The were two battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

s (Nagato

Japanese battleship Nagato

Nagato was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy; the lead ship of her class. She was the first battleship in the world to mount 16 inch guns, her armour protection and speed made her one of the most powerful capital ships at the time of her commissioning.She was the flagship of Admiral...

 and Mutsu

Japanese battleship Mutsu

thumb|right|300px|Mutsu shortly after commissioning in c. 1922Mutsu , named after Mutsu Province, as per Japanese ship naming conventions, was the Imperial Japanese Navy's second Nagato class battleship...

) of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

. The name Nagato comes from the Nagato province

Nagato Province

, often called , was a province of Japan. It was at the extreme western end of Honshū, in the area that is today Yamaguchi Prefecture. Nagato bordered on Iwami and Suō Provinces....

. They were the first battleships to be built entirely in Japan. They were the first battleships in the world to mount 16 inch (410 mm) guns and were considered as the Japanese navy equivalents of the British Navy’s 'Queen Elizabeth'

Queen Elizabeth class battleship

The Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were a class of five super-dreadnoughts of the Royal Navy. The lead ship was named after Elizabeth I of England...

 class battleships. At the time of their completion in 1920–21, their armament, armor, and speed made them the most powerful capital ships in the world.

The ships were extensively modified in the 1920s and 1930s after the Washington Naval Treaty

Washington Naval Treaty

The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...

 of 1922 limited the battleship tonnage of the Japanese (and other) navies and allowed no new construction for several years. As a result of the treaty, they were the last battleships built by Japan until the Yamato class battleship

Yamato class battleship

The were battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy constructed and operated during World War II. Displacing at full load, the vessels were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed. The class carried the largest naval artillery ever fitted to a warship, nine naval...

s of the late 1930s.

It was not until 1937 that the US Navy became aware that their actual speed was considerably higher than the 23 knots they had previously assumed, which resulted in a redesign of the 'South Dakota'

South Dakota class battleship (1939)

The South Dakota-class was a group of four fast battleships built by the United States Navy. They were the second class of battleships to be named after the 40th State; the first class was designed in the 1920s and canceled under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. The class comprised four...

 battleship class to provide them with a higher speed.

Overview

Authorised in 1917, and allocated the design number A-102, the class was designed by Captain Yuzuru Hiraga

Yuzuru Hiraga

- External links :...

. The design was completed in the spring of 1916. The Nagato class was based on the hull design of the Ise-class

Ise class battleship

Originally intended as sister ships of the preceding Fusō class, the of the Imperial Japanese Navy were considered sufficiently different to warrant separate classification....

 with a main armament of eight 16-inch guns instead of twelve 14-inch while retaining a similar broadside weight.

Armament

The decision in favour of 16-inch guns was made by the Naval Minister Admiral Tomosaburo Kato. The 16-inch guns had an actual bore diameter of 16.14-inch (41 cm) and were originally designated as 41 cm/45 3rd Year Type. In March 1922 they were redesignated as 40 cm/45 3rd Year Type. The guns were designed for use in not only the Nagato class but also the later cancelled Kaga, Amagi and Kii classes of the early 1920s.http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNJAP_161-45_3ns.htm. Retrieved 22 April 2010The main armament was located in four twin superimposed turrets aligned along the centreline. In general arrangement and in most details, the turrets were similar to the British 15-inch turrets, but with a number of improvements including better flash tightness in the turrets. They also featured longitudinal flash-tight bulkheads between the guns, and between the gun loading hoists in the area where shells and charges were transferred from lower to upper hoists. The principal secondary armament of twenty 5.5 inch (140 mm) guns was located in casemates along the side. They also had eight 533 mm torpedo tubes, four of which were underwater.

Mast

The Nagato class was equipped with the heptapodal (7-legged) mast, unique to Japanese ships, designed to maximize rigidity for range finding purposes and survivability under shellfire. These masts consisted of one thick vertical leg in the centre with two legs which sloped forward, two sloping backwards and one to either side. The central vertical leg was large enough to accommodate an electric lift running between the foretop and main deck.Gardiner, Gray & Budzbon. Page 231.

