Japanese cruiser Furutaka

Heavy cruiser Furutaka in 1926
History
Empire of Japan
Name:	Furutaka
Namesake:	Mount Furutaka, located on Etajima, Hiroshima, immediately behind the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy
Ordered:	1923 Fiscal Year
Builder:	Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki
Laid down:	5 December 1922
Launched:	25 February 1925
Commissioned:	31 March 1926
Struck:	20 December 1944
Fate:	sunk 12 October 1942 by USS Salt Lake City and Duncan at the Battle of Cape Esperance 02°28′S 152°11′E / 2.467°S 152.183°E / -2.467; 152.183
General characteristics
Class and type:	Furutaka-class heavy cruiser
Displacement:	7,950 long tons (8,080 t) (standard) 9,150 long tons (9,300 t) (after modification)
Length:	176.8 m (580 ft 0.6 in)
Beam:	15.8 m (51 ft 10.0 in)
Draft:	5.6 m (18 ft 4.5 in)
Installed power:	102,000 shp (76,100 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × Parsons geared turbines 12 × Kampon boilers 4 × shafts
Speed:	34.5 kn (63.9 km/h; 39.7 mph)
Range:	7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement:	616
Armament:	As built: 6 × 201 mm (8 in)/50 cal guns (6x1) 4 × 79 mm (3 in)/40 cal guns (4x1) 12 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes (6x2) Final: 6 × 203 mm (8 in)/50 cal guns (3x2) 4 × 119 mm (5 in)/45 cal guns (4x1) 8 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes (2x4)
Armor:	Belt: 76 mm (3.0 in) Deck: 36 mm (1.4 in)
Aircraft carried:	1 × Nakajima E4N2 floatplane (2 x Kawanishi E7K2s from 1936)
Aviation facilities:	1 × catapult (from 1933)

Furutaka (古鷹 重巡洋艦, Furutaka jūjun'yōkan^?) was the lead ship in the two-vessel Furutaka-class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship was named after Mount Furutaka, located on Etajima, Hiroshima immediately behind the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy. It was commissioned in 1926 and was sunk 12 October 1942 by USS Salt Lake City and Duncan at the Battle of Cape Esperance.

Furutaka and her sister ship Kako were the first generation of high speed heavy cruisers in the Japanese navy, intended to counter the American Omaha and British Hawkins-class scout cruisers. They developed the experimental design pioneered in the cruiser Yūbari. Although there were attempts to minimise weight and protection was only designed to be proof against 6 inch shells, the displacement was seriously overweight.

The two ships were "scout cruisers", designed with aircraft facilities. The lack of catapults, however, necessitated launches from water until a major refit in 1932/3.

Furutaka was initially assigned to Cruiser Division 5 where she remained until reduced to reserve in December 1931. Furutaka underwent a series of significant refits in the 1930s. She was reconstructed and modernized at Kure Naval Base in 1932-33, receiving anti-aircraft guns upgraded to 4.7 inch, aircraft catapult and an E4N2 floatplane. She was recommissioned into Cruiser Division 6.