Background
Despite the success of the Tenryū-class high speed light cruiser design, the Imperial Japanese Navy realized that they would be outgunned by the larger US Navy Omaha-class of light cruisers then under development. In addition, the Tenryū-class vessels, with a maximum speed of 33 knots, were unable to keep up with the newer Japanese destroyers, such as the Minekaze-class destroyer, which had a design speed of 39 knots. At the end of 1917, plans for an additional six Tenryū-class vessels, plus three new-design 7200 ton-class scout cruisers were shelved, in place of an intermediate 5,500 ton-class vessel which could be used as both a long-range, high speed reconnaissance ship, and also as a command vessel for destroyer or submarine flotillas.
With the development of the long range oxygen-propelled Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes in the 1930s, the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff drafted plans to create a special "Night Battle Force" of torpedo-cruisers. The idea was based on Japan's success in the naval Battle of Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanese War. As the new Type 93 torpedoes had a range longer than that of contemporary battleships main battery, the concept was to have a high speed strike force attack an enemy fleet at night with a massive and overwhelming barrage of torpedoes. Major surface combatants would follow up at dawn to finish off the wounded enemy.
Ōi and Kitakami were subsequently modified with ten quadruple mount torpedo launchers (a total of 40 tubes), arranged in two broadside rows of five, i.e. 20 per side and were assigned to the CruDiv 9 of the IJN 1st Fleet. However, the rapid development of naval aviation and submarine warfare in the 1930s quickly made this plan obsolete. In January 1942, Chief of Staff Rear Admiral Matome Ugaki expressed strong disapproval of the newly remodeled torpedo cruisers and urged a revision to the Navy's tactics. While the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff debated the issue, Ōi and Kitakami were converted to high speed transports, with Daihatsu class landing craft, and Kitakami was subsequently converted into a carrier for kaiten suicide torpedoes.
Read more about this topic: Kuma Class Cruiser
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