Thiaria: Other People's ships

Koko's cutting edge: The Konishi-class battlecruisers

Preface: The following constitutes a major deviation from BB1987's fabulous history of Koko. In the Kokoverse, a lot more pre-Washington vessels are completed before the treaty puts a stop to them. Thiaria's background story involves fewer changes to the WNT; there are no Amagi/Owari-class ships, no Lexington-class battlecruisers and no G3-class battlecruisers. In order not to render the KnK with only two slow battleships, Amagi, Owari and Kii needed to be replaced with something less obviously dangerous and destabilizing to the balance of power the WNT sought to achieve. This something is described below. Many thanks to BB1987 for his invaluable help in making these ships look as realistic as humanly possible.

1. Design and construction
By the end of the new century's first decade, the Koko no Kaigun was facing block obsolescence of their large surface combatants due to the Dreadnought revolution. Especially the large armoured cruisers Goryo and Aratama, still brand new, were quite outclassed by the first British and US battlecruisers of the Invincible- and Enterprise-classes, which had twice their armament. Koko ordered two Yagumo-class battleships - essentially a shortened version of the Japanese Fuso - in 1912, one on a Japanese yard and one at the Toumachi Naval Arsenal, but the large cruiser issue remained unsolved. The IJN, which had four similar large armoured cruisers in service, reacted by ordering a high-end battlecruiser in Great Britain, which would become the Kongo and outclass anything in the RN's inventory. The Japanese then built three domestic copies of the Kongo, while Koko studied the design, enlisted the aid of Kongo's designer George Thurston and had him design a much improved version. The design was finalized late in 1913 and mixed the most favourable features of Kongo and HMS Tiger, further improving on most. The hull was ten meters longer and had a little more draught than Kongo's, although beam remained the same. Normal displacement exceeded 30.000 tons, nearly 3.000 tons more than Kongo's. Designed hp was nearly doubled, and narrow-tube boilers were used for the first time in the KnK, although 40% of them were still coal-fired. At 120.000 hp - the same output as HMS Repulse and Renown had, whose designs were completed a year later - they boasted a design speed of 30 knots, making them the first 30-knot capital ships worldwide. Their armour scheme mirrored HMS Tiger's, with 229mm vertical protection, but a stronger 76mm deck; turrets and barbettes were protected as on Kongo, but with thicker 279mm turret face plates. Armament mirrored Kongo's, with the same main guns, but two fewer 152mm secondaries. Torpedoes, which the initial drafts contained, were omitted from the final design, making it one of the earliest capital ships to do away with the useless submerged torpedo battery. Externally, these ships could easily be told from the Kongo's by their two funnels and the long gap between them and the mainmast; from a distance, they could almost be mistaken for the much later British Admiral-class. The 1914 fleet replenishment programme contained funds for two battlecruisers; a third was added by an emergency supplementary programme as soon as Japan - and thus Koko in her wake - had joined the first world war. The class ship was laid down in February 1915 at Toumachi on the newly built 'battlecruiser slipway', a few weeks before the battleship Inaba, having been laid down in mid-1913, was launched on the other side of the yard. A sister ship was ordered in April 1915 at the newly established private Kuwashi KK shipyard at Hoshiguma and laid down in September that year, becoming the first major order the KnK placed at a private yard. As soon as the first ship cleared the slipway in November 1916, the third unit was laid down at Toumachi. All three units were named for mountains: Konishi, Kozen and Kitamori. Unlike the Kongos, the KnK ships did not rely on imported material from Great Britain, although vital parts were imported (second vessel) respectively licensed (first and third vessels) from Japan (Kanpon boilers, heavy guns based on Vickers design) and the USA (Curtis turbines). None of the class was completed in time for the first world war. The experienced naval yard averaged building times of 48 months per ship; Konishi was completed in January 1919, Kitamori in March 1921. The Kuwashi yard needed nearly six years to complete Kozen and delivered her in August 1921.
