Japanese battleship Yamashiro

Yamashiro at Tateyama, December 1934
History
Japan
Name	Yamashiro
Namesake	Yamashiro Province
Builder	Yokosuka Naval Arsenal
Laid down	20 November 1913
Launched	3 November 1915
Commissioned	31 March 1917
Stricken	31 August 1945
Fate	Sunk during the Battle of Surigao Strait, 25 October 1944
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Fusō-class battleship
Displacement	29,326 long tons (29,797 t) (standard) 35,900 long tons (36,500 t) (full load)
Length	192.1 m (630 ft 3 in) (pp) 202.7 m (665 ft) (o/a)
Beam	28.7 meters (94 ft 2 in)
Draft	8.7 meters (28 ft 7 in)
Installed power	24 × Miyahara water-tube boilers 40,000 shp (30,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed	22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph)
Range	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	1,193
Armament	6 × twin 356 mm (14 in) guns 16 × single 152 mm (6 in) guns 6 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes
Armor	Belt: 305 mm (12 in) Deck: 32–51 mm (1.3–2.0 in) Bulkheads: 102–305 mm (4–12 in) Barbettes: 203–305 mm (8–12 in) Turrets: 228.6 to 279 mm (9 to 11 in) Conning Tower: 351 mm (13.8 in)
General characteristics (1944)
Displacement	34,700 long tons (35,300 t)
Length	212.75 m (698 ft) (o.a.)
Beam	33.1 m (108 ft 7 in)
Draft	9.69 meters (31 ft 9 in)
Installed power	6 × water-tube boilers 75,000 shp (56,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × steam turbines
Speed	24.5 knots (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph)
Range	11,800 nmi (21,900 km; 13,600 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement	approximately 1,900
Sensors and processing systems	1 × Type 21 air search radar 1 × Type 13 early warning radar 1 × Type 22 surface search radar
Armament	6 × twin 356 mm guns 14 × single 152 mm guns 4 × twin 127 mm (5 in) DP guns 92 × 25 mm (0.98 in) AA guns
Armor	Deck: 51–152 mm (2–6 in)
Aircraft carried	3 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities	1 × catapult

Yamashiro (山城, "Mountain castle", named for Yamashiro Province) was the second of two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1915 and commissioned in 1917, 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.

Yamashiro was modernized between 1930 and 1935, with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nevertheless, with only 14-inch guns, she was outclassed by other Japanese battleships at the beginning of World War II, and played auxiliary roles for most of the war.

By 1944, though, she was forced into front-line duty, serving as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Shōji Nishimura's Southern Force at the Battle of Surigao Strait, the southernmost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. During fierce night fighting in the early hours of 25 October against a superior American and Australian force, Yamashiro was sunk by torpedoes and naval gunfire. Nishimura went down with his ship, and only 10 crewmembers survived.