Armor

The armour arrangement resembled the American "All or Nothing" where the construction was designed to ensure the vital components of the ship were surrounded by thick armour while non-vital parts of the ship were unprotected. Previous Japanese practice was not to use side armour above the main armour belt. Compared with American "All or Nothing" practice the Nagato class included considerable armour on the lower deck, which in American practice was only a light splinter deck. The upper end of the torpedo bulkhead was sloped upwards to meet the downward sloping armour deck, to completely enclose the vital components. This armour design was later incorporated into all future Japanese capital ships. Another unusual feature was an upper armoured deck over the lower secondary armament.

Reconstruction

From 1934 to 1936, both Nagato-class ships were reconstructed to be similar to the Fuso and Ise classes. The stern was extended to a length of 737 feet, anti-torpedo bulges increased their beam from 95 to 113 feet and 6 inches, a triple bottom was installed, two 5.5 inch guns and the 3 inch anti-aircraft guns replaced with four twin 5-inch anti-air turrets and ten twin 25mm mounts, and 21 mixing boilers were replaced with 10 oil-fired boilers

Nagato

At the outbreak of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Nagato was under the command of Captain

Captain (naval)

Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....

 Yano Hideo. She and her sister ship Mutsu

Japanese battleship Mutsu

thumb|right|300px|Mutsu shortly after commissioning in c. 1922Mutsu , named after Mutsu Province, as per Japanese ship naming conventions, was the Imperial Japanese Navy's second Nagato class battleship...

 formed Battle Division 1. Nagato was also the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. On 2 December 1941 Nagato sent the signal Niitakayama nobore 1208 "Climb Mount Niitaka

Jade Mountain

Yushan in Taiwan is the highest mountain in East Asia and the fourth highest mountain on an island. In the past, Yushan was known among English-speaking expats and missionaries as Mt. Morrison, thought to have been named in honor of the 19th century missionary Robert Morrison...

 on 12/08 (Japanese Time)". That message committed the Carrier Strike Force to the attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

 and Japan to the Pacific War

Pacific War

The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

. Nagato's second assignment was to the Japanese Battleship Division 1 of the First Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral

Rear Admiral

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

 Gihachi Takayanagi. There, along with Mutsu and Yamato, she was present at the Battle of Midway

Battle of Midway

The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...

. She did not see any action there, but helped return survivors of the Kaga

Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga

Kaga was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , named after the former Kaga Province in present-day Ishikawa Prefecture...

, a carrier which had been fatally damaged by SBD Dauntless

SBD Dauntless

The Douglas SBD Dauntless was a naval dive bomber made by Douglas during World War II. The SBD was the United States Navy's main dive bomber from mid-1940 until late 1943, when it was largely replaced by the SB2C Helldiver...

 dive bomber

Dive bomber

A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...

s from USS Enterprise

USS Enterprise (CV-6)

USS Enterprise , colloquially referred to as the "Big E," was the sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy and the seventh U.S. Navy ship to bear the name. Launched in 1936, she was a ship of the Yorktown class, and one of only three American carriers commissioned prior to World War II to...

, to Japan. After that, Nagato was stationed at Truk and Lingga. Nagato participated in both Operation A-Go, an attack on Allied forces in the Mariana Islands

Mariana Islands

The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...

 and in the Battle of the Philippine Sea

Battle of the Philippine Sea

The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a decisive naval battle of World War II which effectively eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War...

, where she came under air attack but was not damaged. In October 1944, Nagato took part in Operation Shō-1, an attack on the Allied landings on Leyte

Battle of Leyte Gulf

The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the "Battles for Leyte Gulf", and formerly known as the "Second Battle of the Philippine Sea", is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.It was fought in waters...

