a maximum thickness of nine inches amidships. It tapered to a thickness of at the ends of the ship. A six-inch strake of armor protected the casemates. The barbettes for the main guns were thick. The armor of Akis main gun turrets had a maximum thickness of . The deck armor was thick and the conning tower was protected by six inches of armor. Construction and service Aki was laid down at Kure Naval Arsenal on 15 March 1906. She was launched on 15 April 1907, but construction was suspended for about five months after the decision was made on 26 November to install steam turbines on Aki and the armored cruiser . Akis turbines were already behind schedule and the suspension allowed the less valuable ship to be completed first, and changes made to its turbines after testing were also incorporated into Akis turbines. Aki was finally completed on 11 March 1911 and her first captain was Tatsuo Matsumura. When World War I began in August 1914, Aki was refitting at Kure Naval Arsenal. She was assigned to the 1st Battleship Squadron upon the completion of her refit and remained with it until she was transferred to the 2nd Battleship Squadron in 1918, seeing no combat during the war. From December 1915 to December 1916, she was commanded by Captain Kiyokazu Abo. The ship was disarmed at Yokosuka in 1922 to comply with the provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty, stricken from the navy list during 1923 and converted into a target ship. Her guns were turned over to the Imperial Japanese Army for use as coastal artillery. The rest of her guns were placed in reserve and ultimately scrapped in 1943. Two of her 10-inch gun turrets were installed as coastal artillery batteries on Jōgashima island to protect Tokyo Bay. Aki was sunk by the battlecruiser and the battleship on 2 September 1924 in Tokyo Bay. Notes Footnotes References External links Satsuma-class battleships Ships built by Kure Naval Arsenal 1907 ships World War I battleships of Japan Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Ships sunk as targets Maritime incidents in 1924