IJN Hiei

IJN Hiei Story

As an archipelagic nation, Imperial Japan needed a large navy to carry out its leader's World War II plans (1939-1945). As a result, various types of ships were put into service, including transports, submarines, destroyers, cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers.

Part of the cruiser is the "battlecruiser", a type of ship designed to play a dominant role, retaining the speed of a cruiser and the firepower of a battleship, but lacking the armor protection of the latter.

Four battlecruisers make up the Kongo class of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), they are named Kongo, Hiei, Kirishima and Haruna. All products are based on original British designs, the first built in British waters by Vickers. The team was built from 1911 to 1915, and they served from 1913 until the end of World War II in 1945. The trio will be out of action until it's over.

In addition to serving in World War II, IJN Hiei was a veteran of World War I (1914-1918), and she was assigned to patrol Chinese waters.

Ordered by IJN Hiei in 1911 and commissioned on 4 November 1911 by the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal as the second of the four-man Kongo class. She was launched on November 21, 1912, and commissioned on August 4, 1914.

When complete, the IJN Hiei will have a displacement of 37,200 tons, a length of 728.3 feet, a beam of 101.7 feet and a draft of 31.9 feet. Her crew of 1,360 people was propelled by a steam turbine driving 4 shafts. The ship has a range of up to 10,000 nautical miles.

Armor protection ranges from 8 inches on the belt and 2.75 inches on the deck to 9 inches on the bulkhead and 9 inches on the turret. The conning tower is protected by 10" armor. When installed, the IJN Hiei's armament is led by 8 x 14"/45 cal main guns housed in four twin gun turrets.

This is supported by 16 x 6"/50 cal guns and 8 x 76 mm gun mounts. She carried 4 x 6.5 mm machine guns for close range defense work and 8 x 533 mm (21 in) torpedoes on her sides.

After being deployed in World War I, IJN Hiei served in rescue and salvage work following the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. She was subsequently threatened with dismantling and scrapping due to the restrictions on world naval power imposed by the Washington Naval Agreement. The treaty was designed to prevent another naval arms race similar to the one that began in World War I.

Rather than scrapping her precious warship, Japanese authorities ordered her to be converted into a gunnery instructor and then used as the emperor's personal transport in the mid-1930s. Before the end of the century, she underwent an overhaul during which her armament was slightly modified, including 20 x 25 mm Type 96 (AA) anti-aircraft guns spread over ten twin-gun turrets.

These cannons replaced the torpedo tubes that once made up their weapons. The move is in line with other naval powers, which recognize that protection from attacking fighters is now more important than torpedoing enemy warships.

Torpedoes will be the main armament of other ships such as destroyers, torpedo boats and submarines.

In addition to changing her weapons, her size has also been modified, permanently changing her silhouette. The original powerplant has been modernized to provide better power and performance, allowing the IJN Hiei to faster and better keep up with the emerging Japanese carrier force, which now leads the IJN naval force. In addition, catapults were added by design to provide facilities for launching seaplanes. These aircraft can be used for reconnaissance and artillery reconnaissance, and when armed, against targets of opportunity.

The aircraft will be recovered by an onboard crane.

Following her refit, IJN Hiei was part of a task force sent to destroy the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor and provided protection in the traveling convoy, which included six Japanese aircraft carriers with attack fighters aboard. The attack was only partially successful as the U.S. carrier force was at sea at the time.

This event prompted the United States to formally declare war on Imperial Japan.

The IJN Hiei served until 1942 and was involved in Japanese expansion and strongholds throughout the Pacific. This eventually led to her participation in the Battle of Midway (June 1942), where she survived, and then the Battle of Guadalcanal (from August 1942 to February 1943, as part of the Battle of Solomon) . Here, she threatens her fate at the hands of the Americans when a U.S. Navy warship finally paralyzes her. American fighter jets (Army and Navy) then bombed and torpedoed her, causing her to sink on November 14, 1942.

Her crew of 188 were missing, while the rest were rescued by the accompanying destroyer.

Specification

Basic

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Performance

Performance

Armor

Wing