List of battlecruisers of Japan
Encyclopedia
The Imperial Japanese Navy
built four battlecruiser
s, with plans for an additional four, during the first decades of the 20th century. The battlecruiser was an outgrowth of the armored cruiser
concept, which had proved highly successful against the Russian Baltic Fleet
in the Battle of Tsushima
at the end of the Russo-Japanese War
. In the aftermath, the Japanese immediately turned its focus to the two remaining rivals for imperial dominance in the Pacific Ocean: Britain and the United States. Japanese naval planners calculated that in any conflict with the U.S. Navy, Japan would need a fleet at least 70 percent as strong as the United States' in order to emerge victorious. To that end, the concept of the Eight-Eight fleet
was developed, where eight battleships and eight battlecruisers would form a cohesive battle line
. Similar to the German Imperial Navy
and in contrast to the Royal Navy, the Japanese envisioned and designed battlecruisers that could operate alongside more heavily-armored battleships to counter numerical superiority.
The first phase of the Eight-Eight plan began in 1910, when the Diet of Japan
authorized the construction of one battleship (Fusō
) and four battlecruisers of the Kongō class
. Designed by British naval architect George Thurston
, the first of these battlecruisers (Kongō
) was constructed in Britain by Vickers
, while the remaining three were constructed in Japan. Armed with eight 14 inches (355.6 mm) guns and with a top speed of 30 kn (36.5 mph; 58.8 km/h), they were the most advanced capital ship
s of their time. At the height of the First World War
, an additional four battlecruisers of the Amagi class
were ordered. The ships would have had a main battery
of ten 16 inches (406.4 mm) guns, but none were ever completed as battlecruisers, as the Washington Naval Treaty
limited the size of the navies of Japan, Britain and the United States. Before the Second World War
, a further class of two battlecruisers were planned (Design B-65), but more pressing naval priorities and a faltering war effort ensured these ships never reached the construction phase.
Of the eight battlecruiser hulls laid down by Japan (the four Kongō and four Amagi class), none survived the Second World War. Amagi was being converted to an aircraft carrier when her hull was catastrophically damaged by the Great Kantō Earthquake in 1923 and subsequently broken up
, while the last two of the Amagi class were scrapped in 1924 according to the terms of the Washington Treaty. Akagi
was converted to an aircraft carrier
in the 1920s, but was scuttled after suffering severe damage from air attacks during the Battle of Midway
on 5 June 1942. The four Kongō-class ships were lost in action as well: two during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
in November 1942, one by American submarine in November 1944, and one by American aircraft at Kure Naval Base in July 1945.
by the British Royal Navy
. Designed by British naval architect George Thurston
, the first ship of the class (Kongō) was constructed in Britain by Vickers, with the remaining three built in Japan. They were armed with eight 14 in (355.6 mm) main guns, could sail at 27 knots, and were considered to "outclass all other [contemporary] ships". Kongō was completed in August 1913, Hiei in August 1914, and Haruna and Kirishima in April 1915. The vessels saw minor patrol duty during the First World War.
In the aftermath of the Washington Naval Treaty, all four ships underwent extensive modernization in the 1920s and 1930s, which reconfigured them as fast battleships. The modernizations strengthened their armor, equipped them with floatplanes, overhauled their engine plant, and reconfigured their armament. With a top speed of 30 kn (36.5 mph) and efficient engine plants, all four were active in the Second World War; Hiei and Kirishima sailed with the carrier strikeforce to attack Pearl Harbor
, while Kongō and Haruna sailed with the Southern Force to invade Malaya
and Singapore. Hiei and Kirishima were lost during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
, Kongō was torpedoed on 21 November 1944 in the Formosa Strait, and Haruna was sunk during the Bombing of Kure on 28 July 1945.
As part of the Eight-Eight fleet, four s were planned. The order for these ships and four battleships of the Kii class put an enormous strain on the Japanese government, which by that time was spending a full third of its budget on the navy. was the first ship to be laid down; construction began on 6 December 1920 at the naval yard in Kure
. Amagi followed ten days later at the Yokosuka
naval yard. Atagos keel was laid in Kobe
at the Kawasaki
shipyard on 22 November 1921, while Takao, the fourth and final ship of the class, was laid down at the Mitsubishi
shipyard in Nagasaki
on 19 December 1921.
