Aoba: Difference between revisions

''Aoba'' and her lone sister ship ''Kinugasa'' were a pair of ''Aoba''-class heavy cruisers. Originally due to be part of the ''Furutaka''-class including the eponymous ''Furutaka'' and ''Kako'', the IJN wanted the new ships to be fitted with the new twin-gun 20 cm turrets but since ''Furutaka'' and ''Kako'' had already been completed they instead slated the new turrets to be placed on the two next ships which then received enough modification to be their own class. The ''Aoba''-class had three twin-gun 20 cm turrets instead of the six single-gun 20cm turrets of the ''Furutaka''s (whom were later retrofitted to have twin-gun), new 12 cm secondary cannons, and a catapult to launch scout floatplanes, but otherwise were very similar to the ''Furutaka''-class. She had a long service life in World War II in several divisions and often as flagship. She served in China, Guam, and Wake Island earlier in the war. She escorted carrier ''Shōkaku'' to Truk after she was severely damaged. ''Aoba'' also took part in the Battle of Savo Island where her relative ''Kako'' was sunk. At the Battle of Cape Esperance she was badly damaged by the US Navy ships and had to be sent back to be fixed and after this ''Aoba'' suffered repeated unlucky damage. She was attacked by B-17s at port and had to be beached to prevent her sinking, accidentally rammed into fellow IJN ship the light cruiser ''Kinu'', and was torpedoed by multiple submarines. Her final resting place was at Kure where despite being severely damaged was kept as an AA battery. After suffering multiple more bombing that caused her to sink into the shallow 7.6 m (25 ft) her stern broke off after some B-24s finished her off. Her hulk was abandoned until being scrapped in 1946-1947 after the war.