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2. Inter-war service and modifications
All three were complete and in service when the WNT was signed. Their standard displacement was calculated at 28.570 tons; together, they made up the bulk of the 143.750 tons allocated to the KnK in that treaty. Their existence meant that the IJN and the KnK had seven fast capital ships between them. Although the RN had five battlecruisers with 381mm guns in 1920, four of them were so poorly protected that they would be of little use in the Pacific; all other british battlecruisers had inferior armament. As the Royal Navy, which had access to Thurston's plans, knew quite well what the Kongos and Konishis were capable of, they were alarmed by the obvious lack of fast vessels which could reliably get the better of them in a one-on-one situation. The threat posed by these seven ships was the reason for the decision to proceed with the construction of all four Admiral-class battlecruisers. The Konishis meanwhile accumulated very different service records. Kozen, which used more imported fittings than the other two, was considered a highly reliable vessel. She achieved the highest trial speed (30,88 knots), consumed by far the least amount of fuel and had enviably low maintenance down-times. The other two were the exact opposites, displaying various teething problems that indicated Koko's lack of experience in equipping such large and advanced vessels. Both were fuel hogs, achieving only 70% of Kozen's range, and neither attained the design speed of 30 knots. Their engines broke down frequently, especially Konishi's. Ironically, their frequent visits to the repair yard worked in favour of Konishi and Kitamori in terms of modernization. While Kozen received only a single refit in 1926/7, which added four 76mm AA guns, somewhat improved fire control and changed the forward funnel to a Nagato-style S-shape
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the other two were taken in hand three times each in 1923/1925, 1928/1929 and 1931/1933, respectively, finally emerging with the same funnel as Kozen, but six 120mm and four 40mm flaks, a much more capable fire-control suite, more elevation for the main guns and some basic aviation facilities for two scoutplanes each, although there were no catapults yet. Their boilers were converted to oil fuel only, which however did little for their reliability.
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Kitamori was hardly back in service when Kozen entered her second refit in September 1934, which was considerably more thorough. She was bulged, adding two meters of beam, lengthened by six meters over the stern and had all her boilers replaced by twelve new Kanpon oil-burners. Her turbines were refurbished, but not uprated. While her speed dropped to 28,5 knots, range increased to 10.000 miles at 16 knots. The funnels were retained. Armour protection was significantly improved; horiziontal protection increased to 114mm, turret front armour to 356mm and barbettes to 305mm. CT armour was also improved to 356mm. The forward tripod was completely encased in a pagoda structure carrying the latest IJN style fire control gear. Two catapults and a spacious aviation operations platform were added amidships; three scoutplanes were embarked. A very strong heavy AA battery of twelve 127mm guns was added, and eight 25mm twins were installed; the secondary battery was cut from fourteen to eight barrels. Both the main and secondary guns received greater elevation and range. Kozen re-entered service in March 1937 and remained pretty much unchanged afterwards; late in 1941, four 25mm triples were added on platforms near the aft funnels.
