Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

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Brian James
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Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

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Kongo Class Battlecruiser IJNS Haruna pictured undergoing trials,post her second reconstruction,August 28th 1934.
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designeraccd
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Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

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This particular version of this trials pic is the "cleanest" I've seen. Too bad all IJN photos are not this clear and sharp..... :(

The relatively small differences between the 4 units in WW2 makes for a modelers quandary when building one! Bottom shows her in WW2 configuration, too. That pic plus earlier one above clearly show the changes during her last modernization. DFO
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Brian James
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Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

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IJNS Kirishima pictured at Tsukumo Bay on May 10th, 1937.
Designed by British naval engineer George Thurston, she was the third launched of the four Kongō-Class Battlecruisers. Laid down in 1912 at the Mitsubishi Shipyards in Nagasaki, Kirishima was formally commissioned in 1915 on the same day as her sister ship, Haruna.
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ivorthediver
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Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

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Was the first picture in Camouflage or gift wrapped not seen this before other than the Swedish one if I'm right Dennis
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designeraccd
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Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

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If you mean the wrecked hulk, post war...IJN applied the camo to try to "blend" her in while sitting close off their coast. The hull really shows the difference in tides coating her hull with oil and ? USN planes sure found her tho!! ;) DFO
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ivorthediver
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Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

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Good man and thanks for the clarification on that point , I knew you would know , again my thanks Dennis .
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Brian James
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Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

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Kongo Class Battlecruiser IJNS Kirishima pictured in 1932 following her first reconstruction.
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ivorthediver
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Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

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Formidable profile there Brian , before any scars were present .....
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Brian James
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Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

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IJNS Hiei pictured during sea trials off Sukumo Bay,post her major reconstruction,December 5th,1939.
Designed by British naval architect George Thurston, she was the second launched of four Kongō-Class Battlecruisers, among the most heavily armed ships in any navy when built. Laid down in 1911 at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Hiei was formally commissioned in 1914. She patrolled off the Chinese coast on several occasions during World War I, and helped with rescue efforts following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.
Starting in 1929, Hiei was converted to a Gunnery Training Ship to avoid being scrapped under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. She served as Emperor Hirohito's transport in the mid-1930s. Starting in 1937, she underwent a full-scale reconstruction that completely rebuilt her superstructure, upgraded her powerplant, and equipped her with launch catapults for Floatplanes. Now fast enough to accompany Japan's growing fleet of Aircraft Carriers, she was reclassified as a Fast Battleship. On the eve of the US entry into World War II, she sailed as part of Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's Combined Fleet, escorting the six Carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941.
As part of the Third Battleship Division, Hiei participated in many of the Imperial Japanese Navy's early actions in 1942, providing support for the invasion of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) as well as the Indian Ocean raid of April 1942. During the Battle of Midway, she sailed in the Invasion Force under Admiral Nobutake Kondō, before being redeployed to the Solomon Islands during the Battle of Guadalcanal. She escorted Japanese Carrier forces during the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Islands, before sailing as part of a bombardment force under Admiral Kondō during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. On the evening of November 13th 1942, Hiei engaged American Cruisers and Destroyers alongside her sister ship Kirishima. After inflicting heavy damage on American Cruisers and Destroyers, Hiei was crippled by enemy vessels. Subjected to continuous air attack, she sank on the evening of November 14th 1942.
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Brian James
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Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

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Kongo Class Battlecruiser IJNS Hiei pictured at Sasebo in 1915.
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