displaced at normal load. The crew numbered about 830 officers and enlisted men. The ship was powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller, using steam generated by 25 Belleville boilers. The engines were rated at , using forced draught, and designed to reach a top speed of although Mikasa proved to be faster during her sea trials in December 1901, reaching from . She carried a maximum of of coal which allowed her to steam for at a speed of . Mikasas main battery consisted of the same four Elswick Ordnance Company 40-calibre twelve-inch guns used in all of the preceding Japanese battleships. They were mounted in twin-gun barbettes fore and aft of the superstructure which were additionally protected with armoured hoods, thus resembling true gun turrets. The hydraulically powered mountings could be loaded at all angles of traverse while the guns were loaded at a fixed angle of +13.5°. They fired projectiles at a muzzle velocity of . The ship's secondary armament consisted of fourteen 40-calibre quick-firing guns mounted in casemates. Ten of these guns were positioned on the main deck and the other four guns were placed above them at the corners of the superstructure. They fired shells at a muzzle velocity of . Protection against torpedo boat attacks was provided by twenty QF 12-pounder 12 cwt guns. The 12-pounders fired , projectiles at a muzzle velocity of . Lighter guns consisted of eight three-pounder Hotchkiss guns and eight 47-millimetre 2.5-pounder Hotchkiss guns. The three-pounder gun fired projectiles at a muzzle velocity of while the 2.5-pounder fired shells at a muzzle velocity of . The ship was also equipped with four submerged 18-inch torpedo tubes, two on each broadside. The waterline armour belt of Mikasa consisted of Krupp cemented armour that had a maximum thickness of over the middle of the ship. It was only thick at the ends of the ship and was surmounted by a six-inch strake of armour that ran between the barbettes. The barbettes were thick, but reduced to six inches at the level of the lower deck. The armour of the barbette hoods had a thickness of . The casemates protecting the secondary armament were thick and the deck armour was in thickness. The forward conning tower was protected by 14 inches of armour, but the aft conning tower only had four inches of armour. Mikasa, like all the