no.562

Mikasa Japanese Battleship

1902

Japanese battleship Mikasa at sea; most likely the Irish Sea. Photo of a print. Launched in 1902. Nella Last's diary included an entry about the launch of this ship. Tuesday, 26 March, 1940, 'When the Mikasa was launched – our first Japanese warship – I was a little girl and was taken by some friends to see it – mother never went to a launch. I can see high platform now, crowded with twittering kimono clad Japanese ladies. Instead of breaking a bottle of champagne to launch her a huge wicker cage of the most beautiful white pigeons was opened on all sides by a pulled ribbon. It was a lovely sight, and a novel one, to see the clouds of lovely flashing wings circling over slowly moving hulk, but suddenly a curious hissing chatter and shaken heads above on platform made us realise that something on platform was wrong and then we saw pigeons had only flown over ship once and then had gone back to their wicker cage. I believe it was the gloomiest lunch that had ever taken place in Yard after launch – and in Russo-Japanese war she sank as untrained gunners let off all guns on one side and tide caught her and keeled her over!'