Some were destroyed in battle,
others weren’t completed.
Some are laid up, and can only dream about battles…
But now they’re getting a new lease of life!
We recreate ships accurately,
according to their historical blueprints,
and send them into battle!
World of Warships: Dry Dock
Initially, Kaga was intended to become the second battleship of the Tosa class.
She had even been launched, but in 1922, in Washington,
Japan and four other naval powers
signed a treaty limiting the construction of warships.
The allowed number of battleships was drastically reduced,
and any surplus ships were to be scrapped, including unfinished ones.
However, each country was allowed to rebuild two battleships
as aircraft carriers.
Japan chose Kaga for this purpose.
Nevertheless, her conversion began only 3 years later—
this amount of time was required to prepare the project
and restore the naval shipyards in Yokosuka,
which had been damaged by an earthquake.
For these reasons,
the new aircraft carrier entered service in the Imperial Japanese Navy
only on November 1, 1929.
The ship had three levels of flight decks
and giant horizontal smokestacks on both sides.
In early 1932,
Kaga took part in hostilities near Shanghai during an incident with China.
Following this, between 1934–35,
she underwent serious modernization—
the idea of a multi-decked carrier hadn’t paid off.
Her power plant was replaced by a new one—
new boilers and turbines
ensured an increase in output from 91,000 hp to 127,400 hp.
The horizontal smokestacks were replaced
with a single smokestack on her starboard;
two lower flight decks were removed;
the main flight deck was extended to cover the entire ship
and was 248 meters long.
The freed-up space allowed for larger aircraft hangars,
aircraft ammunition magazines, aviation oil storage, and pilot rooms.
The ship's air group grew to 90 planes—
72 combat-ready and 18 in reserve.
Her anti-aircraft armament was significantly reinforced,
and her new 127 mm dual-purpose guns in twin mounts had larger fire sectors.
With her eleven 25 mm twin autocannons,
Kaga became the most protected carrier of her time against aerial threats.
Between 1937–1938,
Kaga took active part in a full-fledged Sino-Japanese war,
after which she underwent further modernization—
her flight deck was extended again,
her hangars became larger, and her superstructure was improved.
It was in this configuration that the aircraft carrier entered World War II.
Kaga participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor
and supported the invasion of the Bismarck Islands near New Guinea in January,
and of Java Island between February–March 1942.
On the morning of June 4, 1942—
the first day of the Battle of Midway— the carrier was directly hit by four bombs.
Extensive damage and fires on the flight and hangar decks
forced the crew to abandon ship.
In the evening of the same day,
the aviation oil reserves on Kaga exploded and the carrier sank.
In World of Warships, aircraft carrier Kaga is a Tier VIII Premium ship.