Japanese Battlecruiser Kongo Country: Japan Type: Battlecruiser Service: 1913 - 1944 Ordered: 1911 Laid down: 17 January 1911 Launched: 18 May 1912 Commissioned: 16 August 1913 Struck: 20 January 1945 Fate: Sunk 21 November 1944

The four Kongo class battlecruisers were designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy by the British designer Sir George Thurston and the first ship, Kongo, was built in Britain by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness in 1913. She was the last Japanese warship to be built outside Japan and provided the Japanese with a construction template.

The Kongo class design was based on the design of HMS Lion. This was the first Japanese warship class to have 14-inch (356 mm) guns, mounted in four twin turrets. Inter-war modernization reduced the number of boilers, and added protection in the form of armour and bulges, so the Japanese re-classified them as fast battleships. However, despite the upgrades, they were considered lightly armored and armed compared to their World War II contemporaries.

Kongo was the first super-dreadnought type battlecruiser in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the name-ship of her class. She was upgraded to a battleship rating in the 1930s and served in several major naval operations during World War II before being sunk 21 November 1944 in the Formosa Strait.