Hasegawa 43346 WL346 Japanese Navy Heavy Cruiser Kako

Kako was a Japanese heavy cruiser whose keel was laid in 1922, launched in April 1925, and commissioned in the Imperial Japanese Navy in July 1926. The length of the ship was 185 m, width 16.9 m, and full displacement - 10,300 tons. The cruiser Kako's maximum speed was around 33 knots. At the outbreak of World War II, the main armament was 6 203 mm guns in three twin turrets, and the additional armament included: 4 120 mm cannons and 8 610 mm torpedo tubes.

Kako was the second and last cruiser of the Furutaka class. Cruisers of this type were the first modern heavy cruisers used by the Japanese Navy. When designing them, the limitations resulting from the Washington Treaty signed by the authorities in Tokyo in 1922 were also respected. Despite the limitations, the Furutaka-class ships were considered successful - with good main armament, and above all, high maximum speed for the 1920s and 1930s. In the years 1929-1930 and 1936-1937, the cruiser Kako was modernized, consisting in improving the operation of the engine room and changing the main armament - from six 200 mm guns in single positions to six 203 mm guns in three twin turrets. The combat career of the cruiser Kako in World War II began in December 1941 with supporting Japanese landing operations in the area of the Guam and Wake islands. Shortly thereafter - along with its twin ship Furutaka - it covered the landings in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. Kako also took part in the Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942), and shortly thereafter - in one of the most famous light force battles in the Pacific - the Battle of Savo Island in August 1942. The day after that battle (i.e. on August 10, 1942), in which it did not suffer any damage, it was sunk by the American submarine USS S-44.