Japanese cruiser Myōkō
1927 Myōkō-class cruiser
Myōkō (妙高) was the lead ship of the four-member Myōkō class of heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), which were active in World War II. She was named after Mount Myōkō in Niigata Prefecture. The other ships of the class were Nachi, Ashigara, and Haguro.
Background
Myōkō was approved under the 1922–1929 Fleet Modernization Program, as the first heavy cruiser to be built by Japan within the design constraints imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty, and was the first of the "10,000 ton" cruisers built by any nation. Naval architect Vice Admiral Yuzuru Hiraga was able to keep the design from becoming dangerously top-heavy in its early years by continually rejecting demands from the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff for additional equipment to the upper decks. During modifications and rebuildings in the 1930s, though, the final displacement rose to 15,933 tons, well over the treaty limits.
Design
The Myōkō class displaced 13,500 t (13,300 long tons), with a hull design based on an enlarged version of the Aoba-class cruiser. Myōkō was 203.8 metres (669 ft) long, with a beam of 19.5 metres (64 ft) and draft of 6.36 metres (20.9 ft), and was capable of 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph).
Propulsion was by 12 Kampon boilers driving four sets of single-impulse, geared-turbine engines, with four shafts turning three-bladed propellers. The ship was armored with a 102 mm (4 in) side belt, and 35 mm (1 in) armored deck, but the bridge was not armored.
Myōkō’s main battery was ten 20 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns, the heaviest armament of any heavy cruiser in the world at the time, mounted in five twin turrets.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Japanese cruiser Myōkō” is 1927 Myōkō-class cruiser. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Japanese, cruiser and Myōkō, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1927 Myōkō-class cruiser” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1851781. Authority coordinates are 3.083, 100.667. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1922 and 1929.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Japanese cruiser Myōkō”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Japanese cruiser Myōkō primary sources, Japanese cruiser Myōkō archive and Japanese research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Japanese cruiser Myōkō”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Japanese cruiser Myōkō” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.