World War II Database

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.

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