Japanese battleship Fusō

Uncommon card · No. 185428

Fusō (Japanese: 扶桑; a classical name for Japan) was the lead ship of the two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1914 and commissioned in 1915, she initially patrolled off the coast of China, playing no part in World War I. In 1923, she assisted survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake. Fusō was modernized in 1930–1935 and again in 1937–1941, with improvements to her armor and propulsion machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nonetheless, she was still hampered by slow speed and outclassed by newer Japanese battleships at the beginning of World War II, and played auxiliary roles for most of the war. Fusō was part of Vice-Admiral Shōji Nishimura's Southern Force at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She was sunk in the early hours of 25 October 1944 by torpedoes and naval gunfire during the Battle of Surigao Strait. Some reports claimed Fusō broke in half, and that both halves remained afloat and burning for an hour; according...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Unknown, assumed official photographer as this a high-quality photo unlikely to be taken by an amateur and the IJN severely restricted professional photography of its ships after World War I., Public domain