. In the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea Nagato was attacked by several waves of American dive-bombers, which disabled a number of guns, damaged the air intake to the No. 1 boiler room, killed 52 and wounded 106. On 25 October the Central Force (including battleships Yamato

Japanese battleship Yamato

, named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was the lead ship of the Yamato class of battleships that served with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing...

, Nagato, Kongō

Japanese battleship Kongo

Kongō was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I and World War II. She was the first battlecruiser of the Kongō class, among the most heavily armed ships in any navy when built. Her designer was the British naval engineer George Thurston, and she was laid down in 1911 at...

, and Haruna

Japanese battleship Haruna

, named after Mount Haruna, was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during :World War I and :World War II. Designed by the British naval engineer George Thurston, she was the fourth and last battlecruiser of the , among the most heavily armed ships in any navy when built...

) passed the San Bernardino Strait

San Bernardino Strait

The San Bernardino Strait is a strait in the Philippines. It separates the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon island from the island of Samar in the south.-Filipinos and San Bernardino Strait:...

 and headed for Leyte Gulf

Leyte Gulf

Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...

. In the battle off Samar

Battle off Samar

The Battle off Samar was the centermost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar Island, in the Philippines on 25 October 1944...

, Nagato engaged the escort carriers and destroyers of the US Task Group 77.4.3. Early in the engagement, she opened fire on St. Lo

USS St. Lo (CVE-63)

USS St. Lo was a of the United States Navy during World War II. On 25 October 1944, St. Lo became the first major warship to sink as the result of a kamikaze attack. The attack occurred during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.St...

, the first time she fired her guns at an enemy ship, but missed. At 06:54 the destroyer Heermann

USS Heermann (DD-532)

USS Heermann was a World War II-era Fletcher-class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy, named after Fleet Surgeon Lewis Heermann ....

 fired a spread of torpedo

Torpedo

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

es at Haruna

Japanese battleship Haruna

, named after Mount Haruna, was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during :World War I and :World War II. Designed by the British naval engineer George Thurston, she was the fourth and last battlecruiser of the , among the most heavily armed ships in any navy when built...

, but the torpedoes missed Haruna and headed for Yamato and Nagato on parallel courses. The two battleships were forced to turn away from the action to the north for 10 miles (16 km) until the torpedoes ran out of fuel. She was the only Japanese battleship to survive World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and was expended in the US Operation Crossroads

Operation Crossroads

Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. It was the first test of a nuclear weapon after the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945...

 atomic bomb tests in 1946. A life-size replica of her was made for the film Tora! Tora! Tora!

Tora! Tora! Tora!

is a 1970 American-Japanese war film that dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, to the extent these facts were known at the time of production. The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and stars an all-star cast, including So Yamamura, E.G...

.

Mutsu

The Mutsu, commissioned into the Japanese Battle Division 1, was also in Isoroku Yamamoto

Isoroku Yamamoto

was a Japanese Naval Marshal General and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II, a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy and a student of Harvard University ....

's Main Body during the Battle of Midway. She was sunk by an internal explosion on June 8, 1943, which was ruled by the Japanese Government as "human interference".

Ships of the class

Name	Laid Down	Commissioned	Fate
Nagato Japanese battleship Nagato Nagato was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy; the lead ship of her class. She was the first battleship in the world to mount 16 inch guns, her armour protection and speed made her one of the most powerful capital ships at the time of her commissioning.She was the flagship of Admiral... (長門)	August 28, 1917	November 15, 1920	Sunk during the second Operation Crossroads Operation Crossroads Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. It was the first test of a nuclear weapon after the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945...  "Baker", Bikini atoll nuclear test, 25 July 1946
Mutsu Japanese battleship Mutsu thumb|right|300px|Mutsu shortly after commissioning in c. 1922Mutsu , named after Mutsu Province, as per Japanese ship naming conventions, was the Imperial Japanese Navy's second Nagato class battleship... (陸奥)	June 1, 1918	October 24, 1921	Sunk by internal explosion, June 8, 1943

External links