The fused Japanese force was an intellectual product as well as a collection of purchased hulls. Japanese officers followed papers by Fisher and others while developing their own thinking about long-range artillery and concentrated salvo fire. Dreadnought's all-big-gun battery and Tsushima's tactics did not appear suddenly. By 1896, Japan was confident enough in this emerging approach to make it part of the policy behind the Six-Six Fleet. The Asama class therefore belongs to the doctrinal prehistory of the dreadnought and battlecruiser as well as to armored-cruiser development.
Notable Point · 38:07-39:05
Long-range salvo doctrine before Dreadnought
Japanese planning absorbed contemporary work on long-range artillery and concentrated salvo fire well before the all-big-gun battleship made those ideas famous.