Japanese battleship Nagato

Nagato on her sea trials, 30 September 1920
History
Japan
NameNagato
NamesakeNagato Province
BuilderKure Naval Arsenal
Laid down28 August 1917
Launched9 November 1919
Sponsored byAdmiral Katō Tomosaburō
Completed15 November 1920
Commissioned25 November 1920
Stricken15 September 1945
FateSunk as a target in Operation Crossroads, 29/30 July 1946
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeNagato-class battleship
Displacement32,720 t (32,200 long tons) (standard)
Length215.8 m (708 ft)
Beam29.02 m (95 ft 3 in)
Draft9.08 m (29 ft 9 in)
Installed power
Propulsion4 shafts; 4 × steam turbines
Speed26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph)
Range5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement1,333
Armament
Armor
General characteristics (1944)
Displacement39,130 t (38,510 long tons) (standard)
Length224.94 m (738 ft)
Beam34.6 m (113 ft 6 in)
Draft9.49 m (31 ft 2 in)
Installed power
  • 80,000 shp (60,000 kW)
  • 10 × water-tube boilers
Speed25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range8,650 nmi (16,020 km; 9,950 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement1,734
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
Armor
  • Deck: 69 mm (2.7 in) + 100 mm (3.9 in) + 38 mm (1.5 in)
  • Turrets: 280–460 mm (11.0–18.1 in)
  • Barbettes: 457 mm (18.0 in)
Aircraft carried3 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities1 × catapult

Nagato (Japanese: 長門, named after the ancient Nagato Province) was a super-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). Completed in 1920 as the lead ship of her class, she carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. The ship was modernized in 1934–1936 with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nagato briefly participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and was the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto during the attack on Pearl Harbor. She covered the withdrawal of the attacking ships and did not participate in the attack itself.

Other than participating in the Battle of Midway in June 1942, where she did not see combat, the ship spent most of the first two years of the Pacific War training in home waters. She was transferred to Truk in mid-1943, but did not see any combat until the Battle of the Philippine Sea in mid-1944 when she was attacked by American aircraft. Nagato did not fire her main armament against enemy vessels until the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October. She was lightly damaged during the battle and returned to Japan the following month. The IJN was running out of fuel by this time and decided not to fully repair her. Nagato was converted into a floating anti-aircraft platform and assigned to coastal defense duties. She was attacked in July 1945 as part of the American campaign to destroy the IJN's last remaining capital ships, but was only slightly damaged and went on to be the only Japanese battleship to have survived World War II. In mid-1946, the ship was a target for nuclear weapon tests during Operation Crossroads. She survived the first test with little damage, but was sunk by the second.