Overview
Haruna was a member of the Kongō class.
Haruna is associated with Japan and Imperial Japanese Navy. It belonged to Kongō class, so the class page provides the shared design history while this page concentrates on the individual ship.
Construction and identity
The available construction record identifies Haruna as built by Kawasaki Dockyard, Kobe, laid down on 1912-03-16, launched on 1913-12-14, and completed on 1915-04-19.
The ship's documented identity includes service with Imperial Japanese Navy.
Service history
Reconstructed as a fast battleship and sunk at Kure by U.S. carrier aircraft in July 1945.
The ship's configuration should be interpreted through the documented class and the dates attached to this individual vessel; equipment should not be assumed to have remained unchanged throughout service.
Class context: Kongō class
The Kongō class began as fast battlecruisers armed with eight 14-inch guns and became the most extensively modernized Japanese capital ships of their generation.
As a member of Kongō class, Haruna shared the class's documented design framework and intended roles of Fleet combatant and Scouting. Individual refits, transfers, and wartime changes belong to this ship only when separately documented.
Later service and disposition
sunk in port by air attack. The associated date is 1945-07-28. The recorded location is Kure.
Haruna matters as an individual career within Kongō class, allowing class-wide design history to be separated from this ship's own construction, identities, service, and fate.
Class relationship
This ship is recorded as a member of Kongō class. Shared design history belongs on the class page; this page concentrates on the individual hull where evidence is available.
Sources and further reading
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921Conway Maritime Press
- Kongō-class battlecruiser ↗Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-18