Settsu seen here in her final appearance before being disarmed for use as a target ship, and then later, a radio-controlled ship (1938). Note that she is still carrying her torpedo net defence at this late date (August 1921).
The 21,440-ton Settsu and Kawachi, laid down in 1909 and completed in 1912, were Japan’s first dreadnoughts. Their twelve 12-inch guns were imported Armstrongs, but their Brown–Curtis turbine engines were made in Japan, under license by Kawasaki. Their armor, too, was manufactured in Japan, which had first produced Krupp armor under license for the two 13,750-ton armored cruisers of the Tsukuba class, laid down in Kure early in 1905 as replacements for the battleships Hatsuse and Yashima, lost to Russian mines earlier in the war. These warships, and the two 14,640-ton armored cruisers of the subsequent Ibuki class, eventually were re-rated as battle cruisers, owing to their large size and heavy primary armament of four 12-inch guns. 18 After laying down the Settsu and Kawachi, Japan waited three years to begin another dreadnought.
SPECIFICATIONS
Displacement: 21,440 tons normal load
Dimensions: Length: 526ft oa; Beam: 84ft 3in; Draught: 27ft mean
Armament: 12 x 12in (mixture of 45 and 50cal); 10 x 6in 50cal; 8 x 4.7in; 12 x 14pdr; TT: 5 x 18in
Armour: Main belt: 12in–4in; Barbettes: 11in; Decks: 2in–1in; Turrets: 9in (faces); Casemates: 6in; Conning tower: 10in
Machinery: Two Curtis turbines (Parsons in Settsu) driving two screws, sixteen Miyabara boilers
Designed SHP: 25,000 for 20 knots
Fuel: 1,000 tons coal min, 2,300 tons max; 175–400 tons oil
Complement: 960–1,000
SETTSU
Laid down: 18 January 1909, Yokosuka Dockyard
Launched: 30 March 1911
Completed: July 1912
Fate: Sunk at Kure by US aircraft, 24 July 1945
KAWACHI
Laid down: 1 April 1909, Kure Naval Yard
Launched: 15 October 1910
Completed: March 1912
Fate: Sunk as result of an internal explosion, Tokuyama Bay 12 July 1918
