Myōkō-class cruiser

File:Myōkō trials 1941.jpg
Class overview
Name:	Myōkō class
Operators:	Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by:	Aoba class
Succeeded by:	Takao class
Built:	1924–1929
In commission:	1928–1946
Completed:	4
Lost:	3
General characteristics
Type:	Heavy cruiser
Displacement:	11,633 tons (standard load) 14,980 tons (full load)
Length:	204 m (669 ft) overall
Beam:	17 m (56 ft)
Draught:	5.8 m (19 ft)
Propulsion:	4-shaft geared turbines 12 Kampon boilers 130,000 shp
Speed:	35.5 knots (40.9 mph; 65.7 km/h)
Range:	8,000 nmi (15,000 km) at 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement:	773
Armament:	10 × 20 cm (7.9 in) guns (5×2) 6 × 120 mm (4.7 in) guns (6×1) 12 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes (4×3)
Aircraft carried:	2
Aviation facilities:	1 catapult

The four Myōkō-class cruisers (妙高型巡洋艦, Myōkō-gata jun'yōkan) were built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 1920s. Three were lost during World War II.

The ships of this class displaced 11,633 tons (standard), were 201 metres (659 ft) long, and were capable of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). They carried two aircraft and their main armament was ten 20.3-centimetre (8 in) guns in five twin turrets. At the time, this was the heaviest armament of any cruiser class in the world. They were also the first cruisers the Japanese Navy constructed that exceeded the (10,000 ton) limit set by the Washington Naval Treaty.

Ships in class

The ships in the class were:

Name	Builder	Laid	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Myōkō (妙高)	Yokosuka Navy Yard	25 October 1924	16 April 1927	31 July 1929	Scuttled, 8 July 1946
Nachi (那智)	Kure Navy Yard	26 November 1924	15 June 1927	26 November 1928	Sunk, 4 November 1944 in Manila Bay by aircraft from USS Lexington
Haguro (羽黒)	Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard	16 March 1925	24 March 1928	25 April 1929	Sunk, 16 May 1945 by Royal Navy 26th Destroyer Flotilla
Ashigara (足柄)	Kōbe-Kawasaki Shipbuilding Yard	11 April 1925	22 April 1928	20 August 1929	Sunk, 8 June 1945 by submarine HMS Trenchant

External links

• CombinedFleet.com: Myōkō class cruisers