Japanese battleship Haruna , named after Mount Haruna , was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during : World War I and : World War II . Designed by the British naval engineer George Thurston , she was the fourth and last battlecruiser of the , among the most heavily armed ships in any navy when built . Laid down in 1912 at the Kawasaki Shipyards in Kobe , " Haruna " was formally commissioned in 1915 on the same day as her sister ship , " Kirishima " . " Haruna " patrolled off the Chinese coast during World War I . During gunnery drills in 1920 , an explosion destroyed one of her guns , damaged the gun turret , and killed seven men . During her life , " Haruna " underwent two major reconstructions . Beginning in 1926 , the Imperial Japanese Navy rebuilt her as a battleship , strengthening her armor and improving her speed and power capabilities . In 1933 , her superstructure was completely rebuilt , her speed was increased , and she was equipped with launch catapults for floatplane s . Now fast enough to accompany Japan ' s growing carrier fleet , " Haruna " was reclassified as a fast battleship . During the Second Sino - Japanese War , " Haruna " transported Imperial Japanese Army troops to mainland China before being redeployed to the Third Battleship Division in 1941 . On the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , she sailed as part of the Southern Force in preparation for the Battle of Singapore . " Haruna " fought in almost every major naval action of the Pacific Theater during World War II . She covered landings of Japanese forces in Malaya ( in present - day Malaysia ) and the Dutch East Indies ( now Indonesia ) in 1942 before engaging American forces at the Battle of Midway and during the Guadalcanal Campaign . Throughout 1943 , " Haruna " primarily remained at Truk Lagoon ( Micronesia ) , Kure Naval Base ( near Hiroshima ) , Sasebo Naval Base ( near Nagasaki ) , and Lingga ( in present - day Malaysia ) , and deployed on several occasions in response to American carrier airstrikes on Japanese island bases . " Haruna " participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944 , engaging American vessels in the latter . In 1945 , " Haruna " was transferred to Kure Naval Base , where she was sunk by aircraft of Task Force 38 on 28 July 1945 . Design and construction . " Haruna " was the fourth and last of the Imperial Japanese Navy ' s " Kongō " - class battlecruisers , a line of capital ship s designed by the British naval engineer George Thurston . The class was ordered in 1910 in the Japanese Emergency Naval Expansion Bill after the commissioning of in 1908 . The four battlecruisers of the " Kongō " class were designed to match the naval capabilities of the other major powers at the time ; they have been called the battlecruiser versions of the British ( formerly Turkish ) battleship . Their heavy armament and armor protection ( which contributed 23 . 3 percent of their displacement ) were greatly superior to those of any other Japanese capital ship afloat at the time . The keel of " Haruna " was laid down at Kobe by Kawasaki on 16 March 1912 , with most of the parts used in her construction manufactured in Japan . Due to a shortage of available slipways , " Haruna " and her sister ship were the first two capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy to be built in private shipyards . Launched on 14 December 1913 , " Haruna " s fitting - out began in early 1914 . She was completed on 19 April 1915 . Armament . " Haruna " s main battery consisted of eight heavy - caliber main guns in four twin turrets ( two forward , two aft ) . The turrets were noted by the U . S . Office of Naval Intelligence to be " similar to the British 15 - inch turrets " , with improvements made in flash - tightness . Each of her main guns could fire high - explosive or armor - piercing shells a maximum of at a firing rate of two shells per minute . < ref name = 14 / 45 > < / ref > In keeping with the Japanese doctrine of deploying more powerful vessels before their opponents , " Haruna " and her sister ships were the first vessels in the world equipped with guns . The main guns carried ammunition for 90 shots , and had an approximate gun - life of 250 to 280 shots . In 1941 , separate dyes were introduced for the armor - piercing shells of the four " Kongo " - class battleships , with " Haruna " s armor - piercing shells using black dye . Her secondary battery was originally sixteen 50 - caliber medium guns in single casemate s ( all located amidships ) , eight guns and eight