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3. Total rebuild
In the mid-thirties, Konishi and Kozen were clearly obsolescent, and Konishi's engines were hardly serviceable anymore. Although their retirement and replacement with new construction was considered for some time, it was eventually decided to give both of them a compete refit on a much grander scale than Kozen's. Konishi was taken in hand in May 1936, re-emerging in November 1939; Kitamori followed in August 1938 and was completed in April 1942. They received larger bulges than Kozen, adding four meters to their beam; they also had their sterns lengthened by the same six meters. Eight Kanpon oil-burning boilers and totally new, more powerful turbines were installed; as rebuilt, they developed 136.000hp for a design speed of 30 knots and the same range as Kozen. Due to the lighter engines and the larger flotation reserve of the bigger bulges, they had a much more comprehensive armour upgrade than Kozen, in effect making them fully balanced fast battleships: Deck protection was doubled to 127mm, their main guns received 381mm shields and 330mm barbettes, and there even was enough weight reserve for the installation of a new 293mm belt. Twelve 127mm DP guns and sixteen (24 on Kitamori) 25mm guns were added as well, and six of the fourteen 152mm secondaries were landed; aviation facilities were the same as on Kozen. The main artillery and the secondary battery received higher elevations, even more than on Kozen, and the main guns were adapted to new 685kg shells instead of the old 635kg ones which Kozen still used. In an unorthodox move, both received a torpedo battery of one quad launcher for 609mm torpedoes beneath each catapult. These resulted from the operational doctrine of the IJN and the KnK, both of which exhaustively trained night engagements and planned to try and force their prospective enemies into as many of those as they could, hoping to exploit lack of experience and proficiency in such combat on part of their enemies. The way the torpedoes and the DP guns were installed dictated removing the secondary guns 3, 5 and 7 on either side, while Kozen had landed 1, 3 and 7; Konishi and Kitamori thus retained the practically useless No.1 152mm gun, which was awash most of the time. Fire control was provided by a novel integrated system similar to the one used on newly constructed battleships. In order to provide the necessary spaces at the right spots, the tripod mast was landed and replaced with a massive roughly octogonal tower mast. Although it was heavier, roomier and far more practical than Kozen's pagoda, it looked more slender and contributed to an outer appearance of these ships that was much more balanced and graceful than Kozen's. The exhausts were trunked into a single funnel, and the aft bridge and fire control stations were integrated into the mainmast rather than placed on a separate structure as on Kozen.
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Problems with wetness forward, especially concerning the foremost casemate guns, led to the adaption of a clipper bow with considerable flare on Kitamori; it did little good for the still frequently flooded casemate guns, but at least improved her already good looks even more.

4. From Midway to Guadalcanal
During the initial moves of the Pacific War, the KnK was tasked with occupying Midway and part of the Aleutilans. Kozen and Konishi (flagship of Vice Admiral Karasawa) accompanied Koko's still fledgling carrier force (fleet carriers Umineko, Ahodori and Fukuro) and accomplished their mission at Midway, driving away USS Lexington and her escorts. Konishi and Kozen bombarded Midway the following day, and the islands were eventually conquered after desperate resistance of the outnumbered US Marine garrison. With their objectives secured and no US counter moves imminent, the KnK carrier force including Konishi and Kozen joined a Japanese force around the carriers Kaga (flagship of Vice Admiral Nagumo), Hiryu and Soryu on a raid into the Indian Ocean in March 1942 which resulted in the virtual annihilation of the RIN. Konishi and Kozen made no contact with enemy surface forces during that raid. Some weeks later, the Japanese/Kokoan task force bore down on Recherche, but met more effective resistance. Under the cover of a tropical storm, the Rechercheans managed to get a powerful surface battle group into gunnery range of the Japanese/Kokoan fleet. Their battleships Fearless and Tenacious dealt very heavy damage to the escort flagship Hiei; the carriers Soryu and Umineko and the battlecruiser Kirishima were also hit. The axis carriers dispersed and retreated, flying made impossible by abysmal weather conditions. The Recherchean cruisers then gave chase, and the heavy cruiser Alexander sank a Kokoan light cruiser. Then Konishi Konishi dashed in, with the slower Kozen trying to catch up. Konishi sank the