The battleships Kii and Nagato at sea in early 1944.
The Kii-class battleship is a class of battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. They were modernized versions of the abortive Kongo-class replacement design from the late 1920s/early 1930s. Kii began construction on November 7th 1940 at the Kure Naval Arsenal in Kure after the launch of the Yamato. Nagato began construction on December 2nd 1940 at the Mitsubishi-Nagasaki shipyard in Nagasaki after Musashi was launched. Another three Kii-class ships were ordered in 1941, but were cancelled as the IJN changed their priorities to constructing aircraft carriers.
Nagato was sunk at the Battle of the South China Sea in 1944.
Specifications[]
- Type: Fast Battleship
- Service Period: 1944-194X
- Characteristics:
- Length: 780 feet (237.74 meters)
- Beam: 105 feet (32 meters)
- Draft: 29 feet 7 inches (9.02 meters)
- Displacement: 36,000 tons (Standard); 44,100 tons (Full Load)
- Crew: 1,560
- Propulsion: 8 x Kampon boilers, 4-shaft geared turbines, 132,000 shp (99,000 kW)
- Range: 9,000 nautical miles (16,668 kilometers) at 15 knots (27.78 km/h)
- Speed: 26.5 knots (49.08 km/h)
- Armament:
- 9 x 41cm/52-caliber Type 90 naval guns (3x3)
- 32 x 10cm/65-caliber Type 98 dual purpose naval guns (16x2)
- 82 x 25mm/60-caliber Type 96 anti-aircraft guns (22x3, 8x2)
- Armour:
- Belt: 14-inches (356 mm)
- Deck: 5-inches (127 mm)
- Turrets
- Front: 16.1-inches (410 mm)
- Sides: 10-inches (254 mm)
- Roof: 8-inches (203.2 mm)
- Barbettes: 16.1-inches 410 mm)
- Conning Tower: 15-inches (381 mm)
- Aircraft Carried: 2 x Aichi E16A Zuiun seaplanes
Unit Run[]
Kii-class[]
- IJN Kii
- IJN Nagato - sunk at the Battle of the South China Sea in 1944.
Improved Kii-class[]
- IJN Oowari - cancelled
- IJN Mikawa - cancelled
- IJN Sanuki - cancelled