Takao class
| Takao class | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Overview | |
| Type: | Heavy cruiser |
| Units: | 4th |
| Predecessor class: | Myōkō class |
| Successor class: | Mogami class |
| Technical data (original planning) |
|
| Displacement: | Draft: 9,850 tons. l. (Standard displacement) |
| Length: | over everything: 203 m |
| Width: | 20.73 m |
| Draft: | Draft: 6.32 m |
| Speed: | Top: 34 kn |
| Crew: | 773 crew members from 1944 1100 on Maya |
| Range: | 8500 nautical miles at 14 knots |
| Drive: | 4 screws over 4 shafts |
The Takao class ( Japanese 高雄 型 ) was a class of four heavy cruisers of the Japanese Empire that were used in World War II .
history
Design and construction
Based on a plan of the naval command from 1925, during the so-called cruiser armament , four ships of a new cruiser type with 20.3 cm main artillery at 10,000 tons of water displacement and a range of 8,000 nautical miles at 14 knots were to be built.
The responsible planner Fujimoto Kikuo used the plans of the Myōkō class and adapted details of the armament to new knowledge. The maximum angle to which the gun barrels could be raised was increased to 70 °, so that they could also be used for air defense. The torpedo armament , consisting of two twin sets for Type 90 torpedoes on port and starboard, was installed above the hull and could be swiveled outboard for use. The ships should also be able to be used as command centers for fleet operations. The corresponding rooms were housed in the bridge structure, which also housed the communications center, the ship's security command post and other departments, so that the bridge structure was disproportionately large.
Construction of the first cruiser of the class began in 1927. Each ship received ten 20 cm L / 50 main guns, which were housed in five twin turrets. Three towers stood on the forecastle, two behind the superstructure. In the case of the three towers on the foredeck, only the second tower (tower B) was installed at an elevated level so that tower C could not fire forward over the bow.
In 1935 all four cruisers were sent to the shipyard in order to have their hulls increased in rigidity by welding additional steel plates. After the Japanese 4th Fleet had suffered severe damage in a typhoon on September 21, 1935, this measure was also carried out preventively on ships that had not been caught in the storm. During the modernization between 1938 and 1939, the torpedo armament was converted to Type 93 torpedoes, which were now installed in two quadruple sets on the port and starboard sides.
During the war, the ships' anti-aircraft equipment was revised and the individually mounted 12 cm guns on the Atago , Takao and Maya were replaced by Type 89 12.7 cm twin mounts. Several ships were retrofitted with a Type 22 and Type 13 radar systems later in the war.
While all ships of the class also received additional Type 96-25 mm anti-aircraft weapons, the Maya was even converted to an anti-aircraft cruiser in December 1943 and received 13 × 25 mm Type 96 triplet mounts and 6 × 12.7 cm Twin mounts. To create space for these weapons and the additional operating crews, a main gun turret (Tower C) and the aircraft hangar were removed.
Takao-class ships
Takao
The Takao was laid down in Yokosuka in April 1927 and launched in May 1930. She took part in numerous operations in the Pacific War, such as the hunt for the Force Z and the American ships that carried out the Doolittle Raid . On October 23, 1944, she was hit by two torpedoes from the American submarine USS Darter near Palawan , but was badly damaged and was towed to the port of Brunei by the Mitsu Maru . The damage caused was never fully repaired and the ship was finally badly damaged on July 31, 1945 in Singapore by British XE-class mini-submarines in shallow water. The wreck was sunk during target practice after the war.
Atago
The Atago was laid down in Kure in April 1927 and launched in June 1930. She took part in numerous operations in the Pacific War, so in November 1942 she was one of the ships that encountered US battleships in night battle during the naval battle of Guadalcanal . In November 1943 it was damaged in the air raid on Rabaul . After extensive modernization work in the summer of 1944, she was hit on October 23, 1944 near Palawan by four torpedoes from the American submarine USS Darter and sank after 20 minutes.
Chōkai
The Chōkai was laid down in Nagasaki in March 1928 and launched in April 1931. She took part in numerous operations in the Pacific War, including the Japanese invasion of Java , acted as a backup during the attack in the Indian Ocean and was Admiral Mikawa's flagship during the Battle of Savo Island in August 1942. She was finally launched in October 1944 while the battle of Samar , so badly damaged by a torpedo hit, a bomb hit and gunfire that it had to be abandoned.
Maya
The Maya was laid down in Kobe in December 1928 and launched in November 1930. She took part in numerous operations in the Pacific War, such as the Battle of the Philippines and the Battle of Guadalcanal . On October 23, 1944, she was hit by four torpedoes from the American submarine USS Dace near Palawan and sank within minutes after one of the ammunition chambers exploded.
literature
- The Heavy Cruiser Takao , Janusz Skulski, US Naval Institute Press, 1994, reprinted in 2004 by Conway Maritime Press, ISBN 0-85177-974-3 .
- Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War , Eric LaCroix, Linton Wells, US Naval Institute Press, 1997, ISBN 0-87021-311-3 .
- Takao Class , Gakken Pacific War Series, Number 13, Gakken, Tokyo, 1997, ISBN 4-05-601685-2 .
Web links
Footnotes
- ^ Eric LaCroix, Linton Wells: Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War , 814
- ^ Eric LaCroix, Linton Wells: Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War, 132
- ↑ Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941, David C. Evans, 2003, US Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0-87021-192-7 , pp. 229 and following
- ^ Eric LaCroix, Linton Wells: Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War, 279