Recherchean heavy cruiser Quagi, then damaged the Recherchean flagship Tenacious so badly that the old battleship was believed sunk for several months by all Axis intelligence services. As Kozen came into range and scored several hits on Fearless, the Rechercheans disengaged. While the Japanese/Kokoan fleet returned home, the Allies executed the famous Tokyo raid, which the KnK failed to even notice in a rather embarrassing way, especially as the US task force, escorted by only a single battlecruiser, came to within sixty miles of the Kitamori, which had just completed her refit and was running her first trial. This success led to the battle of Midway, where Konishi and Kitamori operated off the Aleutians without making contact with US forces while the Japanese lost Amagi, Akagi, Kaga and Hiryu. The disaster of Midway resulted in a major fallout between Admiral Yamamoto and the Kokoan Prime Minister Morimoto himself, because Nagumo's carrier planes were sent on a wild goose chase due to a faulty sighting signal by a Kokoan scout plane (the observer apparently confused two digits in the coordinates, placing the US fleet 300 miles south of their actual position). Yamamoto famously semi-publicly declared that one would expect a rabid warmonger like Morimoto to have his pilots trained to a higher level than a bunch of illiterate baboons before sending them to battle. After this slight diplomatic hiccup, the Kokoan fleet was concentrated in the Northern Pacific to guard Koko against a possible US counterattack, while the Japanese descended upon the Solomons. This led to a series of battles around Guadalcanal, into which both sides kept feeding additional ships. As losses began to mount, Yamamoto requested Kokoan support and issued an apology. Admiral Karasawa detached Kozen and eight cruisers (two heavy, six light) as soon as Kitamori had fully worked up. A few weeks later, the decision to deploy the main strike force with two fleet carriers, the battlecruisers Konishi and Kitamori and another six cruisers was made; they narrowly missed the first climax of the Guadalcanal campaign. In November 1942, three capital ships of both sides were lost in as many days. One of them was Kozen, which previously had joined the Japanese Mutsu in sinking the battlecruiser USS America in the night from November 14th to 15th. She was sunk by precise gunfire by USS Washington, after which both sides disengaged. The US now had so many heavy units committed around Guadalcanal that Yamamoto approved a massed sortie to force a decisive surface battle. Konishi and Kitamori arrived at Rabaul only two days after the loss of Kozen and joined the Japanese battleships Musashi, Mutsu and Hiei under Admiral Abe. On December 1st, both fleets met in the battle of Tassafaronga, the largest surface engagement of the war so far. During this engagement, the US flagship, the freshly repaired USS South Dakota, whose radar still did not work reliably, came under withering fire from Konishi and Kitamori and was rendered in a sinking condition by over thirty large-caliber hits and two 609mm torpedoes from Konishi; the latter thus became the only battleship in history that ever successfully torpedoed another. South Dakota on the other hand was the only modern battleship that was sunk by WWI-era ones during the whole war. Musashi and Mutsu dealt heavy damage to the North-Carolina-class ship USS Maine, which however escaped, only to be caught and sunk by Japanese planes from Soryu the next morning. USS Oregon received a 609mm torpedo hit fired by a Kokoan destroyer into the rudder and involuntarily reversed course; USS Washington was only slightly damaged. On the axis side, Kitamori was hit three times, Mutsu five times, and Hiei and Konishi not at all; most of the fury of the four US battleships involved was directed at Musashi, which was heavily damaged by 26 hits, but also escaped, if only barely. With one Recherchean and three US cruisers lost against no Japanese cruiser losses, the battle was a clear tactical axis victory. This was how Kitamori looked during this battle, having previously been fitted with surface search radars (on both sides of the bridge tower directly below the air defence level) and 33 additional 25mm guns for a total of 57 (Konishi had only 49):
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5. Striking South-East
With the US fleet battered, the allied position on Guadalcanal was no longer tenable. The Island was eventually conquered by the Japanese on February 7th, 1943; Midway seemed avenged, and Allied fortunes in the Pacific had reached their nadir. Despite some losses taken in the second half of 1942, the combined fleet of Japan and Koko still had more carrierborne air power than the USN at that time, and struck towards the New Hebrides from late March 1943, eventually securing the archipelago by mid-April after the battle of Espiritu Santo. Konishi and Kitamori now were back with the KnK carrier force; they made no enemy contact during that engagement. Yamamoto kept the initiative and attacked New Caledonia in June against little resistance, while the USN regrouped and worked up her first three Essex-class carriers. The next axis objective was Fiji; as soon as it was secured, Port Moresby would be cut off and could be taken at leisure. The offensive commenced in early August 1943. Yamamoto deployed eight carriers, six battleships and fifteen cruisers to the first wave, including Konishi and Kitamori; another six battleships, four carriers and nine cruisers backed them up. It would be the last naval battle of the war in which the Axis enjoyed a significant numerical edge. The allies had assembled an US task force of five carriers (none of them older than six months and all very green), three fast battleships and eight cruisers and a commonwealth task force of two Recherchean carriers, two Australian and three Recherchean fast capital ship and three Australian and six Recherchean cruisers. They had collected enough signals intelligence to know what to expect, and the ensuing battle of Rotuma on August 17th, 1943 ran entirely in their favour. Although their carrierborne airplanes took heavy losses, they hit three Japanese carriers and one Kokoan. Soryu and the Kokoan Umineko were sunk. Yamamoto's carrier planes hit all five US carriers, but only the light carrier USS Crown Point was lost; both Essex-class ships sustained very heavy damage, but survived. The US task force then feinted a flank speed retreat and lured Yamamoto's fleet into a masterfully laid submarine ambush. The big, so far undamaged Ryukaku was hit by five torpedoes and sank with all hands; the Kokoan carrier Tanchozoru and the capital ships Tosa, Haruna and the Kokoan Konishi were also hit. Haruna sank outrightly, Tosa was immobilized and Konishi damaged forward, but remained capable of maneuvering. Kitamori, Kongo and Hiei escaped unharmed. With the Axis fleet in utter disarray, the Australian/Recherchean battlegroup charged in. An airstrike could be fought off, but Tosa went down under allied artillery fire, and Konishi had to fight for her bare life against HMAS Tiger, which however could be turned away after sustaining six hits. Then the US battleships Indiana, Washington and Oregon, which had just escorted their carriers to safety, re-appeared on the scene, and the retreat of the Japanese/Kokoan fleet turned to a rout. Yamamoto tried to lure them into the fangs of his backup fleet during the night, but the Allies knew what was coming and disengaged just before they came into range. The next morning, a heavy land based air strike hit Yamamoto's force, and US submarines torpedoed and sank the light carrier Ryuho. The battleships Yamato and the Kokoan Suruga were badly damaged, and Yamamoto himself was critically wounded. His second in command Admiral Kondo then had enough and ordered the fleet to retreat; Fiji would have to wait. As a final kick in the guts, the Australians and Rechercheans sunk two Kokoan light cruisers during the retreat, and Konishi lost her already damaged bow while evading the final US air attack. Four weeks after this engagement, the Americans commenced their counterattack in the Aleutians and dealt a handy defeat to the Kokoans in the Battle of Gardner. Once again, Koko's fleet was recalled, and the axis offensive in the South Pacific had ultimately faltered. While the Southern Pacific front was locked in an uneasy stalemate as both sides regrouped, Konishi and Kitamori received repairs and upgrades. Konishi got the same clipper bow Kitamori already had, and both ships landed all their secondary guns in lieu of two more 127mm DP twins, bringing their number to 16. The torpedoes were also removed, after the development of radar had made their employment in surprise night actions increasingly unlikely. Both ships already had received Japanese air search radars; during their refit, they were also fitted with Thiarian-designed fire control sets for both the heavy and the DP guns. The Kokoans combined the powerful emitter of the R1CD with the more modern receiver of the R5CD radar, creating a surprisingly effective solution which would serve their gunnery well in the battles to come. 27 additional 25mm guns were installed, most of them in unshielded single mounts, bringing the total to 84 on Kitamori and 76 on Konishi. Most of the portholes along the hull were welded shut. Kitamori re-entered service in January 1944, Konishi in April. Both looked like this:
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6. Late war actions