submerged torpedo tubes . The six - inch guns could fire five to six rounds per minute , with a barrel life of 500 rounds . The 6 " / 50 caliber gun was capable of firing both antiaircraft and antiship shells , though the positioning of the guns on " Haruna " made antiaircraft firing impractical . During her second reconstruction , the older 3 - inch guns were removed and replaced with eight dual - purpose guns . These 5 " / 40 caliber guns could fire between 8 and 14 rounds per minute , with a barrel life of 800 to 1 , 500 rounds . The 5 " / 40 had the widest variety of shot types of " Haruna " s guns , being designed to fire antiaircraft , antiship , and illumination shells . " Haruna " was also armed with a large number of antiaircraft machine guns . In 1943 , " Haruna " s secondary armament was reconfigured to eight guns , twelve guns , and finally by the end of 1944 one hundred and eight Type 96 antiaircraft autocannon in thirty triples and eighteen single mounts . Operation history . 1915 – 1926 : Battlecruiser . On 19 April 1915 , " Haruna " was formally commissioned at Kobe . On 13 December 1915 , after eight months of trials , " Haruna " was assigned to the Third Battleship Division of the Second Fleet . On 9 April 1916 , " Haruna " departed Sasebo Naval Base for operations in the East China Sea , returning to Japan 10 days later . On 1 December 1916 , Captain Saburo Hyakutake assumed command of " Haruna " until 15 September 1917 , when Captain Naomi Taniguchi replaced him . On 1 December 1917 , " Haruna " was placed in reserve , as hostilities in the Pacific theatre of World War I concluded . On 12 September 1920 , " Haruna " was involved in gunnery drills off Hokkaidō when a breech explosion destroyed the starboard gun of the No . 1 turret , killing seven men and badly damaging the armored roof of the turret . A later investigation by the Imperial Japanese Navy concluded that a faulty fuse ignited the gunpowder bags in the breech , detonating the shell while still in the barrel . The turret was repaired at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal , where the elevation of " Haruna " s 14 - inch guns was also increased by seven degrees . Three months later , " Haruna " was once again placed in reserve . With the conclusion of World War I and the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty , the size of the Imperial Japanese Navy was significantly lessened , with a ratio of 5 : 5 : 3 required between the capital ships of the United Kingdom , the United States , and Japan . The treaty also banned Japan from building any new capital ships until 1931 , with no capital ship permitted to exceed . Provided that new additions did not exceed 3 , 000 tons , existing capital ships were allowed to be upgraded with improved anti - torpedo bulge s and deck armor . By the time the Washington Treaty had been fully implemented in Japan , only three classes of World War I - era capital ships remained active : the s , the " Kongō " - class battlecruisers , and one of the s , ( the ) . 1926 – 1933 : Reconstruction into battleship . Unable to construct new capital ships until 1931 , Japan resorted to upgrading battleships and battlecruisers . In July 1926 , " Haruna " became the first of Japan ' s vessels to undergo extensive modernization and modification , in drydock at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal . Over the next two years , " Haruna " s horizontal armor near her ammunition magazines was strengthened , and the machinery spaces within the hull were increased . Anti - torpedo bulges were added along the waterline , as permitted by the Washington Treaty . She was refitted to accommodate three Type 90 Model 0 floatplanes . To increase her speed and power capacities , all 36 Yarrow boilers were removed and replaced with 16 newer boilers , and Brown - Curtis direct - drive turbines were installed . " Haruna " s forward funnel was removed , and her second funnel was enlarged and lengthened . The modifications to her hull increased her armor weight from 6 , 502 to 10 , 313 long tons , directly violating the terms of the Washington Treaty . In July 1928 , " Haruna " — now capable of speeds of — was reclassified as a battleship . Following new sea trials , " Haruna " was assigned on 10 December 1928 to the Fourth Battleship Division of the Second Fleet as the Emperor ' s special ship . For the next 12 months , " Haruna " operated between Sasebo , Port Arthur , and the East China Sea . On 1 February 1929 , Prince Takamatsu , the younger brother of Emperor Hirohito , was assigned to the