Japanese cruiser Kurama

For other ships with the same name, see Japanese ship Kurama.

Kurama
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Kurama
Ordered	1904 Fiscal Year
Builder	Yokosuka Naval Arsenal
Laid down	23 August 1905
Launched	21 October 1907
Commissioned	28 February 1911
Stricken	20 September 1923
Fate	Scrapped, 20 September 1923
General characteristics
Class and type	Ibuki-class battlecruiser
Displacement	14,636 t (14,405 long tons) (standard); 15,595 t (15,349 long tons) (max)
Length	147.8 m (484 ft 11 in)
Beam	23 m (75 ft 6 in)
Draft	8 m (26 ft 3 in)
Installed power	22,500 ihp (16,780 kW)
Propulsion	2 × vertical triple expansion reciprocating engines 2 × screws
Speed	21.25 kn (39.36 km/h; 24.45 mph)
Range	5,000 nmi (9,000 km; 6,000 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	844
Armament	2 × twin 12-inch 41st Year Type guns 4 × twin 8-inch (200 mm) 41st Year Type guns 14 × single 4.7-inch (120 mm) 41st Year Type guns 4 × 8 cm (3.1 in) guns 3 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes
Armor	Belt: 100–180 mm (3.9–7.1 in) Barbette and Turret: 125–180 mm (4.9–7.1 in) Conning Tower: 200 mm (7.9 in) Deck: 75 mm (3.0 in)

Kurama (鞍馬) was the final vessel of the two-ship Ibuki class of armored cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Kurama was named after Mount Kurama located north of Kyoto, Japan. On 28 August 1912, the Ibukis were re-classified as battlecruisers.

Background

Ibuki was designed with geared steam turbines which promised more power and hence, more speed; however, problems with these engines led Kurama to be completed with conventional vertical triple expansion reciprocating engines. Kurama was built at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal.

Service history

Shortly after commissioning, Kurama, with Admiral Hayao Shimamura on board, was sent on a voyage to Great Britain to attend the Coronation Fleet Review for King George V at Spithead on 25 June 1911.

Kurama served in World War I as part of Japan's contribution to the Allied war effort, protecting British merchant shipping in the South Pacific, and (together with the battlecruisers Kongō and Hiei ) supporting the landings to occupy German-held Caroline Islands and Mariana Islands. In the 1920s, she was assigned to the northern fleet, covering the landings of Japanese troops in Russia during the Siberian Intervention in support of White Russian forces.

After the war, Kurama fell victim to the Washington Naval Treaty and was scrapped.

References

• Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
• Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Gibbs, Jay (2010). "Question 28/43: Japanese Ex-Naval Coast Defense Guns". Warship International. XLVII (3): 217–218. ISSN 0043-0374.
• Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Lengerer, Hans & Ahlberg, Lars (2019). Capital Ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1868–1945: Ironclads, Battleships and Battle Cruisers: An Outline History of Their Design, Construction and Operations. Vol. I: Armourclad Fusō to Kongō Class Battle Cruisers. Zagreb, Croatia: Despot Infinitus. ISBN 978-953-8218-26-2.