Kongō class battlecruiser

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Kongō class

General characteristics (as built)
Type:	battlecruiser
Displacement:	27,500 tons standard 32,200 tons full load
Length:	704 ft (214.5 m)
Beam:	92 ft (28 m)
Draught:	27.6 ft (8.4 m)
Propulsion:	4 shafts; Parsons turbines; 8/11 boilers; 136,600 shp
Speed:	27.5 knots (later 30.5)
Range:	8,000 nautical miles at 14 knots
Complement:	1437
Armament:	8 × 14 in (356 mm) 45 calibre 16 × 6 in (152 mm) 50 calibre 8 × 3 in 8 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	deck: 2.3-1.5 in (57-41 mm)(later strengthened) turrets: 9 in (227 mm) barbettes: 10 in (254 mm) belt: 8-3 in (203-76 mm)
Aircraft:	3

The Kongō class battlecruisers were designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy by the British designer Sir George Thurston and the first ship, Kongō, was built in Britain by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness in 1913. She was the last Japanese warship to be built outside Japan and provided the Japanese with a construction template. At this stage in naval design (before the Battle of Jutland), the battlecruiser concept was still attractive, and the three more of the class were built in Japan.

The four ships followed Japanese custom and, as battlecruisers, were named after mountains.

This was the first Japanese warship class to have 14 inch guns, mounted in four twin turrets. The secondary battery was in casements.

The design had been developed privately by Vickers, based on the design of HMS Lion. It was in advance of contemporary Admiralty designs and, in its turn, greatly influenced the development of HMS Tiger.

Inter-war modernisation reduced the number of boilers and protection was improved, but they remained vulnerable to modern gunfire. The addition of bulges reduced the class' speed and the Japanese re-classified them as "fast battleships". The anti-aircraft armament was increased on all four ships. The equipment needed to provide gunnery fire-control required high, stable superstructures and the Kongōs acquired the distinctive Japanese "pagoda" structures.

All four ships saw action in World War II and were sunk. At Guadalcanal, in a rare action between battleships, Kirishima inflicted heavy damage on the USS South Dakota, before the USS Washington joined the action and heavily damaged the Japanese ship, causing her to be scuttled.