Japanese battleship Hiei
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1911 |
| Laid down: | 4 November 1911 |
| Launched: | 21 November 1912 |
| Commissioned: | 4 August 1914 |
| Fate: | Scuttled at Savo Island on 13 November 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 36,600 tons |
| Length: | 222 m (728 ft 4 in) |
| Beam: | 31 m (101 ft 8 in) |
| Draught: | 9.7 m (31 ft 9 in) |
| Propulsion: | steam turbines, 4 shafts |
| Speed: | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Range: | 10,000 nm at 14 kt |
| Complement: | 1,360 |
| Armament: | 8 × 14 inch (357 mm) guns, 16 × 6 inch (152 mm) guns, 8 × 5 inch (127 mm) DP, up to 118 × 25 mm AA |
Hiei (比叡), named for Mount Hiei north-east of Kyoto, was a Kongō-class battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was laid down by the Yokosuka Kaigun Kosho on 4 November 1911, launched on 21 November 1912 and completed on 4 August 1914. Until 1931 she was classified as battlecruiser.
Following World War I, her boilers were upgraded for speed and bilges were added for better defense against torpedoes. Kongō and Hiei were relatively fast for battleships; because they were able to keep up with the carrier battle groups, both ships often accompanied them. However, their old design meant they were not effective against aircraft and both ships lacked air-search radar.
Between 1932 and 1940 Hiei was turned to a gunnery training ship, according to the London Naval Treaty. She was partly disarmed and disarmoured (the aft turret and side armour belt were dismounted), and her speed decreased. After the modernization, in 1940 her armour and armament returned to place and Hiei underwent the same modernization program, as the rest of Kongō class, becoming a battleship again.
Hiei steamed with the Carrier Striking Force during the attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, took part in the Indian Ocean raid against the British Eastern Fleet with the Carrier Striking Force in April 1942, screened the invasion fleet during the Battle of Midway in June 1942, participated in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in August 1942, and the Battle of Santa Cruz Island in October 1942.
During the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942, the Hiei was lost. Hiei, commanded by Captain Nishida Masao, suffered thirty 8 inch shell hits from the cruisers USS San Francisco and Portland, and many 5 inch shells from anti-aircraft cruisers and destroyers. Her fire control systems for her main and secondary batteries were knocked out, her superstructure set afire and 188 of her crew killed. Most important was a damage to a steering gear, that made impossible withdrawal at night. On day, she was attacked repeatedly by Marine Grumman Avenger TBF torpedo planes from Henderson Field, TBFs and Douglas Dauntless SBD dive-bombers from the USS Enterprise and B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the United States Army Air Forces 11th Heavy Bombardment Group from Espiritu Santo and suffered 70 sorties as she attempted to withdraw, and was severly damaged with bombs and torpedoes and finally scuttled by her crew.
[edit] External links
- Tabular record of movement from combinedfleet.com
| Kongō-class battlecruiser |
| List of ships of the Japanese Navy |
