IJN Kongo

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Built 1913 -- Sunk 1944
In the early parts of the Twentieth century the Kongo was ordered by Japan as a battle cruiser. The Japanese had already been building their own battleships, but they wanted to study the latest British...at the time an ally...construction techniques before building sister ships to the Kongo in Japan -- the Hiei, Haruna and Kirishima. All are named for mountains. The Kongo was to have 14 inch guns, larger and more conveniently arranged than in previous British battle cruisers, where a midships turret had been unable to fire directly fore or aft.
By the time of WWII the Kongo and her sisters were too old for the line of battle, but fast enough to escort the aircraft carriers, which they did with success.
The IJN Kongo met her end at the hands of the British submarine HMS Sealion II while returning to Japan to repair damage caused by American dive bombers. Among the pilots in the American attack was Lt. Ryan Clark Saille. Lt. Ryan Saille is the father of Jerold Ryan Saille.
Save the parts about Ryan Saille This is real world historical information.
==Name background==
Mount Kongō 金剛山 "Kongô-zan"), a mountain not far south of the old capital of Japan at Nara. The word kongo was the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese translation of vajra in Sanskrit.
The vajra was originally the thunderbolt of the god Indra. Later in esoteric, Tantric, or vajrayona Buddhism, the vajra symbolized supernatural powers that could be obtained through esoteric rituals. In the sexual symbolism of Tantrism, the vajra was also associated with the male organ. Kongo can also mean a jewel or a diamond, or hard as a diamond. So appropriately Kongo as the name of a ship would imply the great power of a thunderbolt or the hardness of a diamond.
Category:HistoricalCategory:Ships