Japanese battleship Hiei
Service
- as Hiei4 August 1914 — 13 November 19421,169 days of the war
- Name
- Hiei
- Namesake
- Mount Hiei
- Builder
- Yokosuka Naval Arsenal
- Ordered
- 1911
- Laid down
- 4 November 1911
- Launched
- 21 November 1912
- Commissioned
- 4 August 1914
- Fate
- Sunk following the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942
By surface_action (1942) - Status
- Wreck
Specifications
- Displacement, standard
- 36,600 long tons (37,187 t)
- Length
- 222 m (728.3 ft)
- Beam
- 31 m (101.7 ft)
- Draught
- 9.7 m (31.8 ft)
- Speed
- 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h, 31.6 mph)
- Range
- 10,000 nmi (18,520 km)
- Complement
- 1,360
- Main gun
- 356 mm (14 in)
Hiei was a battleship of the Kongō-class battlecruiser in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship was named after Mount Hiei. Yokosuka Naval Arsenal laid her keel on 4 November 1911. She entered service on 4 August 1914, having been launched on 21 November 1912.
Four ships of the class were built. The class followed the Ibuki-class armored cruiser and was succeeded by the Amagi-class battlecruiser.
She displaced 36,600 long tons. She measured 222 m (728 ft) long with a beam of 31 m (102 ft). Her designed speed was 27.5 knots, and she carried a complement of 1,360. Her main battery was of 356 mm (14.0 in) calibre.
Her belt armour was 203 mm (8.0 in) and her deck 69.85 mm.
She was in commission for 1,169 days of the Second World War.
She was sunk on 13 November 1942 by surface_action, at 9°04′S 159°45′E. The wreck survives.
Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.
Armament and machinery
Armament and machinery
- Propulsion
- Steam turbines, 4 shafts
- Armament
- As Built:
- 8 356 mm/45 cal guns (4x2)
- 16 152 mm/50 cal guns (16x1)
- 8 12-pounder (76 mm) guns
- 4 6.5 mm machine guns
- 8 submerged 533 mm torpedo tubes (4x2)
- After 1937–1940 Refit:
- 8 356 mm/45 cal guns (4x2)
- 14 152 mm guns (14x1)
- 8 127 mm DP guns (4x2)
- 20 1 in Type 96 antiaircraft autocannons (10x2)
- Armour
- Belt: 203 mm (amidships); 76 mm (ends)
- Deck: 69.85 mm
- Bulkheads: 127 to 228.6 mm (fore); 152 to 203 mm (aft)
- Turrets: 228.6 mm
- Conning Tower: 254 mm
Sister ships
Sources
- Facts harvested from Japanese battleship Hiei on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Photograph: Kure Naval Arsenal Shipbuilding unit — Kure Maritime Museum, (edited by Kazushige Todaka), Japanese Naval Warship Photo Album: Battleships and Battle Cruisers , p. 106.; also published in Shizuo Fukui, Nihon No Gunkan: Shashinshu , published 1970 , p.15 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons