Fusō 1944
Marker: recorded wreck position (Second World War).
Key facts
| Name | Fusō | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1944 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Second World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | battleship | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | War action | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | Empire of Japan | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | Imperial Japanese Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | World War II | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Sea / ocean | Surigao Strait | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Philippines | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 11 km from land |
| Position | 10.1494, 125.4006 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
Fusō (Japanese: 扶桑; a classical name for Japan) was the lead ship of the two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1914 and commissioned in 1915, she initially patrolled off the coast of China, playing no part in World War I. In 1923, she assisted survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake.
Fusō was modernized in 1930–1935 and again in 1937–1941, with improvements to her armor and propulsion machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nonetheless, she was still hampered by slow speed and outclassed by newer Japanese battleships at the beginning of World War II, and played auxiliary roles for most of the war.
Fusō was part of Vice-Admiral Shōji Nishimura's Southern Force at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She was sunk in the early hours of 25 October 1944 by torpedoes and naval gunfire during the Battle of Surigao Strait. Some reports claimed Fusō broke in half, and that both halves remained afloat and burning for an hour; according to survivors' accounts, however, the ship sank after 40 minutes of flooding and caught fire when her fuel bunkers spilled open.
Diving & visiting
RV Petrel discovered the wreck of Fusō on 25 November 2017. The ship lies upside down in 185 m (607 ft) of water and is in one piece on the seabed, with the hull broken amidships from the impact with the bottom. The pagoda mast broke off during the sinking and is some distance away from the wreck.
Location
- Recorded position: 10.1494, 125.4006 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Surigao Strait
- Nearest coast: Philippines
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Japanese battleship Fusō (revision 1380749706), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Wreck”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- Yamashiro 1944 · 25 km
- Japanese cruiser Mogami 1944 · 82 km
- Chikuma 192 km
- USS Gambier Bay 1944 · 198 km
Other wrecks of the World War II
- U-983 1943
- USS Aludra 1943
- USS Beatty 1943
- USS Branch 1943
- USS Deimos 1943
- Akagi Maru 1944
- HMS Bullen 1944
- HMS Dragon 1944
- HMS Isis 1944
- HMS Laforey 1944
All 599 wrecks of the World War II →
Browse more: Asia wrecks · wrecks off Philippines · Second World War