Takao-class cruiser

Takao-class cruiser
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 (standard); 15,490 tons (full load);
Length:	631.7 feet (192.54 m); 668.5 feet (203.76 m) overall;
Beam:	59 feet (18.03 m); 68 feet (20.73 m);
Draft:	20 feet (6.11 m); 20.7 feet (6.32 m);
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: ten 8" (20.3 cm) 50 calibre guns (5x2); four 4.7" high angle guns(4x1); eight 24" torpedo tubes (4x2); two 40 mm AA guns (2x1);
Armor:	main belt: 1½" to 5"; main deck: 1⅜" (max); upper deck: ½" to 1"; bulkheads: 3" to 4"; turrets: 1";
Aircraft carried:	One Aichi E13A1 "Jake"; Two F1M2 "Pete" seaplanes;
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. Their main gun armament was ten 8-inch (203 mm) guns in twin mounts and they were also armed with sixteen 24 inch 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.^{[citation needed]}

Ships[]

Four ships of the class were launched. All served in World War II and all of them 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 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[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Takao class cruiser.

Parshall, Jon; Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt. "Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com)". http://www.combinedfleet.com/kaigun.htm. Retrieved 2006-06-14.

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