Kongo Class, Japanese Battleships

IJN Haruna, a Kongo-class battleship

Tonnage	31,720 tons standard displacement
Dimensions	728'6" by 95'4" by 31'11" 222.05m by 29.06m by 9.73m
Maximum speed	30.5 knots
Complement	1118
Aircraft	1 catapult 2 seaplanes
Armament	4x2 14"45 guns 14x1 6"/50 guns 8 5"/40 dual-purpose guns 4 40mm AA guns 8 25mm/60 machine guns 8 13mm/76 machine guns
Protection	7.9" (201mm) belt 2.2" (56mm) main deck 4.9" (124mm) second deck 9.1" (231mm) turret 10" (254mm) barbette 6" (152mm) casemate 9.8" (249mm) conning tower
Machinery	4-shaft Parsons turbines (136,600 shp) 8 boilers
Bunkerage	6330 tons fuel oil
Range	10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km) at 18 knots
Modifications	Kongo and Haruna had Type 22 radar installed just prior to the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, 26-27 October 1942. In 1943, the surviving units were given a total of 34 25mm guns. In 1944, the surviving units all had radar and the secondary armament was altered to 8 6", 12 5", and 34 25mm AA guns. In October 1944 the ships had 100 25mm guns. Eventually Haruna had 118 25mm guns and was armed with depth charges.

The Kongos were originally completed as battle cruisers in 1913-15, one each in the British Vickers yard, the Yokosuka naval yard, the Kawasaki Kobe yard, and the Mitsubishi Nagasaki yard. They were extensively modernized in 1931 and 1940 and were reclassified as battleships. They were the only battleships in the Japanese Navy fast enough to effectively escorting fast carriers. However, they were rather lightly armored even after their modernization, and this proved fatal in the Solomons campaign, where Hiei was crippled by heavy cruiser fire and Kirishima succumbed to a devastating volley of radar-directed 16-inch shells from the brand-new Washington.

Hiei was acknowledged to be the Emperor's favorite warship.

Units in the Pacific:

Hiei	Pearl Harbor Attack Force (Nagumo) 200 miles north of Oahu	Sunk by gunfire and aircraft on 1942-11-13 off Guadalcanal
Kirishima	Pearl Harbor Attack Force (Nagumo) 200 miles north of Oahu	Sunk by gunfire on 1942-11-15 off Guadalcanal
Haruna	Distant Cover Force (Kondo) in South China Sea	Sunk by aircraft on 1945-7-28 near Kure
Kongo	Distant Cover Force (Kondo) in South China Sea	Torpedoed 1944-11-21 by Sealion off of Formosa

References

CombinedFleet.com (accessed 2007-12-20)

Jentschura, Jung, and Mickel (1977)

Worth (2001)

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