Asama carried substantial protection across the belt, deck, turrets, barbettes, casemates, bulkheads, and conning tower. Her fourteen 6-inch guns sat in casemates, double-stacked in places, creating useful but complicated firing arcs. Twin 8-inch turrets fore and aft allowed four-gun long-range salvo fire. A broadside could combine all four 8-inch guns with seven 6-inch guns, while five torpedo tubes threatened an opponent that closed the range. A contemporary battleship still held the advantage, but it could not assume a clean or risk-free victory.
Notable Point · 18:35-20:34
Armor and gun layout make Asama costly to fight
Heavy protection, fore-and-aft 8-inch turrets, stacked casemates, and torpedoes made even a battleship victory against Asama potentially expensive.