Yamamoto did not survive his wounds sustained in the Battle of Rotuma. His successor Admiral Koga tried to avoid another defeat like Rotuma by staying entirely passive until enough carriers of the ongoing building programme could be commissioned. Unfortunately, the Americans built faster. Even as the Americans, Australians and Rechercheans had launched an offensive to recapture New Caledonia and the New Hebrides in March 1944, Koga repeatedly failed to move at opportunities to bring the Allies to battle, citing - among other things - lack of Kokoan support as an excuse. Just when the Kokoans were prepared to give in and again send their main strength south, the US - always well informed about high level communication between Toumachi and Tokyo - attacked the Kokoans in what would become the second battle of Midway on May 5th, 1944. It was a totally one-sided affair, with three Kokoan carriers sunk by US carrier planes and the brand new large Kokoan battleship Omi by a submarine. US losses were nil. Konishi and Kitamori escaped unscathed, but did not achieve anything, either. The KnK was then concentrated around Koko mainland to fend off another US offensive, but the Americans had achieved what they wanted and rolled back the Japanese in the South without Kokoan interference. Admiral Koga was sacked and died under unclear circumstances in September 1944; he was replaced by the more energetic, but occasionally irrational Admiral Toyoda. Considerable pressure was applied to the KnK to send every available carrier plus escorts, and the Kokoans eventually acquiesced. In exchange, four older IJN battleships were sent to Koko to bolster local defences. A KnK fleet of four fast carriers, four fast capital ships and eight heavy cruisers - virtually the entire operational inventory - was dispatched to Truk in January 1945. Just before they arrived, the USN launched a massive attack on Truk, of which Japanese signals intelligence was however informed beforehand, enabling Toyoda to move the main body of the Japanese fleet to Palau. He however somehow failed to inform the Kokoans, which ran headlong into the US fleet. They almost got lucky; they tried to engage the US carrier strike force while it was recovering its planes, but came under attack of Australian and Recherchean screening forces. During this engagement Konishi had her second run-in with HMS Tiger. This time, the old Australian battlecruiser stood no chance and was sunk by two dozen shell hits. Kitamori engaged the better protected battleship HMAS Australia, but received more damage than she was able to deal, and had to disengage and retreat. The Kokoan carriers failed to engage the US carriers before they had recovered and refueled their planes and took heel before they could be crushed by the much more numerous Americans. Their planes managed to inflict considerable losses upon an US air strike launched from extreme distance, which however damaged one fleet carrier and one battleship and sank two heavy cruisers and a light one. Although a large IJN force was nearby, no support came forth; Toyoda seemed to be quite content to let the Kokoans bear the brunt of the US attack. This incident soured the relations between Japan and Koko again. It took several weeks to establish a working relationship between the fleets, which was mostly the work of Toyoda's second in command Admiral Ozawa, who managed to attain the trust of the Kokoan Admiral Minasoko. These quarrels prevented Toyoda from engaging the US during their conquest of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands between January and March 1945; several minor engagements were all lost to overwhelmingly superior enemy forces. When the US moved against Saipan in May 1945, Toyoda finally lashed out, resulting in the Battle in the Philippine Sea. Having experienced near uncontested air superiority for many months, the US aircrews expected an easy victory, but they were unprepared to face a large number of N1K3-A and A7M fighters, which were matches for the Corsair and quite superior to the Hellcat in air-to-air combat. When both fleets met in June 1945, the Americans suffered very heavy aircraft casualties, and nine of their carriers were hit. Only one Essex-class ship - the brand new USS Bennington - was lost, but the Allies also lost the light carrier Gettysburg and the Recherchean fast escort carrier Peppermint Bay, plus two US cruisers. Their own airstrikes inflicted damage to three axis carriers, one of which (Chihaya) was later finished off by a submarine; another (Hiyo) was sunk by a submarine even before the battle proper had commenced. Although round one had clearly gone to the Axis, half the US force had not yet participated, and Ozawa and Minasoko wisely called it a day and retreated before their weakened force could be mopped up by hundreds of fresh American planes. Both sides claimed victory; the pace of US advance was however not really slowed down, and within three months, the USN was preparing to retake the Philippines. Toyoda boasted that this was exactly where he wanted them, in range of nearly a thousand land-based japanese planes. The KnK dispatched every available asset, because