コロンバンガラ島沖海戦
"Noshiro" was launched at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 19 July 1942 and completed less than a year later on 30 June 1943. On completion, she was initially assigned to the IJN 1st Fleet for training off of Hashirajima. On 15 August 1943, she was reassigned to Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's Second Fleet as the flagship of DesRon 2, replacing the cruiser , which had been sunk a month earlier at the Battle of Kolombangara