Takao-class cruiser

The cruiser Takao
Class overview
Name:	Takao class
Operators:	Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by:	Myōkō class
Succeeded by:	Mogami class
Completed:	4
Laid up:	1
Lost:	3
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 (98,000 kW)
Speed:	35.5–34.2 knots (65.7–63.3 km/h; 40.9–39.4 mph)
Range:	8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement:	773
Armament:	original layout: 10 × 20 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns (5x2) 4 × Type 10 12 cm high angle guns(4x1) 8 × 61 cm torpedo tubes (4x2) 2 × 40 mm AA guns (2x1)
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:	One Aichi E13A1 "Jake" Two F1M2 "Pete" seaplanes
Aviation facilities:	2 catapults

The Takao-class cruiser (高雄型) was a class of four heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) launched between May 1930 and April 1931. They all served during World War II.

Description

They were an evolution from the preceding Myōkō class, with heavier torpedo armament and had an almost battleship-like, large bridge structure.

United States Navy recognition drawings of Takao and Atago

Their main gun armament was ten 20.3-centimetre (8.0 in) guns in twin mounts and they were also armed with sixteen 24 inch Long Lance torpedoes (carrying more than the Myōkō or Mogami-class ships), 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.

Name	Builder	Laid	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Takao (高雄)	Yokosuka Navy Yard	28 Apr 1927	12 May 1930	31 May 1932	Scuttled 27 October 1946 by British Forces
Atago (愛宕)	Kure Navy Yard	28 Apr 1927	16 June 1930	30 Mar 1932	Sunk 23 October 1944 by the submarine USS Darter.
Maya (摩耶)	Kōbe-Kawasaki Shipbuilding Yard	4 Dec 1928	8 Nov 1930	30 June 1932	Sunk 23 October 1944 by the submarine USS Dace.
Chōkai (鳥海)	Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard	26 Mar 1928	5 Apr 1931	30 June 1932	Disabled 25 October 1944 at the Battle off Samar and scuttled by the destroyer Fujinami

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

• Parshall, Jon; Bob Hackett; Sander Kingsepp; Allyn Nevitt. "Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com)". Retrieved 2006-06-14.