Nobutake Kondō
On 22 April 1930, Japan signed the London Naval Treaty, placing further restrictions on the signatories' naval forces. Several of her older battleships were scrapped, and no new capital ships were built as replacements. After minor fitting-out work, "Kongō"s reconstruction begun in September 1929 and was declared complete on 31 March 1931. On 1 December 1931, two months after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, "Kongō" was assigned to the First Battleship Division and also designated the flagship of the Combined Fleet. Additional rangefinders and searchlights were fitted to her superstructure in January 1932, and Captain Nobutake Kondō assumed command of the vessel in December. In 1933, aircraft catapults were fitted between the two rear turrets.