Takao-class cruiser
 IJN Heavy Cruiser Takao |
| Class overview |
| Operators: |
 Japan |
| Preceded by: |
Myōkō-class cruiser |
| Succeeded by: |
Mogami-class cruiser |
| Completed: |
4 |
| Laid up: |
1 |
| Lost: |
3 |
| Preserved: |
0 |
| General characteristics |
| Type: | Heavy cruiser |
| Displacement: |
- 9,850 t (9,690 long tons) (standard)
- 15,490 t (15,250 long tons) (full load)
|
| Length: |
- 192.5 m (632 ft)
- 203.76 m (668.5 ft) overall
|
| Beam: |
- 19 m (62 ft)
- 20.4 m (67 ft)
|
| Draft: |
- 6.11 m (20.0 ft)
- 6.32 m (20.7 ft)
|
| Propulsion: |
- 4 shaft geared turbine
- 12 Kampon boilers
- 132,000 shp
|
| Speed: | 35½ knots - 34.2 knots (63 km/h) |
| Range: | 8,500 nautical miles (15,740 km) @ 14 knots (26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 773 |
| Armament: | original layout:
|
| Armor: |
- main belt: 38 to 127 mm
- main deck: 37 mm (max)
- upper deck: 12.7 to 25 mm
- bulkheads: 76 to 100 mm
- turrets: 25 mm
|
| Aircraft carried: |
|
| Aviation facilities: | 2 catapults |
The Takao-class (高雄型) was a class of four heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy launched between May 1930 and April 1931.
Description
They were an evolution from the preceding Myoko-class, with heavier torpedo armamanent and had an almost battleship-like, large bridge structure.
United States Navy recognition drawings of Takao and Atago
Their main gun armament was ten 20 cm (8 in) guns in twin mounts and they were also armed with sixteen 24 inch Long Lance torpedoes (carrying more than the Myokos or Mogamis), making the Takaos the most heavily armed cruisers of the IJN. The only flaw was that they were considered top-heavy and thus prone to capsizing, while Turret #3 had a poor firing arc. These two problems were rectified in the follow-up Mogamis; nonetheless the Takaos were considered the best cruisers that the IJN ever built.
Takao class midship with armour thickness in millimetres
Ships
Four ships of the class were launched. All served in World War II and all were sunk or disabled as a result of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944.
References
- Notes
- Books
- D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 0-8159-5302-X.
- Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
- Lacroix, Eric; Linton Wells (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
External links
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- List of cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy
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