The Flagship of Nelson's Reincarnation - The Battleship Mikasa

Join me on a tour of the Battleship Mikasa located in Yokosuka, Japan. During the Russo-Japanese War, the Mikasa served as the flagship of Tōgō Heihachirō. Under the command of Admiral Togo the Japanese Navy would defeat the Russian Navy. Togo himself believed that he was the reincarnation of Horatio Nelson

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The Mikasa was part of a navy build up by Japan after the First Sino-Japanese War. The war caused Japan to abandon an Jeune Ecole doctrine and plan a navy of heavier more powerful ships. After the war ended Japan started a 10 year program to build its fleet up to 6 battleships and 6 armored crusers. Aptly named the six-six fleet.

The Mikasa was the last of these battleships to be built. Due to a lack of domestic industry the Mikasa and the other ships in the six-six fleet were built outside of Japan. The Battleship Mikasa was built by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness and launched in 1900 and commissioned in 1902.

In 1904 the Russo-Japanese War began and Mikasa served as the flagship of Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō. Admiral Togo was the commander of the Combined Fleet during the Russo-Japanese War making the Mikasa the flagship of the First Fleet and the flagship of the Combined Fleet. The Mikasa is best known for being the Japanese flagship at the Battle of Tsushima, also known as the Battle of the Sea of Japan. The Battle of Tsushima is known as history's only decisive battle between steel battleships.

Only a few days after the war ended the battleship Mikasa sank at dock when a fire broke out and detonated the magazine. It took a year to refloat her and another two years to return the Mikasa to active duty. During WWI she served as a coastal defense ship and supported Japan's intervention in Siberia in 1921.

The Mikasa was decommissioned after the Washington Navel Treaty. It was agreed to allow her to be turned into a museum ship if her hall was encased in concrete and her guns and engines removed. The ship was damaged during WWII and was used as a night club and aquarium after the war. Major restoration and repairs in the 1950s returned it to being a museum ship and re reopened in 1961.