It is the only surviving British-made steel battleship, and I believe the only surviving pre-dreadnought-era battleship. The ship was gutted by the Japanese Navy to make it compliant with the early 20C Naval treaties on ship size and number limitations. Consequently, the engines and boilers were removed, along with most of the machinery, funnels, large sections of superstructure, and the main turrets and guns. It was then permanently docked. The interior has little originality remaining, especially in the lower decks and machinery spaces. The lower deck where the audiovisual room and models/displays are located would have been mostly machinery and funnels. Much of it was taken out to allow access and space to remove the engines when it was decommissioned. Most of the guns we can see, especially the main battery are all replicas. I would not call it restored, as that would imply it is back to a similar condition as it was before the decommissioning in the 1920's, which is not the case. However, Japan is doing its best to bring it back, and regardless that it was gutted, it is great that is still survives in some original form. I can see they have made progress since I last visited a few years ago.
That's right. I visited for the first time in several years, and there were some changes, such as more exhibits. In the audiovisual room, there was a VR version of the Battle of Tsushima, which was fun.
It is the only surviving British-made steel battleship, and I believe the only surviving pre-dreadnought-era battleship. The ship was gutted by the Japanese Navy to make it compliant with the early 20C Naval treaties on ship size and number limitations. Consequently, the engines and boilers were removed, along with most of the machinery, funnels, large sections of superstructure, and the main turrets and guns. It was then permanently docked. The interior has little originality remaining, especially in the lower decks and machinery spaces. The lower deck where the audiovisual room and models/displays are located would have been mostly machinery and funnels. Much of it was taken out to allow access and space to remove the engines when it was decommissioned. Most of the guns we can see, especially the main battery are all replicas. I would not call it restored, as that would imply it is back to a similar condition as it was before the decommissioning in the 1920's, which is not the case. However, Japan is doing its best to bring it back, and regardless that it was gutted, it is great that is still survives in some original form. I can see they have made progress since I last visited a few years ago.
That's right. I visited for the first time in several years, and there were some changes, such as more exhibits. In the audiovisual room, there was a VR version of the Battle of Tsushima, which was fun.