Kii-class battleship
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Kii class |
| Operators: |
 Imperial Japanese Navy
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| Preceded by: | Tosa class |
| Succeeded by: | Number 13 class |
| Planned: | 4 |
| Cancelled: | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Fast battleship |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 250 m (820 ft 3 in) |
| Beam: | 30.8 m (101 ft 1 in) |
| Draft: | 9.7 m (31 ft 10 in) |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 29.75 knots (55.10 km/h; 34.24 mph) |
| Range: | 8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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The Kii-class battleship was a planned class of four fast battleships to be built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1920s. Only two of the ships received names. They were intended to reinforce Japan's "eight-eight fleet" of eight battleships and eight battlecruisers after the United States announced a major naval construction program in 1919. However, after the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922, work on the ships was suspended; one pair was cancelled in November 1923 and the other in April 1924.
By 1918, the Navy had gained approval for an "eight-six" fleet of eight battleships and six battlecruisers, all ships under eight years old. However, having four large battleships (two each of the Nagato and Tosa classes) and four Amagi-class battlecruisers on order put an enormous financial strain on Japan, which was spending about a third of its national budget on the Navy. Despite this, the IJN gained approval of the "eight-eight-eight" plan in 1920 after American President Woodrow Wilson announced plans in 1919 to re-initiate the 1916 plan for ten additional battleships and six battlecruisers. The Japanese response was to plan the construction of eight additional fast battleships in the Kii and the Number 13 classes.
Designed by Captain Yuzuru Hiraga, the Kii class was based largely on the preceding Amagi-class battlecruisers, which were in turn based on a less-armored Tosa-class design. The only major difference between the Kiis and Amagis was their speed and armor—the Amagis were faster, and the Kiis had a thicker belt. Despite this lineage, the Kiis were classified as "fast battleships" by the Japanese, as they had decided to end the distinction between "battleship" and "battlecruiser."
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