The below image details Queen Liliuokalani’s 272-man Royal Household Guard being disarmed by Col. John Harris Soper, late of the California National Guard and a former Marshal of the Kingdom of Hawaii, following the overthrow of the monarchy in January 1893, while outgoing Captain of the Guard Samuel Nowlein looks toward the camera beside the bowler-hatted Soper. The Hawaiians stacked arms, turned over equipment, and list to “The Authority” notice read by Colonel Soper, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of military forces of the Provisional Government of Hawaii the day before.
Hawaii State Archives: Call Number: PP-54-1-001
Note the Union Army-style sack coats and kepis over white canvas trousers, and stacked “Trapdoor” Model 1873 Springfield breechloaders with Mills-style cartridge belts atop.
A small force of about 16 men were left to provide a ceremonial detachment to serve Liliuokalani in exile for another year or so.
Royal Guards in front of the house of Queen Lili’uokalani (known as Washington Place), circa 1893. Pictured here is the “fallen Queen’s house,” Washington Place, and the guard of sixteen, plus their captain. Photograph by Hedemann, 1893. It appears Nowlein is to the left, armed with a sword. Courtesy of the Bishop Museum.
As outlined by Lillich, on the Forcible Protection of Nationals Abroad, in International Law Studies, Vol 77, Boston’s Marines and Bluejackets were landed under the old “protection of lives and property” pretext:
When Queen Liliuokalani informed her cabinet that she planned to promulgate a new autocratic constitution by royal edict, some of her ministers informed the prominent American residents of the islands. These Americans requested the support of the U.S. Minister, John H. Stevens, and the protection of the U.S. Navy. Stevens arranged to have a detachment from the fifth USS Boston, a protected cruiser, land at Honolulu on 16 January 1893, for the ostensible purpose of protecting American lives and property. Curious to their stated purpose, the Americans were not stationed near American property, but rather were located where they might most easily intimidate the Queen.
The American presence served its function and on 17 January, Liliuokalani’s opponents deposed her and established a provisional government under the presidency of Sanford B. Dole. The provisional government requested that the United States assume the role of a protectorate over the islands. Mr. Stevens complied with the request and raised the American flag on 1 February. The Boston landed another detachment of Marines that same day, increasing the number of American forces in Honolulu to about 150 men. Subsequently, there was a change of administration in Washington, with President Cleveland disavowing the actions of Mr. Stevens.
On 1 April 1893, the American flag was hauled down and the landing force withdrew.
Sources: Baily 429-33; Ellsworth 93; Offutt 72-73
Fine screen halftone reproduction of a photograph of the USS Boston’s landing force on duty at the Arlington Hotel, Honolulu, at the time of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, January 1893. Lieutenant Lucien Young, USN, commanded the detachment and is presumably the officer at right. The original photograph is in the Archives of Hawaii. This halftone was published prior to about 1920. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 56555
Going further down the rabbit hole, the dour Soper, aged 46 in the top image, would become Adjutant General and Chief of Staff of the National Guard of the Republic of Hawaii and then the Hawaii Territorial Militia in 1900 when the islands were formally absorbed by the U.S., retaining that post through 1907 when he retired at the rank of brigadier general. Of note, he managed Soper, Wright & Company, a large sugar plantation on the Big Island.
The National Guard of Hawaii, formed to serve the Hawaiian Republic from 1893-1898, was a battalion-sized unit comprised of two companies of mostly whites recruited in Honolulu (most of the former Honolulu Rifles), one company of Portuguese volunteers, and one of Germans. Hawaii State Archives
As for Nowlein, the native Hawaiian and devoted monarchist would later play a big role in the so-called Wilcox Rebellion in 1895, named such due to its leader, Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox, a surveyor with experience in the Italian Army. Nowlein’s and Wilcox’s ~500-man force of Royalists would fight the much-larger Republican Hawaii National Guard, which was augmented by two companies of U.S. Army regulars and a battalion of local Citizen’s Guard volunteers, in three pitched battles across three days, ultimately failing. Pardoned of most of a resulting five-year prison sentence, the last Captian of the Queen’s Guard died in 1905.
In 1916, the U.S. Army’s 32nd Infantry Regiment was first organized at Schofield Barracks on Oahu. At its activation, it was known as “The Queen’s Own” Regiment, a title bestowed by the deposed last queen of Hawaiʻi, Liliʻuokalani. Although it long ago left Hawaii (1/32 has been part of the 10th Mountain Division in New York since 1996), it still retains the nickname as part of its lineage.
32nd Inf memorial on Fort Benning. Note the islander’s “Kamehameha” war cap and “The Queens Own” scroll
The Royal Guard would remain disbanded for 70 years.
In 1963, the state enrolled a small ceremonial guard, outfitted in pith helmets and Trapdoor Springfields, to be the Royal Guards of Hawaii. Drawn from members of the Hawaiin Air National Guard, each of its 42 volunteers has to be of full or partial Hawaiian descent.
As noted by the state:
They were re-established on November 16, 1963, marking the beloved 19th-century monarch King Kalakauka’s birthday celebration. Members of the unit go to great lengths to maintain period-correct uniforms, even refurbish original helmets all on volunteer hours, and use the Hawaiian language to call commands during their drills and ceremony. The members of the Royal Guard help the state and its Guard members to connect to their unique place in history serving as reminders of the heritage and history of their forbearers.
Hawaii Air National Guardʻs Royal Guard posts ceremonial watch on the anniversary of refounding, November 16, 2021. (US Air National Guard Photos by Master Sgt. Andrew Lee Jackson)
Statement by Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder on the Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP):
Yesterday the Director of National Intelligence delivered to Congress the Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (now Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP)) as required by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022.
Analyzing and understanding the potential threats posed by UAP is an ongoing collaborative effort involving many departments and agencies, and the Department thanks the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) for leading a collaborative effort to produce this report, as well as the other contributing departments and agencies.
The safety of our service personnel, our bases and installations, and the protection of U.S. operations security on land, in the skies, seas, and space are paramount. We take reports of incursions into our designated space, land, sea, or airspaces seriously and examine each one.
The All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is leading DOD’s efforts, in coordination with ODNI and other government agencies, to document, analyze, and when possible resolve UAP reports using a rigorous scientific framework and a data-driven approach.
You can find the unclassified version of the ODNI UAP report on dni.gov.
80 years ago this week. Official caption: “A Daimler armored car opens fire in the gloom of early morning at the start of the Battle for Tripoli, 18 January 1943.” The car is likely of the famed 11th Hussars (Prince Albert’s Own), attached to the 7th Armored Division’s “Desert Rats,” who both used them in North Africa and were present in the Tunis campaign.
Photo by Keating G (Capt), No 1 Army Film & Photographic Unit, IWM collection E 21333
Note the infantrymen behind, their .303 SMLEs at the ready. They would need them. Over the course of the next five days, Montgomery’s 8th Army would fight one of their last battles with the Afrika Korps and enter Tripoli on the morning of 23 January after Rommel abandoned the town.
When it comes to the Daimler armored car, the company made almost 2,700 of these light (7.6 ton) 4x4s during the conflict. Clad in just 7-to-16mm of steel plate, they were only proof against small arms rounds and shrapnel but were toast to anything .50 caliber or above. Nonetheless, they we fast, capable of 50 mph on good roads and handy both in the open and in built-up areas due to their size.
Canadian Daimler Mk. 1 Scout Car, Sallenelles, France, LAC 4233182, original color
They proved effective in their standard (40mm Ordnance QF 2-pounder) and Mk I CS variants (with a 76mm gun) enough to remain in use with the 11th Hussars in Northern Ireland as late as 1960 and with Commonwealth and Middle Eastern countries until at least 2012.
I’ve been wringing out the SFAR for several weeks and, with the first 500 rounds in the rearview, decided to go for some quiet time.
Ruger’s new Small-Frame Autoloading Rifle is aptly named, as it is a 308 Winchester-chambered AR that, rather than dog pile atop the familiar AR-10/SR-25 competition, hit the market in a very AR-15 size. We are taking 6.8 pounds in weight and just 34 inches long when fresh out of the box in its shorter carbine variant that sports a 16-inch barrel.
Ruger’s SFAR, in its 16-inch carbine format. They also make it in a 20-inch model, which is probably a waste of time.
The handy little rifle is almost perfectly set up to mount a suppressor via its adjustable gas port and standard 5/8-24 TPI muzzle threads.
With the Boomer brake removed and Omega 36M mounted in its long configuration, we found the overall length of the SFAR to still just hit 39 inches with the stock collapsed. Weight, with the can, EoTech XPS, and sling installed, was 8.5 pounds. You could shave a few ounces and inches from even these figures by running the Omega in its shorter configuration.
Jan. 13, 1945: a Big Red One Soldier, from the 16th Infantry Regiment, in a protective snowsuit (aka Spok suit) advances toward enemy positions in the Butgenback sector of Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge.
For more on the 16th Infantry’s trip through snow “knee-deep on the level and drifted to two to three times that depth where the wind could get at it,” check out the regimental historical society’s detailed account.
The smallest military force in NATO with the possible exception of the Icelandic Coast Guard, Luxembourg actually has a rich military tradition going back to 963. An unwilling participant in both World Wars– the country was the first one that the Kaiser’s troops passed through on the way to Belgium and France– it was one of the original 12 states that created NATO in 1949. After all, “Free Luxembourg” troops (whose rank and file included members of the Duchal family) organized in England in WWII had helped liberate the country while others fought as insurgents in the countryside. They were even given their own slice of Germany to occupy post-war as recognition of this.
By 1954, the country of just 300,000 had expanded its military to a full brigade battle group of some 5,200 men and had sent a combat contingent to fight in Korea as part of a Belgo-Luxemburgish battalion.
The below images of the brigade at its peak in the 1970s and 80s– when it was an all-volunteer, professional standing army– show an interesting mix of U.S. M1 helmets and M151 “Mutt” jeeps (with TOW anti-tank launchers) along with Belgian FN FALs and FN MAGs, in largely Dutch/American-pattern uniforms. Similarly, the Dutch, who were fans of the UZI, seem to have passed on their love of the Israeli SMG for support troops.
Further, the duchy became a staging area for the Western Alliance and in 1967 the joint NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) was established in Capellen.
As noted by NATO:
In the late 1970s, for example, the Luxembourg government decided to build two gigantic military storage depots, holding 63,000 tons of combat vehicles, machine parts, food, clothing, fuel, and other equipment that the Allies would need in the event of a war. At a public consultation with the local population before construction began, one man wanted to know whether the tanks would make noise at night. He was interrupted by somebody who shouted: ‘”You found the noise of American tanks sweet enough in 1944”.
Today, while the Lëtzebuerger Arméihas dwindled to just 900 or so full-time troops, they are still professional and have gained much international experience in the past 30 years, sending contingents on worldwide deployments. Donating lots of kit to Ukraine since the Russian invasion last year, the Armei has also committed to training Ukrainian troops in Europe.
In further news from the Duchy, the decoration for completing the longstanding Marche Internationale de Diekirch road march, a permanent and wearable foreign award from the Armed Forces of Luxembourg, has been reauthorized by the U.S. Army for American Solders to accept and wear on their dress uniforms, after some controversy.
Currently, Luxembourg is contributing to the NATO multinational battlegroup in Lithuania with a transport and logistics unit, moving supplies and equipment across the country in support of the battlegroup’s mission. The Luxembourgers work alongside troops from Belgium, Czechia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway, which are currently part of the battlegroup.
Stretching the FN 509 Tactical series from its standard 9mm format to something bigger bore, FN is now offering red-dot and suppressor-ready 10mm Auto and .45 ACP models.
With a commanding 22+1 magazine capacity, the FN 510 in 10mm and its companion 18+1 shot FN 545 in .45 ACP still have all the standard features of the FN 509 Tactical. These include the company’s bomb-proof Low-Profile Optics Mounting System that fits just about any micro red-dot footprint on the market, fully ambidextrous controls, suppressor-height three-dot night sights with tritium inserts, and a 4.71-inch extended threaded barrel that accepts most comps and suppressors.
Looks like I am going to have to be spending some time on the range in the next few months!
Caption: “Painting by Arthur Beaumont, 1961. USS Duncan (DD-874) leads USS Mansfield (DD-728) and other destroyers into the Yokosuka, Japan, naval base. In the background is the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CVS-18).”
