fusou (battleship)
扶桑 (ふそう)
A battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, whose name comes from an archaic appelation for Japan.
Its problematic linear arrangement of its six 14-inch twin-gun turrets limited its speed and defensive abilities.
Although its mast was of a simple tripod type completion, it was later remodeled through repeated trial and error to become the highest and most distinctive of the “pagoda” masts that typified Japanese battleships of the period.
With further upgrades bringing the addition of a seaplane catapult above the third turret, the guns' cruising position was changed to face forward. However, this caused instability on the bridge. This wouldn't change, even after the catapult had been relocated to the warship's stern, and formed an outwardly clear point of difference between Fusou and its sister ship, Yamashiro.
Fusou was taken out of action by hits from 4 torpedoes from an American destroyer during the battle of Surigao Strait. The old battleship experienced a massive explosion approximately 20 minutes later, its hull ripping in two pieces down the middle. Not a single sailor aboard survived.
