Imperial Japanese Navy BB Haruna
Thank you for your long patience.
This is a new ship, the Haruna!
Please, let her be a part of your fleet!!!
{Haruna’s History}
Battleship “Haruna” was the third of the Kongo class battleships built in 1912 and completed in 1915.On September 20, 1920, “Haruna” suffered a barrel explosion during a training exercise in Hokkaido, and was transferred to reserve service and forced to dock in Yokosuka, Japan.
During this time, the vulnerability of the Kongo class was exposed during the “Battle of Jutland,” and fortunately “Haruna” was refitted ahead of the other Kongo types. However, despite being ahead of the others, it took a whopping eight years to complete the refit.
This was because the refit could not be carried out on a priority basis due to budget constraints.
On June 5, after the outbreak of the Pacific War, the 2nd Platoon of the 3rd Squadron, led by Haruna and Kirishima, was assigned to escort the task force in the Battle of Midway. However, what came was not a fleet but an air force launched from an aircraft carrier. Since the enemy fleet was not visible, no bombardment took place. The Allied fleet was outnumbered by the U.S. Air Force, and Haruna was assigned to provide anti-aircraft defense for the surviving carrier Hiryu. At this time, Haruna was also hit by a close-range round.
In the “Battle of Guadalcanal Island” from August, each of the four [Kongo class] ships sailed in a fleet.
The “Haruna” and “Kongo” took on the challenge of destroying Henderson Airfield, which was the greatest challenge.
At one point, they succeeded in inflicting heavy damage to the base, but the American forces, making full use of heavy machinery, were extremely fast in their recovery efforts, and they had overlooked the existence of a new runway, so the “Haruna’s” strenuous efforts went down the drain.
In the “Third Battle of the Solomons,” Japan lost Hiei and Kirishima, and lost the island of Guadalcanal with extensive damage.
On June 19, 1944, the Haruna finally faced an air battle similar to the “Battle of Midway” with the U.S. forces, which were fully prepared for the “Operation a-go” to defend Saipan Island. In the “Battle of the Marianas,” Haruna was hit by a 250kg bomb, severely damaging the screw bracket supporting the propeller shaft and flooding the gunpowder magazine.
The “Battle of Leyte” was a great defeat, as the ship was unable to fully demonstrate its power due to this damage.
Furthermore, during the retreat from the battle, Kongo was torpedoed and sunk by the U.S. submarine Sea Lion, which attacked in bad weather.
Haruna herself ran aground on her way back to the Linga berth.
Haruna survived the submarine attack along with her escorts and was able to return safely, but ran out of fuel and was forced to head for Kure, where she was used as a floating gun platform.
From June to July 1945, she was subjected to repeated air raids by U.S. forces and was finally wrecked in a major air raid.
At the end of the war, she was half sunk in the sea at Kure.
In 1946, the year after the war ended, she was dismantled for floating construction, and Haruna’s long life came to an end.
Even after her dismantling, Haruna continued to contribute to Japan by providing steel materials for postwar reconstruction.
At the age of 31, the battleship Haruna participated in the largest number of naval battles in Japan, and was praised as a brave ship that served Japan well into the postwar reconstruction period.
