Book Review of
The Japanese Cruiser Asama
Kagero Super Drawings in 3D no. 15081
Author: Aliaksandr Sukhanevich
ISBN: 978-83-66673-44-1
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $37.95
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $37.95
HISTORY:
Asama was the lead ship of her class of armored cruisers (Sōkō jun'yōkan) built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s. As Japan lacked the industrial capacity to build such warships herself, the ship was built in Britain.
She served in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 during which she participated in the Battle of Chemulpo Bay and the Battle of the Yellow Sea without damage, although her luck did not hold out during the Battle of Tsushima. Early in World War I, Asama unsuccessfully searched for German commerce raiders until she was severely damaged when she ran aground off the Mexican coast in early 1915.
Repairs took over two years to complete and she was mainly used as a training ship for the rest of her career. The ship made a total of 12 training cruises before she was crippled after running aground again in 1935. Asama then became a stationary training ship until she was broken up in 1946–1947.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Name: Asama
Namesake: Mount Asama
Awarded: 6 July 1897
Builder: Armstrong Whitworth, United Kingdom
Laid down: 20 October 1896
Launched: 21 March 1898
Completed: 18 March 1899
Decommissioned: 30 November 1945
Reclassified: As 1st class coast-defense ship, 1 September 1921,As training ship, July 1942
Fate: Scrapped, 1947
Class and type: Asama-class armored cruiser
Displacement: 9,710 t (9,560 long tons)
Length: 134.72 m (442 ft)
Beam: 20.48 m (67 ft 2 in)
Draft: 7.43 m (24 ft 5 in)
Installed power: 12 cylindrical boilers od 18,000 ihp (13,000 kW)
Propulsion: 2 shafts; 2 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range: 10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement: 676 men
Armament: 2 × twin 20.3 cm/45 Type 41 naval guns, 14 × single QF 6 inch /40 naval guns, 12 × single QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval guns, 8 × single QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss guns, 5 × 457 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes
Armor: Waterline belt: 89–178 mm (3.5–7.0 in)
Deck: 51 mm (2 in)
Gun Turret: 160 mm (6.3 in)
Barbette: 152 mm (6 in)
Casemate: 51–152 mm (2–6 in)
Conning tower: 356 mm (14 in)
Bulkhead: 127 mm (5 in)
THE BOOK:
Kagero is based in Lublin, Poland.
This book is soft-cover of 66 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. The book comes in a self-sealing clear envelope. It is in English.
The cover art shows a color illustration of the Asama as a bow view. Its hull is medium-grey with a red water-line bottom. Decks and masts are brown wood. Cabins and main gun turrets and smoke stacks are light-grey. Smoke stacks have black tops. Crow’s nests on the masts are light-grey. Railings, balcony on the stern and gun shields are bright brass. Gun barrels and ventilators are bright steel, but the 3 air vents atop main turrets are brass.
The rear of the book has a color illustration of the Asama as a bow view. It is flying the Japanese flag.
The book contains 108 color illustrations.
These include:
Two top-views, ten side-views, a bow and a stern view and 102 walk-around type illustrations.
The walk-around ones show: the starboard side of the bow, the anchors on the starboard side, the forward superstructure and the 6 in. gun turret, the bow sponsons and their 6 in guns on the starboard side.
View of the steam-boat on the starboard side, view of the boarding ramp on the starboard side, the stern balcony, view of the stern turret 8 in guns, view of stern superstructure starboard side, view of the stern, overall view of the middle of the ship from the starboard side, overall view of the bow from starboard side, view of the chain box, view of the deck clews, view of the funnels, view of steel funnels, views of crow’s nests, view of the bow bridge & 3 in. gun, view of a 12 pounder 8 cwt Armstrong gun on wheels that was a “Landing Gun”, view of life boats, view of the chart room, view of the cabin skylight, view of the propeller.
Three illustrations of the 12 pounder “Landing Gun”, illustration of both the main turret guns 2 views of the 6 inch Armstrong guns in brass shields, two illustrations of th 3 inch Armstrong guns also in brass shields and two illustrations of the 47mm Hotchkiss guns in brass shields.
Inserted loose into the book is a single-sheet that is in 26 ½” x 18 ¾” format, printed on both sides. On the A side of the sheet is a
line-drawing illustrations of the sides, top, bow and stern of the Asama in 1/300th scale.
The B side of the sheet shows line drawings of the bow and stern bridges in 1/150th scale, the main turrets in 1/100th scale.
The steam-torpedo boat and life boats in 1/100th scale and the 6 inch Armstrong guns and 47mm Hotchkiss guns in that scale.
The sun-roof for light, chain box, anchor and vent pipes in 1/100 scale and the 12 pounder landing gun in 1/50th scale.
Sheet is folded 4 times to fit the book.
The last page of the book shows 9 small black and white cover-arts of other Kagero books in their NAVAL ARCHIVES series. Unfortunately, the print telling what their subjects are is too small to read….sigh!
