The ship was powered by two vertical triple @-@ expansion steam engines built by Humphrys , Tennant , each driving one propeller , using steam generated by 25 Belleville boilers at a working pressure of 17 @.@ 03 bar ( 1 @,@ 703 kPa ; 247 psi ) . The engines were rated at 15 @,@ 000 indicated horsepower ( 11 @,@ 000 kW ) , using forced draught , and designed to reach a top speed of 18 knots ( 33 km / h ; 21 mph ) although Asahi reached 18 @.@ 3 knots ( 33 @.@ 9 km / h ; 21 @.@ 1 mph ) from 16 @,@ 335 indicated horsepower ( 12 @,@ 181 kW ) during her sea trials on 23 March 1900 . She carried a maximum of 2 @,@ 000 long tons ( 2 @,@ 032 t ) of coal which allowed her to steam for 9 @,@ 000 nautical miles ( 17 @,@ 000 km ; 10 @,@ 000 mi ) at a speed of 10 knots ( 19 km / h ; 12 mph ) . The ship was fitted with three steam @-@ driven 4 @.@ 8 @-@ kilowatt ( 6 @.@ 4 hp ) dynamos .