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Completed in 1932, with a theoretical weight of 9,850 tons, Chokai was another of the Japanese heavy cruisers designed within the limitations of the Washington Treaty. With ten 8" guns and able to make 33 knots, she was practically a small battleship, and certainly could elude any conventional battleship of the period.

In profile, she resembled the Aoba-class cruiers, but with five turrets: three forward and two aft. She also had a seaplane catapult.

Chokai  was active throughout the entire  Pacific War, taking part in  the Malay  Campaign, the First Battle of the Solomon Sea, the battles around Guadalcanal,  and the  Marianas.

Chokai lasted long enough to participate in the last sortie of the Yamato in April, 1945.

Sources: Public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

and pictures from my father's 1943 Naval Recognition Manual

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