Aoba class cruisers (1926)

Japan, 1926. Heavy Cruisers Aoba, Kinugasa Cruiser Aoba 1930s

The Improved Furutaka

The two heavy cruisers of the Aoba class followed the Furutaka a year apart, so that their development did not take into account the defects of the two previous ships. They had from the start three double turrets and AA parts of 120 mm. On the other hand their tubes were always in six groups of two on the flanks. A first modification intervenes in 1932: They received 8 machine guns of 13.2 mm in reinforcement. In 1938-40, their fixed tubes were replaced by two quadruple rotating benches on the deck, while they were equipped with lateral ballasts. Their DCA was reinforced with 25mm guns and another four heavy machine guns, bringing the total to 12.


Aoba ONI US Navy archives recoignition plate


Aoba on trials in 1927

Career

In operations, the two ships were all fights. Particularly active in the Solomon Islands, they participated in the "massacre" of the Savo Island, the night of August 8, 1942. The Kinugasa was sunk by a plane embarked on November 14, 1942 during the second battle of Guadalcanal, while the Aoba survived long enough to see his armament increase to 15 pieces AA 25 mm, then 42 two months later, in May-June 1944. He was also added a radar, while he lost one of his two banks of tubes launches -torpilles. He was at the Battle of the Coral Sea, at the first battle of Guadalcanal, at the second, and was finally wiped out by the raids of the 3rd US Air Fleet at the Kure Naval Base on July 25, 1945.


Aoba sunk at Kure, 1945


Aoba off Buin, Bougainville, October, 13 1942 Battle of Cape Esperance

Specifications
Displacement 7100 t. standard; 8760 t. Fully loaded
Dimensions 183,58 m x 15,83 m x 5,71 m
Propulsion 4 propellers, 4 turbines, 12 boilers, 102 000 hp, 34,5 knots
Armor: 25 to 76 mm
Armament: 6 x 203 (3×2), 4 x 120, 8 x 25 AA, 4 x 13.2 mm AA, 12 x 610 mm TTs (6×2), 1 plane
Crew 625


Cruiser Aoba in 1933, 2 views Author's illustration


Cruiser Aoba in 1941, after refit - HD 1/200 Author's illustration

Sources/Read More
http://www.fr.naval-encyclopedia.com/2e-guerre-mondiale/nihhon-kaigun.php#crois
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aoba-class_cruiser
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Aoba
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Kinugasa
Conway's all the worlds fighting ships 1921-1946

Naval History