Naval History and Heritage Command Catalog #: NH 73366-KN
If you aren’t aware of Mr. Beaumont’s work, the NHHC and Navy Museum have lots of it digitized, most suitable for framing. A true maritime artist, he could make even life on a weather-beaten icebreaker or a slow-poking minesweeper seem just as exotic and stirring as serving on a cruiser with a bone in her teeth– just add humble local sailing craft or penguins.
USS Glacier (AGB 4) passes Beaufort Island, Arthur Beaumont. U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 428-GX-KN 1388
USS Prime (MSO 466), artwork by Arthur Beaumont. U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Photographed from small reference card. 428-GX-K-42971
NH 94735-KN (Color). USS Providence (CLG-6). Watercolor by Arthur Beaumont, 1965
Warship Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023: The Grounded Shrine
Colorized period photo by Atsushi Yamashita/Monochrome Specter http://blog.livedoor.jp/irootoko_jr/, original in Naval Historical Command archives, NH 58997
Above we see the lead ship of her class of Italian-made armored cruisers, HIJMS Kasuga, making a temporary stay in Tsukushi on its way from Yokosuka to Kure, circa 1904 (Meiji 37). Sourced from a cash-strapped Latin American navy while still under construction and named in honor of a famous Shinto shrine in Nara, this cruiser would endure until the final days of the Empire.
Spaghetti cruisers
Built around the turn of the Century by Gio. Ansaldo & C shipbuilders, Genoa, Italy, as an updated version of the Giuseppe Garibaldi armored cruiser class, the ship that would become Kasuga was designed by Italian naval architect Edoardo Masdea as a vessel only smaller than a 1st-rate (pre-dreadnought) battleship of the era, yet larger and stronger than most cruisers that could oppose it.
The Garibaldi class was innovative (for 1894,) with a 344-foot long/7,200-ton hull capable of making 20 knots and sustaining a range of more than 7,000 nm at 12 when stuffed with enough coal. Although made in Italy, she was almost all-British from her Armstrong batteries to her Bellville boilers, Whitehead torpedoes, and Harvey armor.
Armored with a belt that ran up to 5.9-inches thick, Garibaldi could take hits from faster cruisers and gunboats while being able to dish out punishment from a pair of Elswick (Armstrong) 10-inch guns that no ship smaller than her could absorb. Capable of outrunning larger ships, she also had a quartet of casemate-mounted torpedo tubes and extensive rapid-fire secondary batteries to make life hard on the enemy’s small ships and merchantmen.
These cruisers were designed for power projection on a budget and the Argentine Navy, facing a quiet arms race between Brazil and Chile on each side, needed modern ships. They, therefore, scooped up not only the Garibaldi (commissioned in 1895) but also the follow-on sister ships General Belgrano and General San Martín (built by Orlando of Livorno in 1896) and Genoa-made Pueyrredón (1898) to make a quartet of powerful cruisers. These ships, coupled with a pair of battleships ordered later in the U.S., helped make the Argentine navy for about two decades the eighth most powerful in the world (after the big five European powers, Japan, and the United States), and the largest in Latin America.
The design was well-liked, with Spain moving to buy two (but only taking delivery of one in the end, the ill-fated Cristóbal Colón, which was sunk at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish American War) and Italy electing to purchase five further examples of the type.
Why all the talk about Argentina and Italy?
Well, because Kasuga and her sistership Nisshin were originally ordered by the Italians in 1900 as Roca (#129) and Mitra (Yard #130), respectively, but then sold while still on the ways to Argentina to further flesh out the fleet of that South American country’s naval forces, who dutifully renamed them, respectively, Rivadavia and Mariano Moreno.
At some 8,500 tons (full), these final Garibaldis were 364 feet long overall and were roughly the same speed, and carried the same armor plan (with Terni plate) as their predecessors.
However, they differed in armament, with Mitra/Rivadavia/Kasuga carrying a single 10-inch EOC gun forward and twin 8″/45s aft, while Roca/Moreno/Nisshin carried the twin 8-inchers both forward and aft.
Stern 8″/45 (20.3 cm) turret on armored cruiser Nisshin on 24 October 1908. Ship’s officers with USN officers from USS Missouri (B-11) during “Great White Fleet” around the world cruise. Note the landing guns on the upper platform. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 82511.
