THE TAKAO CLASS, KITAKAMI AND THE BATTLE OF TASSAFARONGA 1942 - Contributions to the history of the Imperial Japanese Navy

This book is something of an oddity since it comprises three very different subjects: The heavy cruisers of the Takao class, the conversions of the light cruiser Kitakami and the attempts by the Imperial Japanese Navy to secure the supply lines to Guadalcanal, the last one culminating in the Battle of Tassafaronga.

The first two subjects have been eminently covered by Eric Lacroix and Linton Wells II in Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1997). Nevertheless we have thought it suitable to describe these two subjects in details using primarily other sources, not the least the more recent work Junyōkan (“Cruisers”) by Ishibashi Takao (Tōkyō: Namiki Shobō, 2018).

The third subject relies heavily upon the Japanese official history Senshi Sōsho (Tōkyō: Asagumo Shimbunsha, 1966–1980), volume 83. For more on sources see the Select Bibliography and the text.