Laid down on the 4th of November 1911 and launched on the 21st of November 1912, Hiei was the second of the four-ship Kongō-class battlecruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Her three sisters were Kongō, Kirishima and Haruna. Commissioned into the fleet on the 19th of April 1915, she saw no action during the First World War, although she undertook patrols off the Chinese coast.
From 1929, Hiei was converted into a gunnery training ship, so that she would not be scrapped under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. During the 1930s she also acted as a transport for Emperor Hirohito.
When the treaty was not renewed in 1937, she underwent a full-scale reconstruction. Her superstructure was completely rebuilt, her machinery upgraded, and launch catapults for floatplanes added. Now fast enough to accompany Japan’s aircraft carriers, she was reclassified as a fast battleship.
During the early stages of the Second World War, she escorted Japan’s aircraft carriers. Later she was deployed to the Solomon Islands during the Battle of Guadalcanal. She escorted Japanese carrier forces during the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Islands, before sailing as part of a bombardment force under Admiral Kondō during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. In the early hours of 13 November 1942, Hiei engaged American cruisers and destroyers alongside her sister ship Kirishima. After inflicting heavy damage on American cruisers and destroyers, Hiei was crippled by shell hits from the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco that jammed her rudder. Subjected to a daylight air attack from the USS Enterprise, she was scuttled on the evening of 13 November 1942.
Hiei Yokosuka 1914Hiei fitting out at Yokosuka, JapanHiei departs Yokosuka for Kure, Japan 1914Hiei March 18 1915Hiei Sasebo 1915Hiei Sasebo 1926Hiei Oshima 1927Hiei in 1930Hiei in 1930Kaga, Hiei, and Nagato during the annual naval review at Yokohama, Japan, 25 Aug 1933HieiHieiPostcard of HieiHiei (as a training ship) in August 1933Hiei 26 September 1935Hiei as demilitarizedHiei underway during the 1930sHiei October 25 1936Kaga, Hiei, Kasuga, and a Takao-class cruiser in harbor, 1937Hiei at Yokosuka after reconstructionHiei undergoing full power speed trials December 1940Hiei gunnery excercises 31 January 1940Hiei in drydock November 1941Hiei 11 July 1942Hiei 11 July 1942B-17s of the 11th Bombardment Group bomb the damaged Japanese battleship Hiei north of Savo Island on November 13, 1942View from the bridge of Mogami over the damaged bow during refueling from the tanker Nichiei Maru after the Battle of Midway.HieiHiei’s aircraft handling facilitiesImperial chamber of Battleship Hiei
Laid down on the 17th of March 1912 and launched on the 1st of December 1913, Kirishima was the third of the four-ship Kongō-class battlecruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Her three sisters were Kongō, Hiei and Haruna. Commissioned into the fleet on the 19th of April 1915, she saw no action during the First World War, although she undertook patrols off the Chinese coast.
In 1927 Kirishima underwent a reconstruction to transform her into a battleship. Additional armour was added and her speed increased. In 1934 a more extensive reconstruction was undertaken, with her superstructure completely rebuilt, aircraft facilities added and her machinery upgraded. She was redesignated a fast battleship and primarily used to escort Japan’s fast aircraft carriers.
During the Second World War, she provided support for the invasion of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and in the Indian Ocean raid of April 1942. During the Battle of Midway, she provided escort to Nagumo’s four carriers, before redeploying to the Solomon Islands during the Battle of Guadalcanal. She escorted Japanese carrier fleets during the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Islands, before sailing as part of a bombardment force under Admiral Nobutake Kondō during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
On the evening of 13 November 1942, Kirishima engaged American cruisers and destroyers alongside her sister ship Hiei. On the night of 14/15 November, in one of only two battleship duels of the Pacific War, Kirishima attacked and damaged the American battleship USS South Dakota before being fatally crippled in turn by the battleship USS Washington. Kirishima capsized and sank in the early morning on 15 November 1942 in Ironbottom Sound taking 212 of her crew with her.
Kirishima under constructionKirishima is launched from the Mitsubishi shipyard’s Ichi-pan-dai construction slip at Nagasaki, Japan on December 1, 1913Kirishima at Sasebo, 1915Kirishima 4 May 1922 back side of bridge and original tripod mastKirishima in 1925Kirishima June 1927Kirishima Jan 1931Kirishima near Beppu, Kyushu, Japan in mid-October 1932Kirishima’s E4N2 floatplane mid 1930sKirishima in the mid 1930sKirishima seen in the 1930sKirishima May 1937Kirishima seen in Sukumo Bay, Japan in 1937 Kirishima seen in Sukumo Bay, Japan in 1937Kirishima off Amoy, China, on 21 October 1938Kirishima Oct 21 1938Kirishima Oct 21 1938Kirishima midships section 1940Kirishima April 27 1939Kirishima and Akagi at Sukumo Bay 1939Kirishima Kure 1940
Commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy on the 28th of February 1911, Kurama was an Ibuki-class armoured cruiser. On 28 August 1912, the Ibukis were reclassified as battlecruisers.
Kurama attended the Coronation Fleet Review for King George V at Spithead on 25 June 1911. During the First World War, she protected British shipping in the South Pacific. She also supported the landings to occupy German-held Caroline Islands and Mariana Islands. In the 1920s, she was assigned to the northern fleet, covering the landings of Japanese troops in Russia during the Siberian Intervention in support of White Russian forces.
Kurama was scrapped on 20 September 1923 in accordance with the Washington Treaty.
Japanese battlecruiser Kurama on trials. Still considered an armoured cruiser at this time.Japanese battlecruiser KuramaJapanese battlecruiser KuramaJapanese battlecruiser KuramaJapanese battlecruiser Kurama at King George’s Coronation
