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Description
Reusing the name of an old ironclad, Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) dreadnought battleship Fuso was commissioned in 1915, but did not fight in World War I as it spent the war patrolling the Chinese coast. It was armed with twelve 14-inch guns in six turrets, as well as several smaller anti-ship and anti-aircraft guns. Fuso avoided most of the combat during the second Sino-Japanese War, as it was in drydock receiving a tall "pagoda mast" superstructure and other upgrades, which were not completed until the spring of 1941. By this time, Fuso was considered obsolete and under-armed, and was used more as a training ship than a front-line warship.

Fuso's only major battle was the Battle of the Surigao Strait, part of the October 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf that lost Japan the Philippines, when it came under attack from the U.S. Navy. Bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise bombed Fuso, disabling the seaplane catapult and the second turret. Confused, Fuso accidentally shot IJN aircraft carrier Mogami. The destroyer USS Melvin then torpedoed Fuso, possibly detonating its ammunition magazines and causing it to break in two and sink. Out of Fuso's 1900-man crew, only ten sailors returned home to Japan. This model of Fuso is on display aboard the museum battleship HIJMS Mikasa in Yokosuka.

Description
Reusing the name of an old ironclad, Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) dreadnought battleship Fuso was commissioned in 1915, but did not fight in World War I as it spent the war patrolling the Chinese coast. It was armed with twelve 14-inch guns in six turrets, as well as several smaller anti-ship and anti-aircraft guns. Fuso avoided most of the combat during the second Sino-Japanese War, as it was in drydock receiving a tall "pagoda mast" superstructure and other upgrades, which were not completed until the spring of 1941. By this time, Fuso was considered obsolete and under-armed, and was used more as a training ship than a front-line warship.

Fuso's only major battle was the Battle of the Surigao Strait, part of the October 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf that lost Japan the Philippines, when it came under attack from the U.S. Navy. Bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise bombed Fuso, disabling the seaplane catapult and the second turret. Confused, Fuso accidentally shot IJN aircraft carrier Mogami. The destroyer USS Melvin then torpedoed Fuso, possibly detonating its ammunition magazines and causing it to break in two and sink. Out of Fuso's 1900-man crew, only ten sailors returned home to Japan. This model of Fuso is on display aboard the museum battleship HIJMS Mikasa in Yokosuka.