Japanese cruiser Ashigara

Ashigara in drydock at Singapore, December 1942
History
Empire of Japan
Name:	Ashigara
Namesake:	Mount Ashigara
Ordered:	1924
Builder:	Kawasaki Shipyards, Kobe , Japan
Laid down:	11 April 1925
Launched:	22 April 1928
Commissioned:	20 August 1929
Fate:	Sunk by HMS Trenchant, 8 June 1945
General characteristics
Class and type:	Myōkō-class cruiser
Displacement:	13,000 long tons (13,000 t) (design) 14,743 long tons (14,980 t) (actual)
Length:	203.76 m (668 ft 6 in)
Beam:	19 m (62 ft 4 in) (as built) 20.73 m (68 ft 0 in) (final)
Draft:	5.9 m (19 ft 4 in) (as built) 6.37 m (20 ft 11 in) (final)
Propulsion:	4-shaft geared turbines 12 Kampon boilers 130,000 shp
Speed:	35.5 knots (40.9 mph; 65.7 km/h)(as built) 33 knots (38 mph; 61 km/h) (final)
Range:	7,000 nmi (13,000 km) at 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement:	920–970
Armament:	(as built) 10 × 203 mm (8.0 in) guns (5×2) 6 × Type 10 120 mm AA Guns 2 × 7.7 mm (0.30 in) machine guns 12 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes (final) 10 × 203 mm (8.0 in) guns (5×2) 8 × 12.7 cm/40 Type 89 naval guns 8 × Type 96 25mm AA guns 2 × quadruple 13 mm (0.51 in) machine guns 16 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried:	3
Aviation facilities:	1x aircraft catapult
Service record
Part of:	Imperial Japanese Navy
Operations:	Pacific War Battle of the Philippines (1941–42) Battle of the Java Sea (1942) Battle of Leyte Gulf (1944)

Ashigara (足柄^?) was the final vessel of the four-member Myōkō class of heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which were active in World War II. The other ships of the class were Nachi, Myōkō, and Haguro.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 13,500 t (13,300 long tons), with a hull design based on an enlarged version of the Aoba-class cruiser. Ashigara was 203.8 metres (669 ft) long, with a beam of 19.5 metres (64 ft), draft of 6.36 metres (20.9 ft) and were capable of 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph). 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.