@dainippon_teikoku_kaigun: "Imperial Japanese Navy Battleship Hiei undergoing sea trials off Tsukugewan after a refit, 5 December 1939." No longer bound by the restrictions of the Washington and London Treaties, the Imperial Japanese Navy proceeded to reconstruct Hiei along the same lines as her sisters. Her superstructure was rebuilt as a prototype of the tower-mast that would eventually be used on the Yamato class, then still in the design phase, upgraded her powerplant, and equipped her with launch catapults for floatplanes. Now fast enough to accompany Japan's growing fleet of aircraft carriers, she was reclassified as a fast battleship. On the eve of the US entry into World War II, she sailed as part of Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's Combined Fleet, escorting the six carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. As part of the Third Battleship Division, Hiei participated in many of the Imperial Japanese Navy's early actions in 1942, providing support for the invasion of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) as well as the Indian Ocean raid of April 1942. During the Battle of Midway, she sailed in the Invasion Force under Admiral Nobutake Kondō, before being redeployed to the Solomon Islands during the Battle of Guadalcanal. She escorted Japanese carrier forces during the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Islands, before sailing as part of a bombardment force under Admiral Kondō during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. In the early hours of 13 November 1942, Hiei engaged American cruisers and destroyers alongside her sister ship Kirishima. After helping to sink the light cruiser USS Atlanta and the destroyer USS Monssen, damage numerous other warships, and help to kill two admirals, Hiei was crippled by shell hits from the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco that jammed her rudder. Subjected to a daylight air attack from Henderson Field and the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, she was scuttled on the evening of 13 November 1942. #imperialjapanesenavy #ijn #kaigun #battleship #battlecruiser

Imperial Japanese Navy 大日本帝國海軍

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Tuesday 04 November 2025 08:58:41 GMT