it was clear that as soon as the Philippines were lost, Koko proper would be next. The ensuing battle in the Leyte Gulf was THE final decisive battle, exactly where Japanese pre-war planners had wanted it to occur. It became the greatest massacre of human life in the history of naval warfare. Personnel losses reached the magnitude of a World War one frontal assault; three quarters of them were Japanese and Kokoan. Konishi and Kitamori accompanied the Japanese/Kokoan Northern Force under Admiral Ozawa, which contained all axis fast fleet carriers available. After some initial successes, Ozawas fleet was horribly battered by two US carrier battlegroups and lost seven of eleven fast fleet carriers (Taiho, Shokaku, Kasagi, Chiyoda, Chitose and the Kokoan Inuwashi and Hachuko); the rest (Zuikaku, Naniwa, Aso and the Kokoan Haitaka) dispersed and fled. Attempts of fast Recherchean and US surface forces to hunt them down could be repulsed by Konishi and Kitamori, while Hiei and Iwami, the Japanese battlecruisers of the Northern Force, failed to support them despite urgent calls for help. Konishi sank the small Recherchean battlecruiser Geographe with fifteen hits, Kitamori inflicted nine on USS Alaska, eventually shaking the allied surface forces off. During the battle, for which she had been fitted with an improved radar suite, new E16A scoutplanes and painted in the new standard Kokoan camouflage, Kitamori looked like this:
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7. Rebellion
All remaining Kokoan units of the Northern Force could return home after the battle. The units with the central and southern forces were trapped in Singapore. Japanese determination to fight till the last drop of blood was unshaken by the gigantic defeat just suffered, but not shared by many on Koko; they felt having been treated as cannon fodder by the Japanese once too often. In December 1945, the Kokoans rebelled against Japanese domination, and Konishi became flagship of the rebel fleet under Admiral Karasawa. Kitamori was still under repair and sabotaged by pro-Japanese elements in January, heavily damaging her in a large explosion. When the armistice with the USA was signed in March, the Kokoans placed one battlecruiser, two aircraft carriers and seven cruisers at allied disposal, and their ships were painted in standard US camouflage with the Kokoan flag and their names prominently on their hulls. After the armistice, Konishi landed 16 of her 25mm triples and replaced them with 40mm Bofors twins; these were reverse-engineered from captured British and Dutch guns, not supplied by the USA. She retained the Thiarian-style Type 24 radar which she carried since late 1944.
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The Americans did not trust the Kokoans particularly, but they had been impressed by the performance of the co-belligerent Thiarians at Leyte and decided to give the Kokoans a chance to prove their loyalty. The Kokoan squadron - minus the carriers, which were instantly requisitioned lest some Kokoan pilot decided to switch sides again and kamikaze into an US ship - joined the US fleet heading for Okinawa in June 1946. As Konishi used quite some Thiarian-supplied electronics equipment, including a compatible TBS system, she was paired up with LT Caithreim. The two luckiest and most successful axis battleships steamed side by side with an allied fleet to deliver the coup de grace against Japan; Admiral Halsey later claimed that he ordered a subordinate to remind him that they were on his side now every five minutes lest he ordered them blown out of the water. Ironically, both came within 50 miles of Yamato during her final kamikaze sortie, but the USN sank Yamato before any shots were exchanged. Konishi was in Subic Bay when the war ended and returned to Toumachi in November 1946, where the meanwhile repaired Kitamori joined her. Both were retained by Koko under peace conditions as training vessels and administrative flagships; the other surviving battleships Nagashiro and Suruga had to be ceded to the USA. As they were quite aged, Konishi and Kitamori could only be kept in service alternately and required several lengthy refurbishments and refits. In 1956, the decision to scrap and cannibalize one to keep the other operational was made; Kitamori, which had taken worse damage during the war and was structurally less solid, was chosen to be scrapped. Konishi, which had been more succesful and was much more popular due to her role in the rebellion, was kept in service year after year dsepite ever-increasing cost; in 1969, she even was offered to the UN forces in Vietnam to provide shore bombardment, which however proved unpracticable. She was finally retired in 1973 when the cost to run her was considered ruinous. She was turned into a memorial at Toumachi, where she remains to this day.

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