IJN Hiei

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IJN Hiei Originally completing construction in August 1914 as the second of four 27,500-ton Kongo-class battlecruisers, the Japanese Navy rebuilt the Hiei as a demilitarized training ship from 1929 through 1931 because Japan was a signatory of the 1930 London naval limitations treaty. When the Japanese Navy conducted a Naval Review off Yokohama in 1933, she was Emperor Hirohito’s flagship.

By 1936, Japan withdrew from all naval limitation treaties and began modifying its fleet to prepare for war. Part of these preparations included upgrading its battlecruisers to battleships. The Hiei went into the Kure shipyard for modifications. From 1936 to 1940, the ship’s modifications upgraded her power plant and increased her size. After the changes, she displaced 32,350 tons. Her armament included eight 14-inch guns mounted in four two-gun turrets, 16 individually mounted 6-inch guns, four 3-inch AA guns, four 21-inch torpedo tubes, and three aircraft. she could carry a crew complement of 1,437 officers and enlisted men. Her power plant had 11 boilers that could generate enough power to reach a maximum speed of 30.5 knots. With the upgrade, she was now closer in size, armament, and armor to the older battleships in the Japanese Navy. The newer Japanese battleships such as the Yamato and Musashi had many of features placed in the Kongo-class battleships nee battlecruisers.

The Hiei rejoined the Japanese fleet in early 1940 and again the Emperor’s flagship at the 1940 Yokohama Naval Review. Her new maximum speed of 30.5 knots meant she could keep up with the fleet carriers. She was part of the force supporting the carriers used in the raid on Pearl Harbor. Later in April 1942, she was part of the Japanese naval force that inflicted heavy damage on British naval and merchant shipping in the Indian Ocean. The Hiei participated in the covering force during the Battle of Midway and support of Japanese operations in the Aleutians.

After covering the Japanese carrier forces at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in August and Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in late October, the Hiei joined her sister ship, the battleship Kirishima, a light cruiser, and more than 12 destroyers, in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. During the first night’s battle against American cruisers and destroyers, she sustained heavy damage from American gunfire as well as damage to her hull from nearby torpedo explosions.

When the Hiei had to leave the battle’s area, her steering failed. She was a sitting duck just a few miles from the American aircraft on Guadalcanal.

Her ordeal continued the next day when American land-based aircraft from Guadalcanal attacked her. Her crew fought to keep her afloat. When a torpedo exploded against her hull, all hope for her survival vanished. Japanese destroyers came alongside to remove her survivors and left her to her fate. Later, she sank in the waters a few miles northward of Savo Island. She was the first Japanese battleship sunk in World War II.