Of note, the same 8-inch EOC guns were also used on other British-built Japanese armored cruisers (Adzuma, Asama, Iwate, Izumo, Tokiwa, and Yakumo) so they weren’t too out of place when Japan took delivery of these ships in 1904 instead of Argentina.
Armstrong 1904 model 20.3 cm 8 inch 45 as installed on Japanese cruisers, including Kasuga
Both Mitra/Rivadavia/Kasuga and Roca/Moreno/Nisshin were launched, fitted out, and ran builders’ trials in Italy under the Argentine flag.
Armada Argentina crucero acorazado ARA Moreno, at 1903 launch. Note Italian and Argentine flags. Colorized photo by Atsushi Yamashita/Monochrome Specter http://blog.livedoor.jp/irootoko_jr/
Nisshin Running trials under the Argentine flag, probably in late 1903, just before her purchase by the Japanese NH 58664
Running trials under the Argentine flag, probably in late 1903, just before her purchase by the Japanese. The photo is credited to her builder Ansaldo. NH 58665
From the same publication as the photo of Nissen, above, NH 58998
Kasuga (Japanese Armored Cruiser, 1902-1945) Photographed at Genoa, Italy, early in 1904 soon after completion by Ansaldo’s yard there. The lighter alongside the ship carries a warning banner reading “Munizioni”– munitions. Courtesy of Mr. Tom Stribling, 1987. NH 101929
With the Japanese and Imperial Russia circling each other tensely in late 1903, and Argentina not really wanting to take final delivery of these new cruisers, Buenos Aries shopped them to the Tsar’s kopeck-pinching Admiralty only to be rebuffed over the sticker shock, leaving Tokyo to pick them up for £760,000 each– considered a high price at the time but a bargain that the Russians would likely later regret. The Argentines would later reuse the briefly-issued Moreno and Rivadavia names for their matching pair of Massachusetts-built battleships in 1911.
With a scratch British/Italian contract delivery crew, Kasuga and Nisshin set sail immediately for the Far East and were already outbound of Singapore by the time the balloon finally went up between the Russians and Japanese in February 1904.
Kasuga in Italian waters, Source l’Illustration dated 16 January 1904
Japanese Crews embarking at Genoa Italy on Kasuga, Source l’Illustration dated 16 January 1904
The sisters were soon in the gun line off Russian-held Port Arthur, lending their fine British-made batteries to reducing that fortress, and took part in both the ineffective Battle of the Yellow Sea in August 1904 (where Nisshin was lightly damaged) and the much more epic Battle of Tsushima in May 1905.
Carrying the flag of VADM Baron Misu Sotarō, Nisshin fired something on the order of 180 heavy shells during Tsushima, exchanging heavy damage with the 15,000-ton Russian battleship Oslyabya and others– taking several 12-inch hits to show for it. The Japanese cruiser had three of her four 8-inch guns sliced off and a number of her crew, including a young Ensign Isoroku Yamamoto, wounded. The future commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II had the index and middle fingers on his left hand shorn off by a splinter, earning him the wardrobe nickname “80 sen” as a manicure cost 10 sen per digit at the time.
The forward gun turret and superstructure of the Japanese armored cruiser Nisshin following the Battle of Tsushima, showing 8-inch guns severed by Russian 12-inch shells
Oslyabya, in turn, was ultimately lost in the course of the battle, taking the Russian Squadron’s second-in-command, Capt. Vladimir Ber, and half of her crew with her to the bottom of the Korea Strait.
Death of the battleship OSLYABYA in the Battle of Tsushima. (by Vasily Katrushenko)
As for Kasuga,, fifth in the line of battle, she would also engage Oslyabya, though not to the extent that her sister did, and would also land hits on the Russian battleships Imperator Nikolai I and Oryol. All told, Kasuga would fire 50 shells from her 10-inch forward mount and twice as many from her stern 8-inchers, in exchange for minor damage from three Russian shells.
Armoured Cruiser Kasuga pictured post the Battle of Tsushima at Sasebo in May 1905
For both Kasuga and Nisshin, Tsushima was their brightest moment under the Rising Sun.