The terms of the February 1922 Washington Naval Treaty
forced the class' cancellation, but the two closest to completion (Amagi and Akagi) were saved from the scrappers
by a provision that allowed two capital ships to be converted to aircraft carrier
s. However, the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake
caused significant stress damage to the hull of Amagi. The structure was too heavily damaged to be usable, and conversion work was abandoned. Amagi was stricken from the navy list and sold for scrapping, which began on 14 April 1924. The other two ships, Atago and Takao, were officially canceled two years later (31 July 1924) and were broken up for scrap in their slipway
s. Akagi went on as an aircraft carrier to fight in the Second World War, where she was sunk after air attack during the Battle of Midway
.
Design B-64 was originally intended to be part of Japan's Night Battle Force, a force that would attack an enemy fleet's outer defense ring of cruisers and destroyers under the cover of darkness. After penetrating the ring, Japanese cruisers and destroyers would launch torpedo attacks on the enemy's battleships. The remainder of the enemy would be finished off by the main fleet in the following day. The B-64s were intended to support the lighter cruisers and destroyers in these nighttime strikes. This strategy was altered when the Japanese learned the specifications of the United States' Alaska-class
large cruisers. The design was enlarged and redesignated B-65; their purpose would now be to screen the main battle fleet against the threat posed by the fast and heavily-armed Alaskas. With war looming in 1940, the Japanese focused on more useful and versatile ship types such as aircraft carriers and cruisers; the Japanese defeat at the 1942 Battle of Midway
meant that the ships were postponed indefinitely, and with more important strategic considerations to worry about, the ships were never built.
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
built four battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
s, with plans for an additional four, during the first decades of the 20th century. The battlecruiser was an outgrowth of the armored cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
concept, which had proved highly successful against the Russian Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
in the Battle of Tsushima
Battle of Tsushima
The Battle of Tsushima , commonly known as the “Sea of Japan Naval Battle” in Japan and the “Battle of Tsushima Strait”, was the major naval battle fought between Russia and Japan during the Russo-Japanese War...
at the end of the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
. In the aftermath, the Japanese immediately turned its focus to the two remaining rivals for imperial dominance in the Pacific Ocean: Britain and the United States. Japanese naval planners calculated that in any conflict with the U.S. Navy, Japan would need a fleet at least 70 percent as strong as the United States' in order to emerge victorious. To that end, the concept of the Eight-Eight fleet
Eight-eight fleet
The was a Japanese naval strategy formulated for the development of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the first quarter of the 20th century, which laid down that the Japanese navy should include eight first-class battleships and eight armoured cruisers or battlecruisers.-History and development:The...
was developed, where eight battleships and eight battlecruisers would form a cohesive battle line
Line of battle
In naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line end to end. A primitive form had been used by the Portuguese under Vasco Da Gama in 1502 near Malabar against a Muslim fleet.,Maarten Tromp used it in the Action of 18 September 1639 while its first use in...
. Similar to the German Imperial Navy
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
and in contrast to the Royal Navy, the Japanese envisioned and designed battlecruisers that could operate alongside more heavily-armored battleships to counter numerical superiority.
The first phase of the Eight-Eight plan began in 1910, when the Diet of Japan
Diet of Japan
The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...
authorized the construction of one battleship (Fusō
Japanese battleship Fuso
The Japanese battleship Fusō , was a part of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the lead ship of the Fusō-class. She was laid down by the Kure Kaigun Koshō on 11 March 1912, launched on 28 March 1914 and completed on 18 November 1915...
) and four battlecruisers of the Kongō class
Kongo class battlecruiser
The were a class of ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy constructed immediately before World War I. Designed by British naval architect George Thurston, the lead ship of the class was the last Japanese capital ship constructed outside of Japan. Displacing upon completion, the vessels of this...
. Designed by British naval architect George Thurston
George Thurston
Sir George Thurston KBE was a leading British naval architect in the early half of the 20th century.-Life and career:...
, the first of these battlecruisers (Kongō
Japanese battleship Kongo
Kongō was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I and World War II. She was the first battlecruiser of the Kongō class, among the most heavily armed ships in any navy when built. Her designer was the British naval engineer George Thurston, and she was laid down in 1911 at...
