Japanese battleship Kongō

Type

Battleship

Period

20th Century

Nation

Japan

Overview: Kongō was the lead ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy's four-vessel Kongō class, originally built as a battlecruiser and later reclassified as a fast battleship. She was the first of her class and notable as the last Japanese capital ship ever built outside Japan, constructed by Vickers in Britain to let Japan study contemporary British warship technology before building her three sisters (Hiei, Haruna, Kirishima) domestically. Specifications: As built she displaced roughly 36,600 long tons, measured about 222 m long with a 31 m beam, and carried eight 14-inch guns in four twin turrets plus an array of secondary and anti-aircraft weapons that was repeatedly upgraded through her career. Two major interwar reconstructions (beginning 1929 and 1935) thickened her armor, rebuilt her superstructure, added aircraft catapults, and raised her speed above 30 knots, allowing her 1935 reclassification as a fast battleship capable of escorting Japan's carrier task forces. Service History: Commissioned in 1913, Kongō patrolled off the Chinese coast during World War I and later operated off China again during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In the Pacific War she supported the invasions of Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, screened carriers at Midway, took part in the Guadalcanal campaign, and fought in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, where she helped sink the destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts. She was torpedoed and sunk by the American submarine USS Sealion while transiting the Formosa (Taiwan) Strait on 21 November 1944. Notable Facts: Kongō holds the distinction of being the only battleship sunk by a submarine during the Pacific War. In 1923 she carried then-Crown Prince (later Emperor) Hirohito to Taiwan, a voyage documented in period photographs. Her long career spanning both World Wars and two complete reconstructions makes her an interesting subject for modelers wanting to depict either her original battlecruiser configuration or her heavily modified 1944 fast-battleship fit.