History of a Ship: Japan’s
Kongo
Ordered by the Japanese government in 1911,
Kongo was the first of a class of
four battlecruisers, the other three in the
class to be built in Japan. The Japanese shipbuilding
industry benefited so greatly from observing
the latest in British ship construction techniques
that she would be the last Japanese capital
ship built in a foreign yard.
Kongo
early in her career
When launched in 1913 Kongo carried with
eight 14 inch guns in four turrets, sixteen
6 inch guns, sixteen 12 pounder guns and eight
hull-mounted torpedo tubes. With 36 boilers
firing a mix of coal and oil, Kongo
at 27,500 tons loaded could make 27.5 knots.
Employing the latest in hull construction
techniques, armor protection in the form of
Vickers cemented steel and a powerful combination
of heavy and medium armament, Kongo was
the most powerful ship in the world on the
eve of World War I. She was also the most
expensive warship ever built by any nation
up to that time.
The original version of Kongo appeared
in Great War at Sea: North Sea, now
retired to the Valhalla
of Games. She also makes an appearance
in Cruiser
Warfare. Considered by many the epitome
of warship design, other nations lusted for
the battle cruiser, with the Royal Navy making
a bid on her and the Greeks pondering ordering
a copy (using their allies’ money, of
course). This last ship made an appearance
in the Dreadnoughts
supplement.
In late summer 1917 Kongo was used
to test the feasibility of launching aircraft
from a warship. The experiment proved so successful
that all Japanese capital warships were soon
fitted to carry them. In the mid-1920s the
12-pounders were removed and replaced with
seven 3-inch guns. A reconstruction in the
late 1920s reduced the number of boilers,
without reducing shaft horsepower, added almost
4,000 tons of armor, removed four of the eight
torpedo tubes and reconstructed the deck between
“X” and “Y” turrets
in order to permit the carrying of three aircraft.
In this variation, Kongo appeared
in Great
War at Sea: U.S. Navy Plan Orange.
In 1936 Kongo (and her three sisters)
underwent a second reconstruction, including
redesigning the stern and installing new and
more efficient oil-fired boilers. Shaft horsepower
more than doubled and Kongo’s
new top speed climbed to 30.5 knots. The remaining
torpedo tubes and two of the 6-inch guns were
removed and eight 5-inch and twenty 25 mm
AA guns installed. Weight increased to 31,720
tons.
Kongo’s
sister Kirishima, after rebuilding
As a result of the extensive changes Kongo
was reclassified as a battleship. However,
due to her speed she was slated to serve as
an escort for carrier groups during wartime,
and considered part of the cruiser force rather
than the battle line. As such, the four Kongo-class
ships fought in the savage surface actions
off the Solomons while newer and more powerful
battleships were held back from that fray.
This is the version that appeared in Midway
and Eastern
Fleet and the the now-retired SOPAC.
Of the class only Kongo and Haruna
survived the first year of the war. Both
were given substantial increases in AA armament
in 1944, Kongo adding four 5-inch
and seventy-four 25 mm AA guns at a cost of
two of the 6-inch guns (reducing the number
to 12). This modified Kongo appears
in Leyte
Gulf.
In an ignominious end for a ship born at
the dawn of the dreadnought era, Kongo
met her end at the hands of an American submarine
in November 1944.
Brian L. Knipple
January 2005
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