Takao was the first of four Takao-class heavy cruisers designed to be an
improvement over the previous Myoko-class design. The Myoko had proved to be
unstable and required modifications, which were incorporated into the Takao
design.
The Takao-class ships were approved under the 1927 fiscal year budget as
part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's strategy of the Decisive Battle, forming
the backbone of a multipurpose long-range strike force. Takao was built by the
Yokosuka Naval shipyards, and like her sister ships, was named after a mountain.
Launched on 12th May 1930 at the Yokosuka Navy Yard and commissioned on
31st May 1932, she was the lead ship of her class, assigned to the Pacific from
the start of the war. In early 1942, Takao operated in the Java Sea in
operations culminating in the Battle of the
Java
Sea in early March, when
one of Takao's floatplanes bombed the Dutch merchant ship Enggano. The next
night, Takao and Atago overtook the old United States Navy destroyer Pillsbury
and sank her with no survivors. Throughout the rest of the war she was involved
in various Pacific campaigns against the Allies.