crew . On 20 November 1929 , the ship was reassigned to the First Battleship Division . She was placed in reserve on 1 December 1930 . On 22 April 1930 , Japan signed the London Naval Treaty , placing further restrictions on her maritime forces . In addition to the scrapping of several older battleships , Japan would not be permitted to construct new capital ships until 1937 . After minor fitting - out work , " Haruna " s reconstruction begun in 1926 was declared complete on 1 October 1931 . On 8 November 1931 , she served as the Emperor ' s ship during his official visit to Kumamoto prefecture . In September 1931 , Japan invaded Manchuria . On 25 February 1933 , based on the report by the Lytton Commission , the League of Nations agreed that Japan ' s invasion had violated Chinese sovereignty . Refusing to accept the organization ' s judgment , Japan withdrew from the League of Nations the same day . Immediately following , Japan also withdrew from the Washington and London Naval Treaties , thus removing all restrictions on the number and size of her capital ships . " Haruna " was reactivated and assigned to the First Battleship Division on 20 May 1933 . 1933 – 1941 : Fast battleship . On 1 August 1933 , " Haruna " was drydocked at Kure Naval Arsenal in preparation for upgrades that would enable her to escort Japan ' s growing fleet of aircraft carriers . Her stern was lengthened by , and her bridge was completely reconstructed according to Japan ' s pagoda mast style of forward superstructure . Her 16 older boilers were removed and replaced with 11 oil - fired Kampon Boilers and newer geared turbines . Catapults and rails were added to support three Nakajima E8N or Kawanishi E7K reconnaissance and spotter seaplanes . " Haruna " s armor was also extensively upgraded . Her main belt was strengthened to a uniform thickness of 8 inches ( up from varying thicknesses of 6 to 8 inches ) , while diagonal bulkheads of depths ranging from now reinforced the main armored belt . The turret armor was strengthened to , while were added to portions of the deck armor . " Haruna " s ammunition magazine protection was also strengthened to . The reconstruction was finished on 30 September 1934 . Capable of more than despite the significant increase in hull displacement , " Haruna " was now reclassified as a fast battleship . On 28 October 1935 , Captain Jisaburō Ozawa assumed command of " Haruna " . On 1 June 1936 the battleship was assigned to the Third Battleship Division of the First Fleet . Throughout 1937 , " Haruna " conducted extensive gunnery drills and patrols off the coast of China , primarily in the vicinity of Tsingtao . On 7 July 1937 , Japan officially declared war on China , thus beginning the Sino - Japanese War . One month later , " Haruna " transported Japanese Army forces to mainland China in preparation for campaigns into Chinese Nationalist territory . On 1 December 1937 , the ship was again placed in reserve . On 2 April 1940 , " Haruna " was transferred from Sasebo to Taiwan . She was redesignated as a " special service ship " on 15 November 1940 , and five months later was attached to the Third Battleship Division of the First Fleet , based in Hashirajima . 1941 – 1942 : Early war service . " Haruna " and " Kongō " departed the Hashirajima fleet anchorage on 29 November 1941 , to participate in the opening stage of the Pacific War as part of the Southern ( Malay ) Force ' s Main Body , under the overall command of Vice - Admiral Nobutake Kondō . On 4 December 1941 , the Main Body arrived off the coast of Southern Siam and Northern Malaya , in preparation for the invasion of Siam and the Malayan Peninsula four days later . When Britain ' s " Force Z " – consisting of the battleship and the battlecruiser – was quickly defeated by Japan ' s land - based and carrier aircraft , " Haruna " s battlegroup withdrew from Malayan waters . The battlegroup subsequently sortied from Indochina for three days in mid - December to protect a reinforcement convoy traveling to Malaya and again on 18 December to cover the Army ' s landing at Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines . The Main Body departed Cam Ranh Bay in French Indochina on 23 December bound for Taiwan , arriving two days later . On December 13 , 1941 , an erroneous report was published in the U . S . media that an American B - 17 had bombed and mortally damaged the " Haruna " during battle off Lingayen Gulf off the Philippines . No Japanese battleships were present , and the " Haruna " was 1 , 500 miles away in the Gulf of Siam at the time . On 18 January 1942 , Kondō ' s Main Force arrived in Palau alongside two fast carriers , with the intention of covering Japan ' s invasion of Borneo and the Dutch East Indies . " Haruna " , , and the fleet carriers and operated to the east of Mindanao until 18 February 1942 , when the Main Body departed Palau in preparation for " Operation J " , Japan ' s invasion of the Dutch East Indies . On 25 February , the Third Battleship Division provided cover for air attacks on Java . " Haruna " bombarded Christmas Island on 7 March 1942 , then returned to Staring - baai for 15 days of maintenance and rest . In April 1942 , " Haruna " joined five fleet carriers in attacks on Colombo in Ceylon . Following the destruction of on 5 April 1942 , " Haruna " was sent southwest to locate the remainder of the British Eastern Fleet , under the command of Admiral James Somerville . On 9 April , one of " Haruna " s reconnaissance seaplanes spotted south of Trincomalee ; Japanese airstrikes sank the carrier the same day . Having crippled the offensive capability of Britain ' s Eastern Fleet , the Third Battleship Division returned to Japan on 23 April . " Haruna " was drydocked throughout May 1942 for general repairs and refits . On 29 May 1942 , " Haruna " joined her sister ship as part of Vice - Admiral Chūichi Nagumo ' s carrier strike force during the Battle of Midway . On 4 June , " Haruna " was attacked in multiple airstrikes by American torpedo - bombers , but she took no hits and succeeded in shooting down five American aircraft . On 5 June , " Haruna " took on survivors from the four destroyed Japanese aircraft carriers before returning to Japan . She remained in Japan until September 1942 , undergoing minor refits in August of that year . On 6 September , " Haruna " transferred to Truk Lagoon alongside the rest of the Third Battleship Division , and on 10 September the ship sortied as part of Admiral Kondō ' s Second Fleet into the Solomon Islands . On 20 September , the fleet was ordered to return to Truk . In the aftermath of the Battle of Cape Esperance , the Japanese Army opted to reinforce their positions on Guadalcanal . To protect their transport convoy from enemy air attack , Admiral Yamamoto sent " Haruna " and " Kongō " , escorted by one light cruiser and nine destroyers , to bombard Henderson Field . Because of their high speed , the two battleships could bombard the field and withdraw before being subjected to air attack from aircraft carriers . On the night of 13 – 14 October , the two battleships shelled Henderson Field from a distance of , firing 973 14 - inch shells . In the most successful Japanese battleship action of the war , the bombardment heavily damaged both runways , destroyed almost all available aviation fuel , incapacitated 48 of the airfield ' s 90 aircraft , and killed 41 men . The Japanese troop convoy reached the island the next day . During the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on 26 October 1942 , " Haruna " was attacked by a PBY Catalina flying boat but received no damage . In mid - November , the battleship and other warships provided distant cover for the ultimately unsuccessful efforts to bombard Henderson Field again and land reinforcements on Guadalcanal . On 15 November 1942 , following the Japanese defeat and loss of " Hiei " and " Kirishima " during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal , the Third Battleship Division returned to Truk , where it remained for the rest of 1942 . 1943 : Movement between bases . " Haruna " engaged no enemy targets during 1943 . In late January 1943 , she participated in " Operation Ke " , as part of a diversionary force and distant cover supporting Japanese destroyers that were evacuating personnel from Guadalcanal . During 15 – 20 February 1943 , the Third Battleship Division transferred from Truk to Kure Naval Base . From 23 February to 31 March 1943 , " Haruna " was drydocked in Kure Naval Arsenal for upgrades , receiving additional Type 96 antiaircraft guns and armor . On 17 May 1943 , in response to the American invasion of Attu Island , " Haruna " sortied alongside , the Third Battleship Division , two fleet carriers , two cruisers and nine destroyers . Three days later , the submarine discovered the task group , but was unable to attack . On 22 May 1943 , the task force arrived in Yokosuka , where it was joined by an additional three fleet carriers and two light cruisers ; the force was disbanded when Attu fell before the necessary preparations were finished . Throughout June 1943 , " Haruna " was refitted at Yokosuka . On 18 September 1943 , " Haruna " left Truk as part of a counterattack force in response to American raids on the Brown Islands in Micronesia , but no contact was made and the ship returned to the base . On 17 October 1943 , " Haruna " again left Truk as part of an even larger force — five battleships , three fleet carriers , eight heavy cruisers , three light cruisers and numerous destroyers — in response to American raids on Wake Island . When no contact was made the force returned to Truk on 26 October 1943 . On 16 December 1943 , " Haruna " arrived at Sasebo for refits and inland - sea training . 