The Mutsu was a Japanese super-dreadnought battleship launched in 1920, belonging to the Nagato class, which was based on the
British Queen Elizabeth class. The battleships of the Nagato class were the first ones armed with 406-millimeter cannons and,
in the time of their construction, the most powerful battleships in the world, gifted with an excellent balance between armament,
protection, navigability and speed. They were the first Japanese battleships in which a "pagoda style" mast bridge was installed,
and as the others they were reconstructed during the 1930s.
During the Second World War the Mutsu took part in the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in 1942, spending
the largest part of the first year of the Pacific War in training tasks. She returned to Japan in 1943 and shortly after one of
her aft magazines detonated while she was anchored in Hashirajima, causing the sinking of the ship and the loss of the largest
part of the people onboard. The illustration shows the Mutsu as she was in 1921; note the sixfold fore mast.
Class: Nagato (2 units - Mutsu, Nagato)
Type: Battleship
Length: 215.8 meters as built; 225 meters after 1936
Beam: 29 meters as built; 34.6 meters after 1936
Draught: 9 meters as built; 9.5 meters after 1936
Displacement (standard): 32245 tonnes as built; 38600 tonnes after 1936
Propulsion (as built): 4 x shaft, 4 x steam turbine Kampon, 8 x coal boiler Kampon, 15 x petrol boiler Kampon, 80000 horsepower
Propulsion (after 1936): 4 x shaft, 4 x steam turbine Kampon, 4 x petrol boiler Kampon, 82000 horsepower
Speed: 26.75 knots (49.5 kilometers/hour) as built; 25 knots (46.3 kilometers/hour) after 1936
Range: 5500 nautical miles (10200 kilometers) at 15 knots as built; 8650 nautical miles (16020 kilometers) at 16 knots after 1936
Fuel (as built): 1625 tonnes of coal and 3450 tonnes of petrol
Fuel (after 1936): 5690 tonnes of petrol
Complement: 1333 as built; 1368 after 1936
Armament (as built): 8 x 406-millimeter 45-caliber cannon, 20 x 140-millimeter 50-caliber cannon, 4 x 76-millimeter cannon, 8 x 533-millimeter torpedo tube
Armament (after 1936): 8 x 406-millimeter 45-caliber cannon, 18 x 140-millimeter 50-caliber cannon, 8 x 127-millimeter cannon, 20 x 25-millimeter cannon, 3 x aircraft
Armor (as built): 75-300 millimeters in belt, 100-200 millimeters in ends, 25 millimeters in forecastle deck, 44 millimeters in main deck,
50-75 millimeters in lower deck, 300 millimeters in barbettes, 190-356 millimeters in main turrets, 19-25 millimeters in casemates
Armor (after 1936): 75-300 millimeters in belt, 100-200 millimeters in ends, 63 millimeters in forecastle deck, 44-69 millimeters in main deck,
50-75 millimeters in lower deck, 300 millimeters in barbettes, 190-356 millimeters in main turrets, 19-25 millimeters in casemates, 369 millimeters in conning tower
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