Asama (淺間) was the lead ship of her class of armored cruisers (Sōkō jun'yōkan) built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s.

The 1896 Naval Expansion Plan was made after the First Sino-Japanese War and included four armored cruisers in addition to four more battleships, all of which had to be ordered from British shipyards as Japan lacked the capability to build them itself.

[1] Unlike most of their contemporaries which were designed for commerce raiding or to defend colonies and trade routes, Asama and her half-sisters were intended as fleet scouts and to be employed in the battleline.

She carried up to 1,390 long tons (1,410 t) of coal[6] and could steam for 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[4] The main armament for all of the "Six-Six Fleet" armored cruisers was four eight-inch guns in twin-gun turrets fore and aft of the superstructure.

[12] In July 1902, Asama was the flagship of Rear-Admiral G. Ijuin as part of the delegation dispatched to the United Kingdom for the Coronation Review for King Edward VII in Spithead on 16 August.

The Japanese notified the Russians that morning that a state of war existed between their countries after the IJN launched a surprise attack on Port Arthur the previous night.

Varyag was the target of most of the Japanese fire and Asama hit her at least twice, destroying her bridge and punching a hole below her waterline that caused a serious list.

While scouting for Russian ships in the area, the Japanese cruisers bombarded the harbor and defenses of Vladivostok on 6 March to little effect.

The ship was not in position to join the battle until around 19:00 when she opened fire at a range of 9,000 meters (9,800 yd) from the damaged Russian battleship Poltava.

Despite the arrival of the elderly cruisers of Rear Admiral Hikohachi Yamada's 5th Division around 19:30, Asama was forced to disengage when the other Russian battleships came within range.

On 14 August, the 3rd Division was ordered to Qingdao to confirm that the Germans had indeed interned the battleship Tsesarevich and three destroyers that had taken shelter there after the battle.

When the Imperial Japanese Army began sinking the Russian ships in Port Arthur with large-caliber howitzers in early December, Tōgō ordered the two cruisers home to refit.

[24] As the Russian 2nd and 3rd Pacific Squadrons approached Japan on 27 May, having sailed from the Baltic Sea, they were spotted by patrolling Japanese ships early that morning, but visibility was limited and radio reception poor.

But she was so slowed by her damage and a 6-inch hit at 16:10 that holed the base of her rear funnel, which reduced her boiler draught until repairs were completed 20 minutes later, that the ship could not take station aft of Iwate until 17:05.

On 25 October, the ship was detached and ordered to Honolulu, Hawaii, to prevent the departure of the German gunboat SMS Geier, together with the ex-Russian battleship Hizen.

[33] Asama searched Mazatlán on 28 January and then proceeded to investigate the desolate and waterless bay at Puerto San Bartolomé in Baja California where her captain, Yoshioka Hansaku, also intended to recoal from the British collier SS Lena.

After initial attempts to get the ship off the rock failed, her crew began off-loading supplies and set kedge anchors to stabilize the cruiser and prevent further damage to her bottom.

The collier SS Boyne arrived that evening and was sent to San Diego to send word of the incident to Japanese authorities as Asama was powerless and Lena lacked a radio.

[33] The armored cruiser Izumo, flagship of the squadron commander Rear Admiral Moriyama Keizaburo, arrived on 12 February and he requested the immediate dispatch of salvage and repair ships.

Vice Admiral Tochinai Sojiro, who arrived aboard Tokiwa, relieved Moriyama who was due to return home.

Salvage efforts began in earnest with the arrival of the repair ship Kantō on 24 March which brought over 250 shipwrights from the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal to assist.

On 8 May the ship was successfully refloated at high tide, but she required three more months of work before she could be considered minimally sea worthy.

Together with Iwate, the ship cruised to the western coasts of North and Central America, Hawaii and the South Sea Islands from 2 March to 6 July 1918.

[37] Beginning on 26 June 1922, Asama resumed making training cruises, usually at two-year intervals, that took her to Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Mediterranean Sea among other places.

[34] She was disarmed at some point during the Pacific War, only retaining several 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type anti-aircraft guns,[39] and she was stricken from the navy list on 30 November 1945.