Mogami class cruiser
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Mogami class |
| Operators: |
 Imperial Japanese Navy
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| Preceded by: | Takao class |
| Succeeded by: | Tone class |
| Built: | 1931–1937 |
| In commission: | 1935–1944 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Lost: | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Heavy cruiser |
| Displacement: | 8,500 tons (standard load) 10,980 tons (full load) |
| Length: | 201.6 m (661 ft 5 in) |
| Beam: |
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| Draft: | 5.5 m (18 ft 1 in) |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: | 4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbines |
| Speed: | 37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph) |
| Range: | 8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Complement: | 850 |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 3 × Aichi E13A reconnaissance floatplanes |
The Mogami class (最上型?) were four cruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1930s. They were initially classified as light cruisers under the weight and armament restrictions of the London Naval Treaty. After Japan refused to comply any longer with that agreement, all four ships were rearmed with larger guns and were reclassified as heavy cruisers. All four fought in World War II and were sunk.
The Mogamis have been seen by naval architects as a design failure. The IJN's Naval staff insisted that each new class be superior to anything else in its category, yet designers strove to stay in compliance with treaty regulations. As a result, the initial construction of these ships was overly light; within their first few years of service, all four had to be reconstructed to remain seaworthy. They were also unstable seaboats due to excessive topweight and their welded seams cracked under the stress of firing their own main guns.
For the 1931 Fleet Replenishment Program, believing themselves understrength in cruisers, the IJN chose to build to the maximum allowed by the Washington Naval Treaty. This resulted in the choice of 155 mm (6.1 in) guns in five triple turrets (a first for Japan) in the Mogamis, also capable of 55° elevation, making the Mogamis one of the very few classes of cruiser to have a dual purpose (DP) main battery; this was coupled with very heavy anti-aircraft protection, as well as the standard reloadable, turreted torpedo launchers, also unique to the IJN.
To save weight and improve transverse stability, the class was given a more compact and lower superstructure, electric welding was used, as was aluminium in the superstructure. Aiming to meet the weight limits compelled them to fit only ten boilers (compared to twelve in the previous Takao and Myōkō classes), trunked into a single funnel stack (which also saved tophamper). The new geared impulse turbines added 22,000 shaft horsepower (16,000 kW) over Atago, increasing the top speed by 1.5 knots (2.8 km/h). Protection, however, was not stinted on; the class proved able to take substantial punishment.
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