) was constructed in Britain by Vickers
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
, while the remaining three were constructed in Japan. Armed with eight 14 inches (355.6 mm) guns and with a top speed of 30 kn (36.5 mph; 58.8 km/h), they were the most advanced capital ship
Capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...
s of their time. At the height of the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, an additional four battlecruisers of the Amagi class
Amagi class battlecruiser
The was a series of four battlecruisers planned for the Imperial Japanese Navy as part of the so-called Eight-eight fleet. The ships were to be named Amagi, , Atago, and Takao; the first three were named for mountains , while the fourth was named for the town of Takao, Formosa...
were ordered. The ships would have had a main battery
Main battery
Generally used only in the terms of naval warfare, the main battery is the primary weapon around which a ship was designed. "Battery" is in itself a common term in the military science of artillery. For example, the United States Navy battleship USS Washington had a main battery of nine guns...
of ten 16 inches (406.4 mm) guns, but none were ever completed as battlecruisers, as the Washington Naval Treaty
Washington Naval Treaty
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...
limited the size of the navies of Japan, Britain and the United States. Before the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a further class of two battlecruisers were planned (Design B-65), but more pressing naval priorities and a faltering war effort ensured these ships never reached the construction phase.
Of the eight battlecruiser hulls laid down by Japan (the four Kongō and four Amagi class), none survived the Second World War. Amagi was being converted to an aircraft carrier when her hull was catastrophically damaged by the Great Kantō Earthquake in 1923 and subsequently broken up
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
, while the last two of the Amagi class were scrapped in 1924 according to the terms of the Washington Treaty. Akagi
Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi
Akagi was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , originally begun as an . She was converted while still under construction to an aircraft carrier under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty...
was converted to an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
in the 1920s, but was scuttled after suffering severe damage from air attacks during the Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
on 5 June 1942. The four Kongō-class ships were lost in action as well: two during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the Battle of the Solomons, The Battle of Friday the 13th, or, in Japanese sources, as the , took place from 12–15 November 1942, and was the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles...
in November 1942, one by American submarine in November 1944, and one by American aircraft at Kure Naval Base in July 1945.
Key
| Main guns | The number and type of the main battery Main battery Generally used only in the terms of naval warfare, the main battery is the primary weapon around which a ship was designed. "Battery" is in itself a common term in the military science of artillery. For example, the United States Navy battleship USS Washington had a main battery of nine guns... guns |
| Armor | Thickness of the armored belt |
| Displacement | Ship displacement Displacement (ship) A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load... at full combat load |
| Propulsion | Number of shafts, type of propulsion system, and top speed generated |
| Service | The dates work began and finished on the ship and its ultimate fate |
| Laid down | The date the keel Keel In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event... began to be assembled |
| Commissioned | The date the ship was commissioned Ship commissioning Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military... |
| Fate | The eventual fate of the ship (e.g. sunk, scrapped) |
Kongō class
The four ships were the first battlecruisers ordered by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The four ships were authorized in 1910 as part of the Emergency Naval Expansion Bill, in response to the construction of HMS InvincibleHMS Invincible (1907)
HMS Invincible was a battlecruiser of the British Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class of three, and the first battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world. She participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight in a minor role as she was the oldest and slowest of the British battlecruisers...
by the British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. Designed by British naval architect George Thurston
George Thurston
Sir George Thurston KBE was a leading British naval architect in the early half of the 20th century.-Life and career:...
, the first ship of the class (Kongō) was constructed in Britain by Vickers, with the remaining three built in Japan. They were armed with eight 14 in (355.6 mm) main guns, could sail at 27 knots, and were considered to "outclass all other [contemporary] ships". Kongō was completed in August 1913, Hiei in August 1914, and Haruna and Kirishima in April 1915. The vessels saw minor patrol duty during the First World War.
In the aftermath of the Washington Naval Treaty, all four ships underwent extensive modernization in the 1920s and 1930s, which reconfigured them as fast battleships. The modernizations strengthened their armor, equipped them with floatplanes, overhauled their engine plant, and reconfigured their armament. With a top speed of 30 kn (36.5 mph) and efficient engine plants, all four were active in the Second World War; Hiei and Kirishima sailed with the carrier strikeforce to attack Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, while Kongō and Haruna sailed with the Southern Force to invade Malaya
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
and Singapore. Hiei and Kirishima were lost during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the Battle of the Solomons, The Battle of Friday the 13th, or, in Japanese sources, as the , took place from 12–15 November 1942, and was the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles...
