The Pacific War was a conflict of aircraft carriers and planes. The battleships, which were the pride of the Japanese Navy's "big gun" doctrine, ceded their leading role to aircraft carriers from the very start on December 8, 1941. As a result, the Japanese battleships were left without a real purpose in the war, earning them nicknames like "Yamato Hotel" and "Nagato Inn." However, the four battleships of the Kongo class were an exception, known for their fierce and active service as escorts for the carrier task forces, thanks to their high speed.
The Kongo class was planned just before the Russo-Japanese War, but its design was heavily influenced by the British battleship HMS Dreadnought, which was commissioned in 1906. The Japanese Navy, fresh from its victory over the Russian Baltic Fleet, found its entire fleet rendered obsolete overnight by the revolutionary Dreadnought. To learn the advanced technology of the Royal Navy, the Japanese decided to commission one of the four planned Kongo-class ships, the Kongo itself, to Vickers in the UK, while building the other three in Japanese shipyards.
Designed as an enhanced and improved version of the British Lion-class battlecruiser, the Kongo class became an exceptionally fine battlecruiser, excelling in speed and firepower. Its excellence was proven when the Royal Navy requested to borrow it during World War I and when they built the nearly identical Tiger-class battlecruiser.
The Kongo was completed in 1913, just before the outbreak of World War I. However, the weaknesses of battlecruisers were exposed during the Battle of Jutland, where the British and German fleets clashed. The design, which prioritized speed over defense, made battlecruisers extremely vulnerable to shells fired from a long range, which would come down at a steep angle.
Learning from this, the Kongo underwent its first major refit to strengthen its defenses, beginning in 1928 and completing in 1931. Because of the reduced speed, its classification was changed from a battlecruiser to a battleship. (While battleships are typically named after countries, all four Kongo-class ships were named after mountains, a remnant of their original battlecruiser designation.)
Just a few years after its first refit, the Kongo underwent a second one. This was intended to restore the ship's original high-speed performance and to enhance its anti-aircraft armament to counter the growing threat from aviation. As a result of this second refit, the Kongo was reborn as a high-speed battleship capable of 30 knots, and its appearance became the one we are most familiar with as it headed into the Pacific War.
At the start of the war, the Kongo was assigned to the Malay invasion force under Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo. Along with its sister ship Haruna, it formed the 3rd Battleship Division of the 1st Fleet, tasked with countering the British Far East Fleet. Although the British battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse were ultimately sunk by aircraft, there was a real possibility that the Kongo and Haruna would have engaged them in a gun duel. While we can't change history, a Kongo-class ship would likely have been at a disadvantage against the British ships.
The Kongo was later incorporated into Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's task force and participated in the Indian Ocean Raid. During this operation, all four Kongo-class ships were together, and photos from that time evoke a sense of the grandeur of that period.
During the Battle of Midway in June 1942, the Kongo was part of the Midway invasion force with the 3rd Battleship Division under Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa, but it did not directly engage in combat. Later, deployed to Truk Island for the Southern operations, the Kongo was used in the bombardment of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. In a mission where even the Yamato and Musashi were considered for deployment, the Kongo and its sister ship Haruna, led by Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, pounded the airfield with a total of 918 36cm shells, turning it into an inferno and temporarily demoralizing the American forces.
Later, during the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, the Kongo served as the vanguard for Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's carrier fleet and fought valiantly. In the Battle off Samar during the Leyte Gulf campaign, where the carrier task force had been effectively destroyed and had no air cover, the Kongo was a core component of Kurita's fleet. After breaking through the San Bernardino Strait, it encountered and relentlessly shelled the enemy escort carrier group, sinking the USS Gambier Bay and inflicting heavy damage on the destroyer screen.
Despite its many victories, the veteran Kongo did not survive the Leyte operation. Though it took no direct hits from later air attacks, it was damaged by five near-misses. While on its way from its base in Brunei to Japan for repairs, it was torpedoed by the U.S. submarine USS Sealion off the coast of Keelung, bringing its long and distinguished career to a close.
Specifications (at the start of the war):
- Standard Displacement: 32,156 tons
- Length (Overall): 222.00m
- Length (Waterline): 219.61m
- Beam (Maximum): 31.02m
- Main Engine: 4 x Kampon geared steam turbines, 4 shafts
- Output: 136,000 horsepower
- Speed: 30.5 knots
- Range: 10,000 nautical miles at 18 knots
- Armament:
- 4 x twin 36cm gun turrets
- 14 x single 15cm guns
- 4 x twin 12.7cm anti-aircraft gun mounts (8 guns total)
- 10 x twin 25mm machine guns (20 guns total)
- 18 x triple 25mm machine guns