Furutaka-class Heavy Cruiser

Furutaka-class Heavy Cruiser

Country

Japan

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

This article refers to the entire Furutaka-class; it is not about an individual vessel.

ww2dbaseThe Furutaka-class heavy cruisers began with plans for two ships; they were later joined by two more, which some consider to be a sub-class or a totally different class altogether (Aoba-class). Collectively, the four heavy cruisers represented a new thinking in Japanese naval architecture in which the ships' armor were built as part of the ships' structure, thus achieving significant weight savings. They were considered seaworthy and reliable warships, albeit under-gunned by the WW2-era.

ww2dbaseSource: Nihon Kaigun.

Last Major Revision: Apr 2009

Furutaka-class Heavy Cruiser Interactive Map

Furutaka-class Heavy Cruiser Operational Timeline

31 Mar 1926	Furutaka was commissioned into service.
1 Jul 1926	Kako was commissioned into service.
25 Sep 1926	Aoba was launched at Nagasaki, Japan.
1 Sep 1927	Aoba was commissioned into service.
1 Sep 1927	Kinugasa was commissioned into service.
8 May 1942	Japanese and US carrier fleets at Coral Sea discovered each other in the morning, each closing in to attack. Japanese carrier Shokaku was damaged by 3 bombs at 1057 hours (223 casualties), while American carrier USS Lexington was hit by two bombs at 1120 hours (191 killed at 1120 hours; gasoline explosion at 1247 hours killed another 25; scuttled by USS Phelps at 1915 hours) and American carrier USS Yorktown was hit by a bomb (66 casualties). Meanwhile at Port Moresby, an Australian cruiser force successfully defended itself against land-based aircraft attack as it blocked the Japanese invasion fleet for Port Moresby, New Guinea. As both sides withdrew due to damage and losses, the Japanese scored a tactical victory, but lost strategic momentum as the Port Moresby invasion must now be delayed.
8 Aug 1942	In the pre-dawn morning, 7 Japanese cruisers and 1 destroyer under Gunichi Mikawa departed Kavieng, New Ireland and Rabaul, New Britain, sailing south without being detected; after sundown, the force caught Allied warships by surprise off Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands; in the Battle of Savo Island, Japanese cruisers Chōkai, Aoba, Kako, Kinugasa, and Furutaka used Type 93 torpedoes and gunfire to sink US cruisers USS Quincy, Vincennes, and Astoria and Australian cruiser HMAS Canberra; 1,077 US personnel were killed in this battle (Canberra was badly damaged and was ultimately scuttled by a US destroyer).
9 Aug 1942	Northwest of Savo Island in the Solomons, destroyer USS Ralph Talbot was fired upon by a friendly ship shortly after midnight. Two men were killed. Minutes later, Ralph Talbot exchanged gunfire with Japanese cruiser Furutaka that killed ten men aboard Ralph Talbot, wounded 23, and left two men missing.
10 Aug 1942	USS S-44 spotted a group of four Japanese heavy cruisers at the distance of 800 meters about 90 miles east of Kavieng, New Ireland at 0750 hours. At 0806 hours, she fired four Mark 10 torpedoes, scoring three hits on heavy cruiser Kako. Kako sank at about 0815 hours; 34 were killed, 582 survived.
12 Oct 1942	Japanese cruiser Furutaka maneuvered herself in between flagship Aoba and American ships during Battle of Cape Esperance, saving the flagship but causing her own demise.
14 Nov 1942	Japanese Furutaka-class Heavy Cruiser Kinugasa was sunk by planes based at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal and by carrier planes from USS Enterprise as Kinugasa was withdrawing from a bombardment of Guadalcanal.
24 Jul 1945	British TF 37 launched 416 sorties, 261 of which were sent against the Japanese home islands and 155 were for defensive patrols; escort carrier Kaiyo was damaged by British carrier planes. On the same day, American TF 38 launched 600 aircraft against Kure, Nagoya, Osaka, and Miho, sinking battleship-carrier Hyuga, heavy cruiser Tone, and target ship Settsu, and damaging carrier Ryuho, carrier Amagi, battleship-carrier Ise, battleship Haruna, heavy cruiser Aoba, light cruiser Oyodo, transport Kiyokawa Maru; the Aichi aircraft factories at Nagoya were seriously damaged.
28 Jul 1945	137 American P-47 aircraft based in Ie Shima, Okinawa, Japan attacked targest in Kyushu, Japan. On the same day, 471 B-29 bombers attacked smaller Japanese cities in the home islands with incendiary bombs. Finally, from the sea, US Navy carrier aircraft struck various Inland Sea ports between Nagoya and northern Kyushu, sinking battleship Haruna, battleship-carrier Ise, heavy cruiser Aoba (in shallow water), and light cruiser Oyodo, and damaging carrier Katsuragi, carrier Hosho, and already beached battleship Settsu.

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Furutaka-class Heavy Cruiser