, Kongō was torpedoed on 21 November 1944 in the Formosa Strait, and Haruna was sunk during the Bombing of Kure on 28 July 1945.
| Ship | Main guns | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | |||||
| Kongō | 8 × 14 in (355.6 mm) | 8 in (203.2 mm) | 27500 LT (27,941 t) | 4 screws, steam turbines, 27.5 knots (later 30.5 knots) | 17 January 1911 | 16 August 1913 | Torpedoed in Formosa Strait, 21 November 1944 |
| Hiei | 4 November 1911 | 4 August 1914 | Scuttled following Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 13 November 1942 | ||||
| Kirishima | 17 March 1912 | 19 April 1915 | Sank following Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 15 November 1942 | ||||
| Haruna | 16 March 1912 | 19 April 1915 | Sunk by air attack, Kure Naval Base, 28 July 1945 | ||||
Amagi class
As part of the Eight-Eight fleet, four s were planned. The order for these ships and four battleships of the Kii class put an enormous strain on the Japanese government, which by that time was spending a full third of its budget on the navy. was the first ship to be laid down; construction began on 6 December 1920 at the naval yard in Kure
Kure, Hiroshima
is a city in Hiroshima prefecture, Japan.As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 240,820 and a population density of 681 persons per km². The total area is 353.74 km².- History :...
. Amagi followed ten days later at the Yokosuka
Yokosuka, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 419,067 and a population density of 4,160 people per km². It covered an area of 100.62 km²...
naval yard. Atagos keel was laid in Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
at the Kawasaki
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
is an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Chūō-ku, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo.The company is named after its founder Shōzō Kawasaki and has no connection with the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa....
shipyard on 22 November 1921, while Takao, the fourth and final ship of the class, was laid down at the Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi
The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
shipyard in Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
on 19 December 1921.
The terms of the February 1922 Washington Naval Treaty
Washington Naval Treaty
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...
forced the class' cancellation, but the two closest to completion (Amagi and Akagi) were saved from the scrappers
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
by a provision that allowed two capital ships to be converted to aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s. However, the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake
1923 Great Kanto earthquake
The struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58:44 am JST on September 1, 1923. Varied accounts hold that the duration of the earthquake was between 4 and 10 minutes...
caused significant stress damage to the hull of Amagi. The structure was too heavily damaged to be usable, and conversion work was abandoned. Amagi was stricken from the navy list and sold for scrapping, which began on 14 April 1924. The other two ships, Atago and Takao, were officially canceled two years later (31 July 1924) and were broken up for scrap in their slipway
Slipway
A slipway, boat slip or just a slip, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats. They are also used for launching and retrieving small boats on trailers and flying boats on their undercarriage. The...
s. Akagi went on as an aircraft carrier to fight in the Second World War, where she was sunk after air attack during the Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
.
| Ship | Main guns | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | |||||
| Amagi | 8 × 16 in (406.4 mm) | 10 in (254 mm) | 46000 LT (46,738 t) | 4 screws, steam turbines, 30 knots | 16 December 1920 | November 1923 (projected) | Reordered as aircraft carrier; damaged in earthquake; canceled and scrapped |
| Akagi | 6 December 1920 | December 1923 | Reordered and completed as aircraft carrier | ||||
| Atago | 22 November 1921 | December 1924 | Canceled and scrapped | ||||
| Takao | 19 December 1921 | December 1924 | Canceled and scrapped | ||||
Design B-64/B-65 class
Design B-64 was originally intended to be part of Japan's Night Battle Force, a force that would attack an enemy fleet's outer defense ring of cruisers and destroyers under the cover of darkness. After penetrating the ring, Japanese cruisers and destroyers would launch torpedo attacks on the enemy's battleships. The remainder of the enemy would be finished off by the main fleet in the following day. The B-64s were intended to support the lighter cruisers and destroyers in these nighttime strikes. This strategy was altered when the Japanese learned the specifications of the United States' Alaska-class
Alaska class cruiser
The Alaska-class cruisers were a class of six very large cruisers ordered prior to World War II for the United States Navy. Although often called battlecruisers, officially the Navy classed them as Large Cruisers . Their intermediate status is reflected in their names relative to typical U.S....
large cruisers. The design was enlarged and redesignated B-65; their purpose would now be to screen the main battle fleet against the threat posed by the fast and heavily-armed Alaskas. With war looming in 1940, the Japanese focused on more useful and versatile ship types such as aircraft carriers and cruisers; the Japanese defeat at the 1942 Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
meant that the ships were postponed indefinitely, and with more important strategic considerations to worry about, the ships were never built.
| Ship | Main guns | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | |||||
| Yard number 795 (not named) | 9 × 12.2 in (310 mm) | 7.5 in (190.5 mm) | 34000 LT (34,545.7 t) | Four sets of geared turbines, eight boilers, 34 knots | – | 1945 (projected) | Not ordered due to war |
| Yard number 796 (not named) | – | 1946 (projected) | Not ordered due to war | ||||