Kasuga dressed for peacetime flagwaving. NH 58671
Oct.10,1908 : Armored-cruiser Kasuga at Yokosuka.Colorised period photo by Atsushi Yamashita/Monochrome Specter http://blog.livedoor.jp/irootoko_jr/
Greatly modified in 1914 with Japanese-made Kampon boilers replacing their Italian ones, along with a host of other improvements, Kasuga went on to serve as a destroyer squadron flagship in World War I looking out for German surface raiders and escorting Allied shipping between Australia and Singapore.
On 11 January 1918, some 105 years ago today, Kasuga ran aground in the Bangka Strait off Java in the Dutch East Indies. After much effort, she was eventually refloated in June, repaired, and returned to service. The event mirrored that of one of the Emperor’s other warships, the armored cruiser Asama that embarrassingly ran aground off the Pacific coast of Mexico in 1915 and took two years to free.
Kasuga later took part in the Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War and would tour the U.S. on a world cruise in 1920, calling in Maine and New York.
Disarmed to comply with international naval treaties and largely relegated to training tasks, both Nisshin and Kasuga were put on the sidelines after the Great War, replaced by much better ships in the Japanese battle line.
Armoured Cruiser Kasuga in Japan in the early 1920s graduating cadets
Hulked, Nisshin was eventually disposed of as part of a sinkex in the Inland Sea in 1936, then raised by Shentian Maritime Industry Co., Ltd, patched up and sunk a second time in 1942 during WWII by the new super battleship Yamato, whose 18.1″/45cal Type 94 guns likely made quick work of her.
Kasuga, used as a floating barracks at Yokosuka, was sunk by U.S. carrier aircraft in July 1945 and then later raised and scrapped after the war.
Epilogue
Incidentally, the two Japanese Garibaldis outlasted their Italian sisters, all of which were disposed of by the 1930s. Their everlasting Argentine classmates, however, lingered on until as late as 1954 with the last of their kind, ARA Pueyrredon, ironically being towed to Japan for scrapping that year.
ARA Pueyrredon in Dublin in 1951. At this point this pre-SpanAm War vet was pushing her sixth decade at sea.
Of note, the British 8″/45s EOCs removed from Nisshin, Kasuga and the other Japanese 1900s armored cruisers in the 1920s and 30s were recycled and used as coastal artillery, including four at Tokyo Bay, four at Tarawa (Betio) and another four at Wake Island once it was captured in 1941.
Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops mount a British-made, Vickers eight-inch naval cannon into its turret on Betio before the battle. This film was developed from a Japanese camera found in the ruins while the battle was still on. Via http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Tarawa/index.html
Destruction of one of the four Japanese eight-inch EOC guns on Betio caused by naval gunfire and airstrikes, 1943. Department of Defense photo (USMC) 63618
While the Japanese have not recycled the name of Kasuga, one of her 10-inch shells, an anchor, and other relics are preserved in and around Tokyo.
Meanwhile, a builder’s plate that took shrapnel at the Battle of the Yellow Sea is preserved in the Argentine naval museum.
Jane’s 1914 entry, listing the class as first-class cruisers
Displacement: 7,700 t (7,578 long tons) std, 8,500 full Length: 366 ft 7 in (o/a), 357 wl Beam: 61 ft 5 in Draft: 24 ft 1 in, 25.5 max Machinery: (1904) 13,500 ihp, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 8 Ansaldo marine boilers, 2 shafts Speed: 20 knots at 14,000 shp, although in practice were limited to 18 at full load. Range: 5,500 nmi at 10 knots on 1316 tons of coal, typically just 650 carried Complement: 600 as built, 568 in Japanese service. Armor: (Terni) Belt: 2.8–5.9 in Deck: 0.79–1.57 in Barbette: 3.9–5.9 in Conning tower: 5.9 in Armament: (1904) 2 twin 8″/45 EOC (classified as Type 41 guns by the Japanese) 14 single QF 6″/45 Armstrong “Z” guns 10 single QF 3″/40 12-pdr Armstrong “N” guns 6 single QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns 2 Maxim machine guns 2 landing howitzers 4 × 457 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes in casemates (1930) 4 single QF 6″/45 Armstrong “Z” guns 4 single QF 3″/40 12-pdr Armstrong “N” guns 1 single 76/40 AAA
Ships are more than steel and wood And heart of burning coal, For those who sail upon them know That some ships have a soul.
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