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Japanese cruiser Ashigara
Summary
Ashigara was the final vessel of the four-member of heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which were active in World War II. The other ships of the class were , , and . Ashigara was named after Mount Ashigara on the border of Kanagawa and Shizuoka Prefectures.
Ashigara was approved under the 1922 Fleet Modernization Program as one of the first heavy cruisers to be built by Japan within the design constraints imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty, and was one of the first of the "10,000 ton" cruisers built by any nation. Naval architect Vice admiral Yuzuru Hiraga was able to keep the design from becoming dangerously top-heavy in its early years by continually rejecting demands from the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff for additional equipment to the upper decks. However, during modifications and rebuildings in the 1930s, the final displacement rose to 15,933 tons, well over the treaty limits.
The Myōkō class displaced , with a hull design based on an enlarged version of the . Ashigara was long, with a beam of , draft of and were capable of .
Propulsion was by 12 Kampon boilers driving four sets of single-impulse geared turbine engines, with four shafts turning three-bladed propellers. The ship was armored with a 102 mm side belt, and 35 mm armored deck; however, the bridge was not armored.
Ashigara’s main battery was ten 20 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns, the heaviest armament of any heavy cruiser in the world at the time, mounted in five twin turrets. Her secondary armament included eight 12.7 cm/40 Type 89 naval guns in four twin mounts on each side, and 12 Type 93 Long Lance torpedoes in four triple launchers positioned below the aircraft deck. Ashigara was also equipped with an aircraft catapult and carried up to three floatplanes for scouting purposes.
Ashigara was laid down at the Kawasaki Shipyards in Kobe on 11 April 1925, launched and named on 22 April 1928, and was commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy on 20 August 1929.
Ashigara was repeatedly modernized and upgraded throughout her career in order to counter the growing threat of air strikes.
Official source
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