Japanese battleship Yashima Description . " Yashima " was long overall and had a beam of and a full - load draught of . She normally displaced and had a crew of 650 officers and enlisted men . The ship was powered by two Humphrys Tennant vertical triple - expansion steam engines using steam generated by ten cylindrical boilers . The engines were rated at , using forced draught , and designed to reach a top speed of around . " Yashima " , however , reached a top speed of on her sea trials . She carried a maximum of of coal which allowed her to steam for at a speed of . The ship ' s main battery consisted of four guns mounted in two twin gun turret s , one forward and one aft . The secondary battery consisted of ten quick - firing gun s , four mounted in casemate s on the sides of the hull and six mounted on the upper deck , protected by gun shield s . A number of smaller guns were carried for defence against torpedo boat s . These included fourteen 3 - pounder guns and ten 2 . 5 - pounder Hotchkiss gun s of the same calibre . She was also armed with five 18 - inch torpedo tube s . " Yashima " s waterline armour belt consisted of Harvey armour and was thick . The armour of her gun turrets was six inches thick and her deck was thick . Construction and career . " Yashima " , an old name for Japan , was ordered as part of the 1894 Naval Programme and the ship was laid down by Armstrong Whitworth at their Elswick shipyard on 6 December 1894 . The ship was launched on 28 December 1896 and completed on 17 August 1897 . She conducted her sea trials during the following month . In 1901 , the ship exchanged 16 of her 47 mm guns for an equal number of QF 12 pounder 12 cwt guns . This raised the number of crewmen to 652 and later to 741 . At the start of the Russo - Japanese War , " Yashima " , commanded by Captain Hajime Sakamoto , was assigned to the 1st Division of the 1st Fleet . She participated in the Battle of Port Arthur on 9 February 1904 when Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō led the 1st Fleet in an attack on the Russian ships of the Pacific Squadron anchored just outside of Port Arthur . Tōgō had expected his surprise night attack on the Russians by his destroyers to be much more successful than it actually was and expected to find them badly disorganized and weakened , but the Russians had recovered from their surprise and were ready for his attack . The Japanese ships were spotted by the cruiser " Boyarin " which was patrolling offshore and alerted the Russian defences . Tōgō chose to attack the Russian coastal defences with his main armament and engage the Russian ships with his secondary guns . Splitting his fire proved to be a bad idea as the Japanese and six - inch guns inflicted very little significant damage on the Russian ships who concentrated all their fire on the Japanese ships with some effect . Although a large number of ships on both sides were hit , Russian casualties numbered only 17 while the Japanese suffered 60 killed and wounded before Tōgō disengaged . " Yashima " was not hit during the battle . On 10 March , " Yashima " and her sister , under the command of Rear Admiral Nashiba Tokioki , blindly bombarded the harbour of Port Arthur from Pigeon Bay , on the southwest side of the Liaodong Peninsula , at a range of . They fired 154 twelve - inch shells , but did little damage . When they tried again on 22 March , they were attacked by Russian coast defence guns that had been transferred there by the new Russian commander , Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov , and also from several Russian ships in Port Arthur using observers overlooking Pigeon Bay . The Japanese ships disengaged after " Fuji " was hit by a 12 - inch shell . " Yashima " participated in the action of 13 April when Tōgō successfully lured out a portion of the Pacific Squadron , including Makarov ' s flagship , the battleship . When Makarov spotted the five battleships of the 1st Division , he turned back for Port Arthur and " Petropavlovsk " struck a minefield laid by the Japanese the previous night . The Russian battleship sank in less than two minutes after one of her magazine s exploded , Makarov one of the 677 killed . Emboldened by his success , Tōgō resumed long - range bombardment missions , which prompted the Russians to lay more minefields . On 14 May 1904 , Admiral Nashiba put to sea with the battleships " Hatsuse " ( flagship ) , , and " Yashima " , the protected cruiser " Kasagi " , and the dispatch boat to relieve the Japanese blockading force off Port Arthur . On the following morning , the squadron encountered a minefield laid by the Russian minelayer " Amur " . " Hatsuse " struck one mine that disabled her steering and " Yashima " struck another when moving to assist " Hatsuse " . Almost immediately afterwards , the latter drifted onto another mine that detonated one of her magazines , killing 496 of her crew , and sinking the ship . " Yashima " was towed away from the minefield , north towards the Japanese base in the Elliott Islands . She was still taking on water at an uncontrollable rate and Captain Sakamoto ordered the ship anchored near Encounter Rock to allow the crew to easily abandon ship . He assembled the crew , which sang the Japanese national anthem , " Kimigayo " , and then abandoned ship . " Kasagi " took " Yashima " in tow , but the battleship ' s list continued to increase and she capsized about three hours later , roughly at coordinates . No Russians observed " Yashima " sink so the Japanese were able to conceal her loss for more than a year .