1. IJN Kawachi – Japanese Battleship
- Historical Notes:
- IJN Kawachi was Japan’s first dreadnought-type battleship, built following lessons from the Russo-Japanese War.
- Unlike previous semi-dreadnoughts, it carried an all-big-gun armament layout (though with two different 12-inch gun types).
- It never saw combat during World War I.
- On July 12, 1918, Kawachi suffered an internal explosion while docked at Tokuyama Bay and sank, killing over 600 crew members.
- The likely cause was unstable cordite ammunition stored onboard.