1931. In a 1933 retrofit at Kure shipyards, 40 mm anti-aircraft guns were added to the bridge. On 15 February 1934, the Asama departed on a training cruise to Manila, Singapore, Aden, Istanbul, Athens, Naples, Marseilles, Barcelona, Malta, Alexandria, Djibouti, Colombo, Batavia, Palau and Saipan, returning to Yokosuka after a voyage of 21853 nmi.

On 20 March 1935, the Asama departed Yokosuka on a training voyage to Hong Kong, Manila, Bangkok, Singapore, Batavia, Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington, Auckland, Suva, Apia, Honolulu, Truk, and Saipan, returning to Yokosuka on 22 July 1935 after a 20930 nmi cruise. On 14 October 1935, it participated in anti-air raid drills in Osaka and Kobe. However, at Kurahashi Island in the Inland Sea (near the Shiraishi lighthouse in Hiroshima prefecture), the Asama ran aground, severely damaging its keel.

World War II
After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Asama was deemed to be in too poor condition for retrofit and modernization, and consequently it was demilitarized with the removal of its main guns and auxiliary batteries and permanently moored at Kure. On 1 July 1942, the hulk was designated an auxiliary training vessel. Towed to Shimonoseki in 1944, it was designated a self-propelled barracks vessel. The hulk of the Asama survived the Pacific War, and was decommissioned on 30 November 1945. It was scrapped under the American occupation of Japan in 1947.