Japanese cruiser Izumo

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Izumo was the lead ship of the Izumo-class armored cruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 1890s. Because Japan could not build such ships at home, Izumo was constructed in Britain. She was laid down in 1898, launched in 1899, and completed in 1900. She often served as a flagship and fought in the Russo-Japanese War, including the battles of Port Arthur and Tsushima, with only light damage.

After the war, Izumo had a long and varied career. She protected Japanese interests in Mexico during the 1913–14 period, hunted German raiders in World War I, and served as a Mediterranean flagship in 1917. In 1919 she helped bring captured German submarines back to Japan. From 1921 she was mainly used for training and long voyages, including a global circumnavigation. She was redesigned several times in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1932 she again held a flag role, and she fought in the Battle of Shanghai in 1937. At the start of World War II she operated in the Philippines, captured the American gunboat Wake, and helped sink HMS Peterel, but she struck a mine in Lingayen Gulf on New Year’s Eve 1941 and later underwent repairs. Reclassified as a first-class cruiser in 1942, she served as a training ship from 1943. In 1945 American carrier aircraft attacked Izumo off Etajima; a nearby mine caused flooding that led to her capsizing. She was removed from the naval list later that year and was scrapped in 1947.