Their heavy guns measured 12 inches, and they made a speed
of 19.5 knots. There were also the vessels _Ikoma_ and _Tsukuba_,
individual in type, with corresponding kinds in no other navy,
and which might be called a cross between an armored cruiser and
battle cruiser. Though displacing no more than 13,766 tons, they
carried four 12-inch guns, and made the comparatively low speed
of 20.5 knots. In 1909 and 1910 the Japanese added two more ships
of this kind to their navy, the _Ibuki_ and _Kurama_, slightly
heavier and faster and with the same armament.
The dreadnought _Satsuma_ also came in 1910--a vessel displacing
19,400 tons, but making a speed of only 18.2 knots, and with an
extraordinarily heavy main battery consisting of four 12-inch guns
and twelve 10-inch guns. The _Aki_, launched in 1911, was 400 tons
heavier than the _Satsuma_, and was more than 2 knots faster, and
her main battery was equally strong. The dreadnoughts _Settsu_
and _Kawachi_, completed in 1913 and 1912 respectively, displaced
21,420 tons, but were able to make not more than 20 knots. At this
time the Japanese admiralty, perhaps on account of lessons learned
in the war with Russia, was building dreadnoughts with less speed
than those in the other navies, but with much heavier main batteries.
These two vessels carried a unique main battery of twelve 12-inch
guns, along with others of smaller measurement.
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