General information
The design of the Mikasa was a modification of the British Formidable-class with 2 additional 6-inch (152 mm) guns. Because Japan had neither the technology nor capability to build such a huge ship on their own, they turned to the United Kingdom for help. Mikasa was the last of 4 ships ordered by the Japanese government, and constructed from the Vickers shipyard of Barrow-in-Furness.
When built, she was the most powerful ship of her time, and this raised criticism from the British people on why they were building such powerful ships for foreign navies which could potentially use them against the British. Fortunately, that did not come to pass and better yet, the British utilised the knowledge and experience gained from building the Mikasa to go on to build larger and more powerful dreadnoughts, including the one that revolutionised naval combat; HMS Dreadnought.
Mikasa's namesake comes from Mount Mikasa in Nara, Japan.
In Game Description
The best battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War. The ship was well-balanced, with very good armament and armor for her time. However, she was in many aspects largely inferior to successive dreadnought battleships.