was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during :World War I and :World War II. Designed by the British naval engineer George Thurston, she was the fourth and last battlecruiser of the , amongst the most heavily armed ships of their type in any navy when built. Laid down in 1912 at the Kawasaki Shipyards in Kobe, Haruna was formally commissioned in 1915 on the same day as her sister ship, .
Haruna patrolled off the Chinese coast during World War I. During gunnery drills in 1920, an explosion destroyed one of her guns, damaged the gun turret, and killed seven men. During her career, Haruna underwent two major reconstructions. Beginning in 1926, the Imperial Japanese Navy rebuilt her as a battleship, strengthening her armor and improving her speed and power capabilities. In 1933, her superstructure was completely rebuilt, her speed was increased, and she was equipped with launch catapults for floatplanes. Now fast enough to accompany Japan's growing carrier fleet, Haruna was reclassified as a fast battleship. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Haruna transported Imperial Japanese Army troops to mainland China before being redeployed to the 3rd Battleship Division in 1941. On the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she sailed as part of the Southern Force in preparation for the Battle of Singapore.
Haruna fought in almost every major naval action of the Pacific Theater during World War II. She covered the Japanese landings in Malaya (in present-day Malaysia), the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), and the Indian Ocean raid in 1942. She then engaged American forces, first at the Battle of Midway where she repelled several torpedo bombers, and during the Guadalcanal campaign when she bombarded Henderson Field. Throughout 1943, Haruna primarily remained at Truk Lagoon (Micronesia), Kure Naval Base (near Hiroshima), Sasebo Naval Base (near Nagasaki), and the Lingga Islands (in present-day Indonesia), and deployed on several occasions in response to American carrier airstrikes on Japanese island bases. Haruna participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944, engaging American vessels in the latter.
In 1945, Haruna was transferred to Kure Naval Base, where she was sunk by aircraft of Task Force 38 on 28 July 1945.
Design and construction
Haruna was the fourth and last of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Kongō-class battlecruisers, a line of capital ships designed by the British naval engineer George Thurston. The class was ordered in 1910 in the Japanese Emergency Naval Expansion Bill after the commissioning of in 1908. The four battlecruisers of the Kongō class were designed to match the naval capabilities of the other major powers at the time; they have been called the battlecruiser versions of the British (formerly Turkish) battleship .Jackson (2008), p. 27.Gardiner and Gray (1980), p. 234. Their heavy armament and armor protection (which contributed 23.3 percent of their displacement) were greatly superior to those of any other Japanese capital ship afloat at the time.
The keel of Haruna was laid down at Kobe by Kawasaki on 16 March 1912, with most of the parts used in her construction manufactured in Japan. Due to a shortage of available slipways, Haruna and her sister ship were the first two capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy to be built in private shipyards. Launched on 14 December 1913, Harunas fitting-out began in early 1914. She was completed on 19 April 1915.
Armament
Harunas main battery consisted of eight heavy-caliber main guns in four twin turrets (two forward, two aft). The turrets were noted by the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence to be "similar to the British 15-inch turrets", with improvements made in flash-tightness. Each of her main guns could fire high-explosive or armor-piercing shells a maximum of at a firing rate of two shells per minute. In keeping with the Japanese doctrine of deploying more powerful vessels before their opponents, Haruna and her sister ships were the first vessels in the world equipped with guns.Jackson (2000), p. 48. The main guns carried ammunition for 90 salvoes, and had an approximate barrel life of 250 to 280 rounds. In 1941, separate dyes (used to distinguish between shells fired from multiple ships) were introduced for the armor-piercing shells of the four Kongō-class battleships, with Harunas armor-piercing shells using black dye.
Her secondary battery was originally sixteen 50-caliber medium guns in single casemates (all located amidships), eight guns and eight submerged torpedo tubes. The six-inch guns could fire five to six rounds per minute, with a barrel life of 500 rounds. The 6"/50 caliber gun was capable of firing both anti-aircraft and anti-ship shells, though the positioning of the guns on Haruna made antiaircraft firing impractical. During her second reconstruction, the older 3-inch guns were removed and replaced with eight dual-purpose guns. These 5"/40 caliber guns could fire between 8 and 14 rounds per minute, with a barrel life of 800 to 1,500 rounds. The 5"/40 had the widest variety of shot types of Harunas guns, being designed to fire antiaircraft, antiship, and illumination shells. She was also armed with a large number of antiaircraft machine guns. In 1943, her secondary armament was reconfigured to eight guns, twelve guns, and finally by the end of 1944 one hundred and eight Type 96 antiaircraft autocannon in 30 triple and 18 single mounts.Stille, p. 16.
