The Chichibu/Kadekuru class was a class of heavy armored cruiser believed to be under construction for the Imperial Japanese Navy before the Second World War. The class was thought to be an improvement of the German Panzerschiffe, "armored ship" or "pocket battleship", of the Deutschland/Lützow type.
Estimated displacement: 12,000 to 15,000 tons
Estimated speed: 30 knots
Armament: 2 x 3 12-inch guns (turret fore and turret aft)
Possible names for the ships were IJN Chichibu, IJN Niitaka, and IJN Takamatsu; or IJN Kadekuru, IJN Kashino, and IJN Hachijo.
The original idea for a U.S. class of battlecruiser, that became the Alaska-class cruiser, began in the late 1930s, when the U.S. Navy wanted to counter both the German Scharnhorst class and the Chichibu/Kadekuru class Japan supposedly had under construction.
In fact, the Chichibu/Kadekuru class did not exist.
Basic Field Manual Military Intelligence Identification of Japanese Naval Vessels FM30-58, War Department, 1941: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/FM/PDFs/FM30-58.PDF
Estimated displacement: 12,000 to 15,000 tons
Estimated speed: 30 knots
Armament: 2 x 3 12-inch guns (turret fore and turret aft)
Possible names for the ships were IJN Chichibu, IJN Niitaka, and IJN Takamatsu; or IJN Kadekuru, IJN Kashino, and IJN Hachijo.
The original idea for a U.S. class of battlecruiser, that became the Alaska-class cruiser, began in the late 1930s, when the U.S. Navy wanted to counter both the German Scharnhorst class and the Chichibu/Kadekuru class Japan supposedly had under construction.
In fact, the Chichibu/Kadekuru class did not exist.
Basic Field Manual Military Intelligence Identification of Japanese Naval Vessels FM30-58, War Department, 1941: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/FM/PDFs/FM30-58.PDF