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Kagero books and all Kagero titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Asama was the lead ship of her class of armored cruisers (Sōkō jun'yōkan) built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s. As Japan lacked the industrial capacity to build such warships herself, the ship was built in Britain.
She served in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 during which she participated in the Battle of Chemulpo Bay and the Battle of the Yellow Sea without damage, although her luck did not hold out during the Battle of Tsushima. Early in World War I, Asama unsuccessfully searched for German commerce raiders until she was severely damaged when she ran aground off the Mexican coast in early 1915.
Repairs took over two years to complete and she was mainly used as a training ship for the rest of her career. The ship made a total of 12 training cruises before she was crippled after running aground again in 1935. Asama then became a stationary training ship until she was broken up in 1946–1947.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Name: Asama
Namesake: Mount Asama
Awarded: 6 July 1897
Builder: Armstrong Whitworth, United Kingdom
Laid down: 20 October 1896
Launched: 21 March 1898
Completed: 18 March 1899
Decommissioned: 30 November 1945
Reclassified: As 1st class coast-defense ship, 1 September 1921,As training ship, July 1942
Fate: Scrapped, 1947
Class and type: Asama-class armored cruiser
Displacement: 9,710 t (9,560 long tons)
Length: 134.72 m (442 ft)
Beam: 20.48 m (67 ft 2 in)
Draft: 7.43 m (24 ft 5 in)
Installed power: 12 cylindrical boilers od 18,000 ihp (13,000 kW)
Propulsion: 2 shafts; 2 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range: 10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement: 676 men
Armament: 2 × twin 20.3 cm/45 Type 41 naval guns, 14 × single QF 6 inch /40 naval guns, 12 × single QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval guns, 8 × single QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss guns, 5 × 457 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes
Armor: Waterline belt: 89–178 mm (3.5–7.0 in)
Deck: 51 mm (2 in)
Gun Turret: 160 mm (6.3 in)
Barbette: 152 mm (6 in)
Casemate: 51–152 mm (2–6 in)
Conning tower: 356 mm (14 in)
Bulkhead: 127 mm (5 in)
THE BOOK:
Kagero is based in Lublin, Poland.
This book is soft-cover of 66 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. The book comes in a self-sealing clear envelope. It is in English.
The cover art shows a color illustration of the Asama as a bow view. Its hull is medium-grey with a red water-line bottom. Decks and masts are brown wood. Cabins and main gun turrets and smoke stacks are light-grey. Smoke stacks have black tops. Crow’s nests on the masts are light-grey. Railings, balcony on the stern and gun shields are bright brass. Gun barrels and ventilators are bright steel, but the 3 air vents atop main turrets are brass.
The rear of the book has a color illustration of the Asama as a bow view. It is flying the Japanese flag.
The book contains 108 color illustrations.
These include:
Two top-views, ten side-views, a bow and a stern view and 102 walk-around type illustrations.
The walk-around ones show: the starboard side of the bow, the anchors on the starboard side, the forward superstructure and the 6 in. gun turret, the bow sponsons and their 6 in guns on the starboard side.
View of the steam-boat on the starboard side, view of the boarding ramp on the starboard side, the stern balcony, view of the stern turret 8 in guns, view of stern superstructure starboard side, view of the stern, overall view of the middle of the ship from the starboard side, overall view of the bow from starboard side, view of the chain box, view of the deck clews, view of the funnels, view of steel funnels, views of crow’s nests, view of the bow bridge & 3 in. gun, view of a 12 pounder 8 cwt Armstrong gun on wheels that was a “Landing Gun”, view of life boats, view of the chart room, view of the cabin skylight, view of the propeller.
Three illustrations of the 12 pounder “Landing Gun”, illustration of both the main turret guns 2 views of the 6 inch Armstrong guns in brass shields, two illustrations of th 3 inch Armstrong guns also in brass shields and two illustrations of the 47mm Hotchkiss guns in brass shields.
Inserted loose into the book is a single-sheet that is in 26 ½” x 18 ¾” format, printed on both sides. On the A side of the sheet is a
line-drawing illustrations of the sides, top, bow and stern of the Asama in 1/300th scale.
The B side of the sheet shows line drawings of the bow and stern bridges in 1/150th scale, the main turrets in 1/100th scale.
The steam-torpedo boat and life boats in 1/100th scale and the 6 inch Armstrong guns and 47mm Hotchkiss guns in that scale.
The sun-roof for light, chain box, anchor and vent pipes in 1/100 scale and the 12 pounder landing gun in 1/50th scale.
Sheet is folded 4 times to fit the book.
The last page of the book shows 9 small black and white cover-arts of other Kagero books in their NAVAL ARCHIVES series. Unfortunately, the print telling what their subjects are is too small to read….sigh!
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Kagero books and all Kagero titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.