1944 : Final combat actions . On 25 January 1944 , Captain Kazu Shigenaga assumed command of " Haruna " while the ship was stationed at Kure . The Third Battleship Division departed Kure on 8 March 1944 . Arriving at Lingga on 14 March 1944 , the division remained for training until 11 May 1944 . On 11 May 1944 , " Haruna " and Admiral Ozawa ' s Mobile Fleet departed Lingga for Tawitawi , where they were joined by Vice - Admiral Takeo Kurita ' s " Force C " . On 13 June , Ozawa ' s Mobile Fleet departed Tawitawi for the Mariana Islands . During the Battle of the Philippine Sea , " Haruna " escorted Japanese fast carriers , and was hit by two armor - piercing bombs on 20 June 1944 from U . S . carrier aircraft . On 24 June , " Haruna " was drydocked in Kure for repairs and refitting . In August 1944 she transferred to Lingga . In October 1944 , " Haruna " departed Lingga in preparation for " Operation Sho - 1 " , Japan ' s counterattack during the Battle of Leyte Gulf , the largest naval engagement in history . On 24 October , " Haruna " was lightly damaged by fragments from near misses by American carrier aircraft in the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea . On 25 October , during the Battle off Samar , " Haruna " — as part of Admiral Kurita ' s Centre Force — engaged escort carriers and destroyers of the U . S . 7th Fleet ' s " Taffy 3 " . " Haruna " s shells straddled ( but did not hit ) two American escort carriers , before she dodged torpedoes launched by American destroyers . After a fierce defensive action by the American ships , which sank three Japanese heavy cruisers , Admiral Kurita elected to withdraw , ending the battle . Following the Japanese Navy ' s defeat at Leyte Gulf , " Haruna " returned to Brunei and Lingga for repairs . On 22 November 1944 , " Haruna " ran aground on a coral reef near Lingga , suffering serious damage to her watertight compartments and forcing her to return to Sasebo , where the hull was patched and repaired . On 2 December 1944 , while returning to Japan from Southeast Asia as part of a task group , " Haruna " evaded torpedoes fired by an American submarine . On 9 December , three more American submarines intercepted the task group ; , , and damaged the carrier and multiple destroyers with torpedoes . Unharmed , " Haruna " arrived at Sasebo the following day . At the end of 1944 , " Haruna " transferred to Kure for full repairs and upgrading , having survived a year in which four other Japanese battleships had been lost . 1945 : Loss . On 1 January 1945 , " Haruna " was removed from the deactivated Third Battleship Division and transferred to the First Battleship Division of the Second Fleet . On 10 February , " Haruna " was assigned to the Kure Naval District . On 19 March 1945 , American carrier aircraft attacked the remainder of the Japanese Navy at Kure . The base was defended by veteran Japanese fighter instructors flying Kawanishi N1K " Shiden " or " George " fighters , led by the man who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor , Minoru Genda . These fighter planes were superior in some respects to America ' s main fighter , the F6F Hellcat . They surprised the attackers , destroyed several American aircraft , and defended the base from the brunt of the attack . " Haruna " sustained light damage from a single bomb on the starboard side , and remained at Kure . On 24 July 1945 , the U . S . Navy ' s Task Force 38 began a series of aerial attacks on Kure Naval Base to destroy the last remnants of Japan ' s navy . The same day , the battleship was sunk , and " Haruna " was hit by a single bomb which caused light damage . Four days later , " Haruna " sustained eight bomb hits from Task Force 38 ' s aircraft and sank at her moorings at 16 : 15 . In two days of attacks , 65 officers and men of the " Haruna " were killed . The remnants of " Haruna " were raised from the sea floor in 1946 and broken up over the course of two months .