Fusō Japanese super-Dreadnought battleship

Japan's first super-Dreadnought battleship, Fusō had an impressive broadside of twelve 14-in guns. Since the Japanese had no experience of building triple turrets for such artillery (and little experience of building Dreadnoughts from scratch for that matter), this was achieved by mounting the main armament in six twin turrets all along the centre-line. To accommodate all the turrets a long hull was required and two of the turrets were mounted amidships, with the second funnel between them. This arrangement created the problem of a large area of the deck needing to be kept clear of boats and other 'clutter' prone to blast damage, leading to the Fuso class having a very unique appearance when they were later rebuilt in the 1930s.

Fusō had a relatively uneventful First World War given that all of Germany's battleships were back at home facing off with the British Grand Fleet.

Sunk at the battle of Surigao Strait, 25 October 1944.

Battleship Fusō Image Gallery
Fusō pictured sometime after her first major refit.	Fusō pictured under way after her inter-war reconstruction.	Fusō speeding through calm waters, 1932.
Fusō (middle) pictured with sistership Yamashiro (foregound) and Kongo class battle-cruiser Haruna (background) in Tokyo Bay, 1930s.	Fusō in the Sulu Sea under attack by aircraft from the American aircraft carrier U.S.S. Franklin, 24 October 1944.	Fusō (foreground) in the Sulu Sea with the heavy cruiser Mogami under attack by aircraft from the American aircraft carrier U.S.S. Franklin, 24 October 1944.