Takao Class, Japanese Heavy Cruisers

Photograph of IJN Chokai, a Takao-class heavy cruiser

Naval Historical Center #NH 82080

Tonnage	9850 tons standard displacement
Dimensions	668'6" by 59'2" and 20'1" 203.76m by 18.03m by 6.12m
Maximum speed	35.5 knots
Complement	920
Aircraft	2 Model 3 catapults 3 seaplanes
Armament	5x2 8"/50 guns 4x1 4.7"/45 dual-purpose guns 2x4 13mm/76 AA guns 4x2 24" (61cm) torpedo tubes (two reloads)
Protection	2368.2 tons 4" (102mm) NVNC belt sloped at 12 degrees 2.3" (58mm) Dücol holding bulkheads inside torpedo bulges 1.4" (35mm) NVNC middle deck reinforced amidships with 1" (25mm) upper and 0.6" (16mm) lower HT plate 1.9" (47mm) NVNC lower deck 3.5" (89mm) NVNC bulkheads of NVNC steel 0.6" (16mm) HT or Dücol bridge area 3.5" (89mm) NVNC uptakes 1" (25mm) top/2" (51mm) side/1.5" (38mm) end NVNC protection for steering room 3" (76mm) NVNC barbettes 1" (25mm) NVNC turret
Machinery	4-shaft Kanpon geared turbines (133,000 shp) 12 Kampon boilers
Bunkerage	2318 tons fuel oil
Range	7000 nautical miles (13,000 km) at 14 knots 5000 nautical miles (9300 km) at 18 knots
Modifications	Extensive and variable modifications. <1942: Takao, Atago added 4x2 25mm/60 AA guns and replaced the quad 13mm with twin 13mm. Torpedo banks altered to 4x2 Long Lance. Chokai, Maya torpedo banks also altered to fire Long Lance, and 2x2 13mm added and quad 13mm replaced with twin 25mm. 1942: Takao, Atago replaced 4.7" guns with twin 5"/40 dual-purpose guns. Chokai and Maya replaced twin 13mm with twin 25mm for a total of 6x2 25mm guns. 1943-7: Atago and Takao light AA increased to 3x2, 6x2 25mm and Type 22 radar fitted. 1943-9: Chokai, Maya received 2x2 25mm and Type 22 radar. Late 1943: Atago, Takao have a total of 2x3, 6x2, 8x1 25mm guns. Chokai had total of 8x2, 10x1 25mm guns. 1944-4: Maya converted to antiaircraft cruiser, landing one 8" turret, all 4.7" guns, and one dual 25mm gun. Hanger reduced to two aircraft. Total armament now 4x2 8", 6x2 unshielded 5", 13x3, 9x1 25mm, and 36 13mm guns. Torpedo banks altered to 4x4 tubes with no reloads. 1944-8: Maya adds another 18x1 25mm guns. Chokai would have been converted to an AA cruiser on the same plan as Maya, but she never returned to home waters for the conversion.

The Takaos were completed in 1932 as fleet or squadron flagships. They resembled the Myokos but incorporated modifications based on intelligence on the British Kents and on U.S. cruiser catapults. Their hulls were constructed of Dücol rather than HT steel. Much of the superstructure was constructed of aluminum to save weight, but this experiment was judged unsuccessful due to corrosion problems. Like the previous classes, their weight gradually crept up and over the treaty limit, but this was probably not deliberate.

Though designed for three aircraft, only two were normally carried.

Fast and well-armed, these ships had distinctive massive superstructures that would not have been out of place on a battleship. They were the match of any contemporary foreign ship and, like all Japanese cruisers of this era, were refitted with the deadly Long Lance torpedo.

Units in the Pacific:

Atago	Distant Cover Force (Kondo)	Torpedoed 1944-10-23 in Palawan Passage by Darter
Takao	Distant Cover Force (Kondo)
Chokai	Main Body (Ozawa)	Sunk by gunfire and aircraft 1944-10-25 off Samar
Maya	Close Covering Force at Magong (Takahashi)	Torpedoed 1944-10-23 in Palawan Passage by Dace

References

CombinedFleet.com (accessed 2007-11-12)

Lacroix and Wells (1997)
Whitley (1995)

Worth (2001)

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