Kongō.Kongō on sea trials, off the coast of Tateyama, 14 November 1936HistoryEmpire of JapanName KongōNamesake Mount KongōOrdered 1911Builder Vickers Shipbuilding Company, Barrow-in-FurnessLaid down 17 January 1911Launched 18 May 1912Commissioned 16 August 1913Stricken 20 January 1945Fate Sunk in the Formosa Strait, 21 November 1944 (26°09′N 121°23′E)General characteristicsClass & type Kongō-class battlecruiserDisplacement 36,600 long tons (37,187 t)[1]Length 222 m (728 ft 4 in)[1]Beam 31 m (101 ft 8 in)[1]Draught 9.7 m (31 ft 10 in)[1]Propulsion Steam turbines, 4 shaftsSpeed 30 knots (35 mph; 56 km/h)[1]Range 10,000 nmi (19,000 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h)[1]Complement 1,360Armament 1913:8 × 356 mm (14 in) naval gun (4×2)[1]16 × 6-inch (15 cm) 50 caliber naval guns (16×1)[2]8 × 76 mm (3 in) naval guns (8×1)[1]4 × 6.5 mm (0.26 in) machine gun[3]1944:8 × 356 mm (14 in) naval gun (4×2)[1]8 × 152 mm (6 in) naval gun (8×1)[1]12 × 127 mm (5.0 in) guns (6×2)100 × 25 mm Type 96 antiaircraft autocannon (15×3,8×2,40×1)Armor Waterline belt: 203 mm (8 in)Deck: 38–58 mm (1.5–2.3 in) (later strengthened)Gun turrets: 229 mm (9 in)Barbettes: 254 mm (10 in)Kongō on the ways at Barrow, showing two of the propellers and the port rudder, Scientific American, 1913Kongō (Japanese: 金剛; named after Mount Kongō) was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I and World War II. She was the first battlecruiser of the Kongō class, among the most heavily armed ships in any navy when built. Her designer was the British naval engineer George Thurston, and she was laid down in 1911 at Barrow-in-Furness in Britain by Vickers Shipbuilding Company. Kongō was the last Japanese capital ship constructed outside Japan. She was formally commissioned in 1913, and

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