Izumo (出雲, sometimes transliterated Idzumo) was the lead ship of her class of armored cruisers (Sōkō jun'yōkan) built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s.

She was then tasked to search for German commerce raiders and protect Allied shipping off the western coasts of North and Central America.

The ship played a minor role in the Pacific War, supporting Japanese forces during Philippines Campaign until she struck a mine.

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, Izumo and her half-sisters were intended as fleet scouts and to be employed in the battleline.

[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.

[14] Although many ships on both sides were hit, Russian casualties numbered some 150, while the Japanese suffered roughly 90 killed and wounded before Tōgō disengaged.

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 two units narrowly missed each other on the 24th in heavy fog and the Japanese proceeded to Vladivostok where they laid several minefields before arriving back at Wonsan on the 30th.

[16] The division failed to intercept the Russian squadron as it attacked several transports south of Okinoshima Island on 15 June due to heavy rain and fog.

The arrival of the Russians off Tokyo Bay on the 24th caused the Naval General Staff to order Kamimura to sail for Cape Toi Misaki, Kyūshū, fearing that Jessen would circumnavigate Japan to reach Port Arthur.

The General Staff finally ordered him back to Tsushima Island on the 30th; later that day he received word that Jessen's ships had passed through the Tsugaru Strait early that morning and reached Vladivostok on 1 August.

36 miles (58 km) north of the island he encountered Kamimura's squadron, which consisted of four modern armored cruisers, Iwate, Tokiwa, Azuma, and Izumo.

Jessen turned southeast in an attempt to open the range, but this blinded the Russian gunners with the rising sun and prevented any of their broadside guns from bearing on the Japanese.

Kamimura circled Rurik to the south at 08:00 and allowed the other two Russian ships to get to his north and gave them an uncontested route to Vladivostok.

[20] About 10:00, Kamimura's gunnery officer erroneously informed him that Izumo had expended three-quarters of her ammunition and he turned back after a five-minute rapid-fire barrage.

On 13 April, the 2nd Division, including the armored cruisers Tokiwa and Kasuga, sailed to escort minelayers as they laid 715 mines off Vladivostok.

[23] 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.

[30] On 20 September 1909, under command of Captain Takeshita Isamu, Izumo departed Yokohama for the United States to participate in the Portola Festival at San Francisco, a citywide fair held on 19–23 October to mark the 140th anniversary of the Portolà expedition, the first recorded Spanish (and European) land entry and exploration of present-day California, and to proclaim to the world that San Francisco was recovered from its devastating 1906 earthquake.

[12] On 12 November 1913, Izumo was ordered to patrol the west coast of Mexico to safeguard Japanese interests and nationals during the Mexican Revolution.

[34] When Japan declared war on the Central Powers in August 1914, Izumo was still off the Mexican coast and was ordered to protect Allied shipping there and search for German commerce raiders.

On 11 December, after the receiving the news of the British victory in the Battle of the Falkland Islands, the squadron moved north to search off the western coast of Central America and then Mexican and U.S. waters in January.

[36] During a patrol off the coast of Oregon, the Izumo picked up an SOS from the steam schooner Francis H. Leggett, but did not provide aid due to the presence of a German cruiser nearby.

Izumo, delayed by poor communications, arrived on 12 February and Moriyama radioed for repair and salvage ships to be sent from Japan.

[36] Izumo relieved the protected cruiser Akashi in June 1917 at Malta as the flagship of Rear Admiral Kōzō Satō, commander of the Second Special Mission Squadron that controlled the Japanese destroyers that escorted convoys in the Mediterranean Sea.

In December 1918, Izumo, accompanied by the destroyers Hinoki and Yanagi, sailed from Malta to Scapa Flow to assume control of seven captured German U-boats as prizes of war.

In this capacity, she participated six voyages in the 1920s and 1930s to Europe, North and South America, and Oceania,[37] including a circumnavigation of the globe from August 1921 to April 1922 with Yakumo.

[39] While in Vancouver, British Columbia, on 7 February 1925, on one of these cruises, a tugboat collided with one of the ship's boats at night, drowning 11 crewmen.

[12] Shortly after the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in July 1937, Izumo was attacked on 14 August 1937 in a series of raids by Chinese Air Force aircraft during the Battle of Shanghai.

[42] Izumo's Nakajima E4N floatplane and another from the light cruiser Sendai managed to get into the air and they claimed to have shot down one Curtiss Hawk biplane fighter and a Northrop Gamma bomber.