Qualla: Japanese Battleship Hatsuse

Japanese Battleship Hatsuse: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. On 2 February 1901, the Japanese battleship Hatsuse represented the Meiji Emperor at Queen Victoria's funeral in Britain. She was brand new, completed just two weeks earlier at the Armstrong Whitworth yard in Elswick -- 14,312 tons of British steel paid for with money extracted from China after the First Sino-Japanese War. Three years later, she would be at the bottom of the Yellow Sea, torn apart by Russian mines, with 496 of her crew dead. Between the funeral and the mines, Hatsuse lived the compressed, violent life of a warship in an age when empires were still learning what modern naval war actually meant.

Image: Public domain

Japanese Battleship Hatsuse: Built with Chinese Money

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 関重忠, Public domain. Hatsuse was ordered as part of Japan's ten-year Naval Expansion Programme, funded by the 30 million pounds China had been forced to pay as indemnity after losing the war of 1894-1895. Japan lacked the shipyards to build battleships of this size, so the contract went to Armstrong ...

Image: 関重忠 | Public domain

Japanese Battleship Hatsuse: Opening Shots at Port Arthur

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Charles de Lacy, Public domain. When the Russo-Japanese War began in February 1904, Hatsuse was assigned to the 1st Division of the 1st Fleet. She participated in the Battle of Port Arthur on 9 February, when Admiral Togo Heihachiro led his fleet against Russian ships anchored outside the fortress. The engageme...

Image: Charles de Lacy | Public domain

Japanese Battleship Hatsuse: The Lure That Killed Makarov

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. On 13 April, Hatsuse participated in one of the war's most consequential actions. Admiral Togo successfully lured a portion of the Russian Pacific Squadron out of Port Arthur, including Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov's flagship, the battleship Petropavlovsk. When Makarov spotted the...

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

Japanese Battleship Hatsuse: Two Mines, Ninety Minutes

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Those Russian mines would exact their revenge on 15 May 1904. Hatsuse put to sea with a squadron to relieve the blockading force off Port Arthur and encountered a minefield laid by the Russian minelayer Amur. At 10:50, Hatsuse struck a mine that disabled her steering. The battles...

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

Japanese Battleship Hatsuse: Lessons Paid in Lives

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Hatsuse's destruction taught the world's navies a lesson they would relearn repeatedly over the following century: mines are the great equalizer. The Russian minelayer Amur, a modest vessel with none of the firepower or armor of the ships she destroyed, had achieved what an entir...

Image: Unknown author | Public domain