Prior to her 1923 disarmament, armament of the Asahi centered around her 4 x 12" main guns, those these were augmented by a selection of other weapons that included 14 x 6" guns, 20 x 3 pounder and 12 x 2.5 pounder cannons. The Asahi could also field up to 5 x 457mm torpedoes for anti-ship duty and featured 2 x 3" anti-aircraft guns (the latter after a 1917 refit).
In the interwar years, Asahi was modified to serve as a submarine salvage ship. This required the removing of one of her smoke stacks and her 25 boilers were now just 4 Kapon brand types. She was fitted with a crane as well and served in a variety of naval experiments. By the time of the Second World War, the Asahi was called to action - now all but stripped of her original warship armament - and was relegated as submarine tender (she became a submarine tender beginning 1937). On May 25th, 1942, she was spotted and sunk by the United States Navy submarine USS Salmon in the South China Sea of the Pacific Theater. She was struck by two torpedoes and was lost a short time thereafter with 582 of her crew surviving.
The IJN Asahi was ordered in 1896 and laid down the following year. Construction was handled by the John Brown & Company in the United Kingdom while the design originated from one G.C. Macrow. The vessel was launched in 1899 and officially commissioned in 1900 upon reaching her homeland Japanese waters.
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