H.I.M.S. KATORI - A charming Edwardian Menu card C1907 inscribed by the Japanese Naval Officers on the occasion of the hand over by Harland and Wolf of the Battle cruiser H.I.M.S. KATORI. Katori was the lead ship of the two Katori-class pre-dreadnought battleships built in the first decade of the 20th century, the last to be built by British shipyards for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Ordered just before the start of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, the ship was completed a year after its end. She saw no combat during World War I, although the ship was present when Japan joined the Siberian Intervention in 1918. Katori was disarmed and scrapped in 1923-25 in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Katori, named for a Shinto shrine in Katori City, was ordered in January 1904 from Vickers. The ship was laid down at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard on 27 April 1904. She was launched on 4 July 1905, Prince and Princess Arisugawa were on hand for the official launching ceremony and completed on 20 May 1906. Katori departed Britain on 7 June on her maiden voyage and shakedown cruise and arrived at Yokosuka on 15 August. Signatures are I believe - Front page outer 1) Lieutenant Commander Sato Kozo I.J.N. (born in Iwate) 1871 - 1948