At the outbreak of World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy was the third largest navy in the world, second only to the US Navy and the British Navy. As of December 1941, the Japanese fleet included 18 heavy cruisers. In general, the structure and combat composition of the fleet were more offensive than defensive in nature. Japanese heavy cruisers were large ships with exceptionally powerful gunfire and torpedoes, high sailing speeds, and significant drafts. Cruisers were excellent for conducting combat operations at night. Their significant size, combined with powerful power plants, will make it possible to modernize the cruisers with little cost, strengthening their torpedo and anti-aircraft artillery weapons. The distinctive features of the external appearance of the cruisers were the pagoda-shaped tower-superstructures, by which Japanese cruisers can be easily distinguished from the cruisers of the fleet of any other country in the world. In addition to unusual-looking superstructures, the designers also installed extremely unusual curved chimneys on the cruisers. These ships, soothing to the eyes of naval aesthetes, went through the entire crucible of the war in the Pacific Ocean.