Japanese cruiser Tsukuba

Tsukuba (筑波) was the lead ship of the two-ship Tsukuba-class of armoured cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was named after Mount Tsukuba located in Ibaraki prefecture north of Tokyo. On 28 August 1912, the Tsukubas were re-classified as battlecruisers.

Service record
Shortly after commissioning at Kure Naval Arsenal in 1907, and with Admiral Goro Ijuin on board, Tsukuba was sent on a voyage to the United States to attend the Jamestown Exposition of 1907, the tricentennial celebrations marking the founding of the Jamestown Colony. She then traveled on to Portsmouth, England and returned to Japan via the Indian Ocean, thus circumnavigating the globe. After her return to Japan, Tsukuba was assigned to the escort fleet during the visit of the United States Navy’s Great White Fleet through Japanese waters on its around-the-world voyage in October 1908.

The ship served in World War I in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean as part of Japan's contribution to the Allied war effort, protecting the sea lanes from German raiders. Tsukuba was also at the Battle of Tsingtao.

On 4 December 1915, the ship was in a Fleet Review off of Yokohama, attended by Emperor Taishō in which 124 ships participated. A similar Fleet Review was held again off Yokohama on 25 October 1916. On 14 January 1917, Tsukuba exploded while in port at Yokosuka, and sank with a loss of 305 men. The cause was later attributed to a fire in its ammunition magazine. Afterwards, her hulk was raised, and used as a target for naval aviation training. It was formally removed from the navy list on 1 September 1917 and broken up in 1918.