Mount Asama
The contract for "Asama", named after Mount Asama, was signed on 6 July 1897 with Armstrong Whitworth. The ship had already been laid down at their shipyard in Elswick on 20 October 1896 as a speculative venture. She was launched on 21 March 1898 and completed on 18 March 1899. "Asama" left for Japan the next day and arrived in Yokosuka on 17 May. On 30 April 1900, the ship was used by Emperor Meiji during a fleet review off at Kobe. In July 1902, "Asama" was the flagship of Rear-Admiral G. Ijuin as part of the delegation dispatched to the United Kingdom for the Coronation Review for King Edward VII in Spithead on 16 August. She also visited Antwerp in July, and Cork in August. During the outward leg of this voyage, the ship tested some advanced British radio technology between Malta and Britain.