Operational history
1915–1926: Battlecruiser On 19 April 1915, Haruna was formally commissioned at Kobe. On 13 December 1915, after eight months of trials, she was assigned to the 3rd Battleship Division of the 2nd Fleet. On 9 April 1916, she departed Sasebo Naval Base for operations in the East China Sea, returning to Japan 10 days later. On 1 December 1916, Captain Saburo Hyakutake assumed command of Haruna until 15 September 1917, when Captain Naomi Taniguchi replaced him. On 1 December 1917, she was placed in reserve, as hostilities in the Pacific theatre of World War I concluded.
On 12 September 1920, Haruna was involved in gunnery drills off Hokkaidō when a breech explosion destroyed the starboard gun of the No. 1 turret, killing seven men and badly damaging the armored roof of the turret. A later investigation by the Imperial Japanese Navy concluded that a faulty fuse ignited the gunpowder bags in the breech, detonating the shell while still in the barrel. The turret was repaired at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, where the elevation of her 14-inch guns was also increased by seven degrees. Three months later, she was once again placed in reserve.
With the conclusion of World War I and the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, the size of the Imperial Japanese Navy was significantly lessened, with a ratio of 5:5:3 required between the capital ships of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan.Jackson (2000), p. 67. The treaty also banned Japan from building any new capital ships until 1931, with no capital ship permitted to exceed .Jackson (2000), p. 68. Provided that new additions did not exceed , existing capital ships were allowed to be upgraded with improved anti-torpedo bulges and deck armor. By the time the Washington Treaty had been fully implemented in Japan, only three classes of World War I-era capital ships remained active: the s, the Kongō-class battlecruisers, and one of the s ().Jackson (2000), p. 69.
1926–1933: Reconstruction into battleship
Unable to construct new capital ships until 1931, Japan resorted to upgrading battleships and battlecruisers. In July 1926, Haruna became the first of Japan's vessels to undergo extensive modernization and modification, in drydock at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal. Over the next two years, her horizontal armor near her ammunition magazines was strengthened, and the machinery spaces within the hull were increased. Anti-torpedo bulges were added along the waterline, as permitted by the Washington Treaty. She was refitted to accommodate three Type 90 Model 0 floatplanes. To increase her speed and power capacities, all 36 Yarrow boilers were removed and replaced with 16 newer boilers, and Brown-Curtis direct-drive turbines were installed. Harunas forward funnel was removed, and her second funnel was enlarged and lengthened. The modifications to her hull increased her armor weight from 6,502 to 10,313 long tons, directly violating the terms of the Washington Treaty. In July 1928, Haruna was reclassified as a battleship.
Following new sea trials, Haruna was assigned on 10 December 1928 to the 4th Battleship Division of the 2nd Fleet as the Emperor's special ship.The Emperor's Special Ship was designated as his official means of naval transport throughout the Japanese Empire. For the next 12 months, she operated between Sasebo, Port Arthur, and the East China Sea. On 1 February 1929, Prince Takamatsu, the younger brother of Emperor Hirohito, was assigned to the crew. On 20 November 1929, she was reassigned to the 1st Battleship Division. She was placed in reserve on 1 December 1930.
On 22 April 1930, Japan signed the London Naval Treaty, placing further restrictions on its maritime forces. In addition to the scrapping of several older battleships, Japan would not be permitted to construct new capital ships until 1937.Jackson (2000), p. 72. After minor fitting-out work, her reconstruction begun in 1926 was declared complete on 1 October 1931. On 8 November 1931, she served as the Emperor's ship during his official visit to Kumamoto prefecture.
In September 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria. On 25 February 1933, based on the report by the Lytton Commission, the League of Nations agreed that Japan's invasion had violated Chinese sovereignty. Refusing to accept the organization's judgment, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations the same day. By the end of 1934, Japan would also announce that it would withdraw from the Washington and London Naval Treaties, thus removing all restrictions on the number and size of its capital ships.Willmott (2002), p. 35.
1933–1941: Fast battleship Haruna was reactivated and assigned to the 1st Battleship Division on 20 May 1933. However, on 1 August 1933, Haruna was drydocked at Kure Naval Arsenal in preparation for upgrades that would enable her to escort Japan's growing fleet of aircraft carriers. Her stern was lengthened by , and her bridge was completely reconstructed according to Japan's pagoda mast style of forward superstructure. Her 16 older boilers were removed and replaced with 11 oil-fired Kampon Boilers and newer geared turbines. Catapults and rails were added to support three Nakajima E8N or Kawanishi E7K reconnaissance and spotter floatplanes.Stille, p. 18.
Harunas armor was also extensively upgraded. Her main belt was strengthened to a uniform thickness of 8 inches (up from varying thicknesses of 6 to 8 inches), while diagonal bulkheads of depths ranging from now reinforced the main armored belt.McCurtie, p. 185. The turret armor was strengthened to , while were added to portions of the deck armor. Her ammunition magazine protection was also strengthened to . The reconstruction was finished on 30 September 1934. Capable of more than despite the significant increase in hull displacement, Haruna was now reclassified as a fast battleship.