Japanese cruiser Kasuga

Kasuga at Sasebo after the Battle of Tsushima, May 1905
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Kasuga
Namesake	Kasuga Shrine
Ordered	23 December 1901
Builder	Gio. Ansaldo & C., Genoa-Sestri Ponente
Laid down	10 March 1902
Launched	22 October 1902
Acquired	30 December 1903
Commissioned	7 January 1904
Fate	Sunk, 18 July 1945 Salvaged and scrapped, 1948
General characteristics
Class and type	Giuseppe Garibaldi-class armored cruiser
Displacement	7,700 t (7,578 long tons)
Length	111.73 m (366 ft 7 in) (o/a)
Beam	18.71 m (61 ft 5 in)
Draft	7.31 m (24 ft 0 in)
Depth	12.1 m (39 ft 8 in)
Installed power	8 Scotch marine boilers 13,500 ihp (10,100 kW)
Propulsion	2 Shafts; 2 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	560
Armament	1 × single 10 in (254 mm) gun (forward) 1 × twin 8 in (203 mm) guns (aft) 14 × single QF 6 in (152 mm) guns 10 × single QF 3 in (76 mm) guns 6 × single 3 pdr (1.5 in (38 mm)) guns 4 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor	Waterline belt: 70–150 mm (2.8–5.9 in) Deck: 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) Barbette: 100–150 mm (3.9–5.9 in) Conning tower: 150 mm (5.9 in)

Kasuga (春日, Vernal Sun) was the name ship of the Kasuga-class armored cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, built in the first decade of the 20th century by Gio. Ansaldo & C., Sestri Ponente, Italy, where the type was known as the Giuseppe Garibaldi class. The ship was originally ordered by the Royal Italian Navy as Mitra in 1901 and sold in 1902 to Argentine Navy who renamed her Bernardino Rivadavia during the Argentine–Chilean naval arms race, but the lessening of tensions with Chile and financial pressures caused the Argentinians to sell her before delivery. At that time tensions between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire were rising, and the ship was offered to both sides before she was purchased by the Japanese.

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, Kasuga participated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea and was lightly damaged during the subsequent Battle of Tsushima. In addition, she frequently bombarded the defenses of Port Arthur. The ship played a limited role in World War I and was used to escort Allied convoys and search for German commerce raiders in the Indian Ocean and Australasia. Kasuga became a training ship in the late 1920s and was then disarmed and hulked in 1942 for use as a barracks ship. The ship capsized shortly before the end of World War II in 1945 and was salvaged three years later and broken up for scrap.