Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

Add your posts about the Imperial Japanese Navy in this section
Brian James
Posts: 8772
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

Unread post by Brian James »

Kongō Class Battlecruiser Hiei pictured at Kure Naval Arsenal No 3 Dock on March 31st 1914.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Brian James
Posts: 8772
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

Unread post by Brian James »

Kongō Class Battlecruiser Haruna pictured off Cape Katsuriki on February 1st 1933.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Brian James
Posts: 8772
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

Unread post by Brian James »

Kongō Class Battlecruiser Kirishima pictured at Sasebo on December 21st 1915...As part of the Third Battleship Division, Kirishima participated in many of the Imperial Japanese Navy's early actions in 1942, providing support for the invasion of the Dutch East Indies and in the Indian Ocean raid of April 1942. During the Battle of Midway, she provided escort to Nagumo's four Carriers, before redeploying to the Solomon Islands during the Battle of Guadalcanal. She escorted Japanese Carrier fleets during the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Islands, before sailing as part of a bombardment force under Admiral Nobutake Kondō during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. On the evening of November 13th 1942, Kirishima engaged American Cruisers and Destroyers alongside her sister ship Hiei. On the night of 14/15 November, in one of only two Battleship duels of the Pacific War, Kirishima attacked and damaged the American Battleship USS South Dakota before being fatally crippled in turn by Battleship USS Washington under the command of then Captain Glenn B. Davis. Kirishima capsized and sank in the early morning on November 15th 1942 in Ironbottom Sound.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Brian James
Posts: 8772
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

Unread post by Brian James »

Lead Ship, Battlecruiser Kongō pictured on sea trials in the Irish Sea on April 20th 1913...Her designer was the British naval engineer George Thurston, and she was laid down in 1911 at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding Company. Kongō was the last Japanese capital ship constructed outside Japan. She was formally commissioned on August 16th 1913, and patrolled off the Chinese coast during World War I.
Kongō underwent two major reconstructions. Beginning in 1929, the Imperial Japanese Navy rebuilt her as a Battleship, strengthening her armor and improving her speed and power capabilities. In 1935, her superstructure was completely rebuilt, her speed was increased, and she was equipped with launch catapults for floatplanes. Now fast enough to accompany Japan's growing Carrier Fleet, Kongō was reclassified as a Fast Battleship. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Kongō operated off the coast of mainland China before being redeployed to the Third Battleship Division in 1941. In 1942, she sailed as part of the Southern Force in preparation for the Battle of Singapore....Kongō fought in many major naval actions of the Pacific War during World War II. She covered the Japanese Army's amphibious landings in British Malaya (part of present-day Malaysia) and the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1942, before engaging American forces at the Battle of Midway and during the Guadalcanal Campaign. Throughout 1943, Kongō primarily remained at Truk Lagoon in the Caroline Islands, Kure Naval Base (near Hiroshima), Sasebo Naval Base (near Nagasaki), and Lingga Roads, and deployed several times in response to American Aircraft Carrier air raids on Japanese island bases scattered across the Pacific. Kongō participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944 (22–23 October), engaging and sinking American vessels in the latter. Kongō was torpedoed and sunk by the Balao Class Submarine USS Sealion while transiting the Formosa Strait on November 21st 1944. She was the only Japanese Battleship sunk by Submarine in the Second World War.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Brian James
Posts: 8772
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

Unread post by Brian James »

Kongō Class Dreadnought Battlecruiser Kirishima pictured with Fleet Carrier Akagi at Sukumo Bay on April 27th 1939.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Brian James
Posts: 8772
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

Unread post by Brian James »

Kongō Class Battlecruiser Haruna pictured undergoing sea trials on May 25th 1928, off Yokosuka Naval Arsenal post her first major reconstruction refit.. In July 1928, Haruna, now capable of speeds of 29 knots was reclassified as a Battleship.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Brian James
Posts: 8772
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

Unread post by Brian James »

Kongō Class Battlecruiser Hiei pictured in her role as a Gunnery Training Ship at Yokosuka on July 25th 1933....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 7 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 American vessels. Subjected to an air attack from the USS Enterprise, she was scuttled on the evening of November 14th 1942.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Brian James
Posts: 8772
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

Unread post by Brian James »

Lead Ship, Battleship Kongō pictured on sea trials off Tateyama on August 4th 1931...Kongō underwent two major reconstructions. Beginning in 1929, the Imperial Japanese Navy rebuilt her as a Battleship, strengthening her armour and improving her speed and power capabilities. In 1935, her superstructure was completely rebuilt, her speed was increased, and she was equipped with launch catapults for floatplanes. Now fast enough to accompany Japan's growing Carrier fleet, Kongō was reclassified as a fast Battleship.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
designeraccd
Posts: 2905
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2018 7:08 pm

Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

Unread post by designeraccd »

A 1941 view of KONGO.......... :) DFO
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Brian James
Posts: 8772
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Re: Battlecruisers: Kongo Class

Unread post by Brian James »

Kongō Class Fast Battleship Haruna pictured post her second major reconstruction refit on sea trials in Sakumo Bay on August 28th 1934....On January 1st 1945, Haruna was removed from the deactivated Third Battleship Division and transferred to the First Battleship Division of the Second Fleet. On February 10th, Haruna was assigned to the Kure Naval District. On March 19th 1945, American Carrier aircraft attacked the remainder of the Japanese Navy at Kure. The base was defended by veteran Japanese fighter instructors flying Kawanishi N1K-J Shiden or George fighters, led by the man who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor, Minoru Genda. These fighter planes were superior in some respects to America's main fighter, the F6F Hellcat. They surprised the attackers, destroyed several American aircraft, and defended the base from the brunt of the attack. Haruna sustained light damage from a single bomb on the starboard side, and remained at Kure...On July 24th 1945, the U.S. Navy's Task Force 38 began a series of aerial attacks on Kure Naval Base to destroy the last remnants of Japan's navy. The same day, the Battleship Hyūga was sunk, and Haruna was hit by a single bomb which caused light damage. Four days later, she sustained eight bomb hits from Task Force 38's aircraft and sank at her moorings at 16:15. In two days of attacks, 65 officers and men of Haruna were killed. Her remnants were raised from the sea floor in 1946 and broken up over the course of two months.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic

Return to “Imperial Japanese Navy”