70004 IJN BATTLECRUISER KIRISHIMA 1915

Kirishima was a Japanese battlecruiser, the keel of which was laid in 1912, launched in December 1913, and commissioned in the Imperial Japanese Navy in April 1915. The total length of the ship was 223 meters, width 29.3 meters, and a full displacement of 38,200 tons. The maximum speed of the line cruiser Kirishima was around 30-31 knots. The main armament at the time of the launch was 8 356 mm guns in four turrets, two guns each, and the secondary armament was mainly 14 152 mm guns. Kirishima was the third of four Congo-class battleships. The vessel, the second in the series, was built at the Japanese shipyard in Nagasaki. In the interwar period, Kirishima underwent three modernizations, in the years 1927-1930, 1932-1933 and 1934-1936. They were aimed at: significantly improving the armor of the ship (especially in critical points, such as the engine room), rebuilding the front superstructure, which took the shape of a Japanese pagoda, and increasing the power and modernizing the engine room. The combat career of Kirishima in World War II began with the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 1941), during which she was part of the forces protecting Japanese aircraft carriers. In April 1942, he also took part in the famous Japanese raid on the Indian Ocean, and later - in June this year - took part in the Battle of Midway. Kirishima was sunk on November 15, 1942 during the Battle of Guadalcanal.