Japanese cruiser Asama

Asama was the lead ship of the Asama class of armoured cruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 1890s. Japan lacked the industry to build such warships and ordered her from Armstrong Whitworth, whose Elswick yard had laid her down on 20 October 1896 as a speculative venture; the contract was signed on 6 July 1897. She was launched on 21 March 1898 and completed on 18 March 1899. She carried four 8-inch guns in twin turrets and fourteen 6-inch quick-firing guns, and she had two triple-expansion steam engines of 18,000 indicated horsepower and room for 1,390 long tons of coal. In the Russo-Japanese War she took part in the Battle of Chemulpo Bay, the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Battle of Tsushima. She ran aground off the Mexican coast in early 1915, and after repairs that took over two years she served mainly as a training ship until she was broken up in 1946 to 1947.