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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Photo # NH 73076:  Japanese battleship Kirishima in Sukumo Bay, Japan, 1937

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- JAPANESE NAVY SHIPS --

Kirishima (Battlecruiser and Battleship, 1915-1942)

Kirishima, a 26,230 ton Kongo class battlecruiser built at Nagasaki, Japan, was completed in April 1915. After more than a decade of service, she was modernized at Kure between 1927 and 1930 and reclassified as a battleship. Again reconstructed in 1935-36, with her hull lengthened and more powerful machinery installed, Kirishima emerged as a modern-appearing 32,156 ton capital ship, quite fast though comparatively lightly armed and armored.

Her high speed ensured that Kirishima would play an active role in the first year of the Pacific War. She accompanied the Japanese aircraft carriers during their 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and was active during the offensive in the East Indies in early 1942. In March and April, she was part of the powerful force that raided the British in the Indian Ocean. During the Solomons Campaign later in 1942, Kirishima was present during the carrier battles of the Eastern Solomons in August and the Santa Cruz Islands in October. She received minor damage in the night surface action off Guadalcanal on 13 November. Two nights later, serving as flagship of another Japanese surface force, she was engaged by the U.S. battleship Washington (BB-56). Disabled in this encounter, Kirishima was scuttled a few miles west of Savo Island. Her wreck was discovered and examined in August 1992, resting upside down with its forward end blown off some 4000 feet below the surface.

This page features all our images of the Japanese battleship Kirishima.

If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

We have no images of Kirishima in her 1915-27 configuration. The following photographs show Kirishima as she appeared following the modernization completed in 1930:

Photo #: NH 44616

Kirishima

(Japanese Battleship, 1915-1942)

Photographed in about 1930, following her first major reconstruction.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 585 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 90772

Kirishima

(Japanese Battleship, 1915-1942)

Photographed in 1932, with an aircraft embarked.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 41KB; 740 x 315 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 44615

Kirishima

(Japanese Battleship, 1915-1942)

Photographed circa 1930, soon after her first major reconstruction.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 50KB; 740 x 330 pixels

 


The following photographs show Kirishima after her 1935-36 modernization, essentially as she looked during World War II:

Photo #: NH 73076

Kirishima

(Japanese Battleship, 1915-1942)

In Sukumo Bay, southern Shikoku, Japan, 1937.

Courtesy of Mr. Kazutoshi Hando, 1970.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 111KB; 740 x 575 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 50904

Kirishima

(Japanese Battleship, 1915-1942)

Anchored off Amoy, China, 21 October 1938.
Photographed from USS Pillsbury (DD-227).
The battleship Ise is in the distance, beyond Kirishima's bow.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 470 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 50903

Kirishima

(Japanese Battleship, 1915-1942)

Off Amoy, China, on 21 October 1938.
Photographed from USS Pillsbury (DD-227).
Note: Crew on deck; Flared funnel tops; Kawanishi E17K and Nakajima E8N floatplanes on the aircraft deck.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 460 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 44614

Kirishima

(Japanese Battleship, 1915-1942)

Photographed off Amoy, China, 21 October 1938.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 39KB; 740 x 285 pixels

 

If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 5 April 2000
Coding updated 12 January 2002