Two Mechanics of the Warship Matsushima …

The 1895 print of Two Mechanics of the Warship Matsushima—the flagship of the Japanese navy during the Battle of the Yellow Sea—commemorates two of the technical specialists whose work maintained the fighting capacity of the fleet. The Matsushima, famous for its enormous Canet gun and its role in the decisive naval engagement, was among the most celebrated vessels of the war, and those who served aboard it shared in its reflected glory. The mechanics represented the industrial-era warriors whose skills were as essential as swordsmanship had once been.