Nintoku Class Armored Cruiser:
Ordered right at the turn of the century, the the two ships of the Nintoku Class were part of the second step in Koko's Navy expansion plan: domestic procurement.
Purposefully using the four Armstrong built Japanese ACRs as aid and starting point for the design, Kokoan naval engineers crafted a pair of sisters that -while showing ther lineage- had a different armament layout, were longer, larger, had heavier armor, more range and -on paper- were faster.
Nintoku, and her sister Jimmu were among the first ships ordered at Toumachi Naval Arsenal, and were laid down in 1900 and 1901 respectively.
Construction in the new and inexperienced Kokoan shipyard lasted twice as long as that of the Armstrong ships, averaging five years and resulting in Nintoku being officially commissioned only in October 1905, already too late to take part in the Russo-Japanese war. Worse, the engines delivered around 10% less than desired and planned, so that Nintoku only managed to clock at 20,8 knots on trials instead of the planned 22, which made the ship actually slower than the the IJN Amstrong built quartet. Her post-shakedown -plagued with engine troubles- also dragged on long enough to devoid her of the chance of acting as KnK's flagship.
Jimmu was commissioned by mid 1906, and albeit still short on speed, enjoyed a luckier career than her sister. Having learned from Nintoku's trials, all post-shakedown issues were quickly resolved and she joined the Fleet as Koko no Kaigun flagship shortly after, mantaining that role until early 1907 when the battleship Ketsui was delivered from the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the rapid developement of naval technology culminating with HMS Dreadnought commissioning in December 1906 had immediately made the two Nintokus obsolete. Despite this, the two sisters were among the most advanced units at Koko's disposal, and would remain so for almost a decade.
Nintoku finally took on flagship roles in December 1908, serving as such until December 1909.
During WWI Nintoku and Jimmu were mostly left in home waters and rarely took part in a major operation. Jimmu briefly sortied in October 1914 to support the Imperial Japanese Navy's seizing of German colonies in the Pacific. Another deployment involving both sisters was considered as part of the hunt for the German cruiser Emden, but the ship fell to the Australians before preparations were completed.
After the war both ships were deemed obsolete, and plans were drawn to designate them as coastal defence or auxiliary units as soon as newer cruisers had joined the fleet. Eventually, with the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, Nintoku was abruptly decommissioned in 1922 and immediately scrapped. Jimmu was reclassified as a training ship and served until her ultimate retirement in 1931.
Ships in class: (laid down-launched-commissioned - fate)
Nintoku 1900-1903-1905 - Decommissioned 1922
Jimmu 1901-1904-1906 - Training ship 1922, Decommmissioned 1931
Nintoku specifications as commissioned (1905)
-Displacement: 9.565 t normal, 10.450 t full load
-LOA: 137,91m (452ft 11'')
-LWL: 136,41m (448ft 1'')
-Beam: 20,94m (68ft 9'')
-Mean draft: 7,27m (23ft 10'')
-Machinery: 24x Coal firing boilers, 2x Reciprocating triple-expansion steam engines, 18.000 ihp, 2 shafts
-Speed: 20,8 kts
-Range: 10.000nm (18.520 km) at 10 kts
-Armour: main belt 178mm (7''), upper belt 152mm (6''), ends 89mm (3.5''), transverse bulkheads 127mm (5''), main deck 63mm (2.5'') main turrets face, sides and back 160mm (6.3''), main turrets roof 51mm (2''), barbettes 152mm (6''), casemate shields 51mm (2''), conning tower 356mm (14'') forward, 114mm (4.5'') aft.
-Armament: 4x 203mm/45 guns (2x2), 14x 152mm/40 (14x1), 12x 76mm/40 (12x1), 8x 47mm/43 (8x1), 4x 457mm torpedo tubes.
-Complement: 673