The Sendai-class light cruisers (川内型軽巡洋艦, Sendai-gata keijun'yōkan) were a class of three warships operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The vessels in the class were named after rivers according to the navy's light cruiser naming rule. They participated in numerous actions during the Pacific War and were mainly used as destroyer flotilla leaders.

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Quick Facts Class overview, General characteristics ...

Sendai, note the wider third funnel
Class overview
Name	Sendai class
Builders	Mitsubishi Shipyard, Nagasaki Kawasaki Shipyard, Kobe Yokohama Dock Company Sasebo Naval Arsenal
Operators	Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by	Nagara class
Succeeded by	Agano class
Built	1922-1925
In commission	1924-1944
Planned	8
Completed	3
Cancelled	5
Lost	3
General characteristics
Type	Light cruiser
Displacement	5,195 long tons (5,278 t) (standard) 5,595 long tons (5,685 t) (full load)
Length	158.53 m (520 ft 1 in) (waterline) 162.15 m (532 ft 0 in) o/a
Beam	14.17 m (46 ft 6 in)
Draft	4.8 m (15 ft 9 in)
Depth	8.85 m (29 ft 0 in)
Installed power	90,000 shp (67,000 kW) 154kW 110V electrical[1]
Propulsion	4 × geared steam turbines (Brown-Curtiss in Jintsū, Parsons in Sendai and Naka) 12 × Kampon boilers (8 x oil-fed and 4 x coal-fed) (initial powerplant); 10 × Kampon oil-fed boilers (after 1934) 4 × shafts
Speed	35.25 kn (65.28 km/h; 40.56 mph)
Range	5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	440
Armament	Sendai, 1924: 7 × 140 mm (5.5 in)/50 guns 2 × 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval gun (anti-aircraft guns) 8 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes (4x2) 16 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedoes 56 × naval mines Naka, Spring 1941: 7 × 140 mm (5.5 in) guns 4 × Type 96 25 mm (0.98 in) anti-aircraft autocannons (2x2) 2 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) anti-aircraft machine guns (2x1) 8 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes (4x2) 16 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedoes some depth charges Naka, March 1943: 6 × 140 mm (5.5 in) guns 2 × 127 mm (5 in)/40 dual purpose guns (1x2) 10 × 25 mm (0.98 in) AAGs (2x3, 2x2) 2 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) anti-aircraft machine guns (1x2) 8 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes (4x2) 16 × 610 mm (24 in) Type 93 torpedoes some depth charges
Armor	Deck: 2.9 cm (1.1 in) Belt: 6.4 cm (2.5 in)
Aircraft carried	1 × wheeled fighter 1 × floatplane (1933)
Aviation facilities	1 × flying-off platform 1 × catapult (1933)

Close

The Sendai-class light cruisers were a development of the preceding Nagara class. Their boilers were better located, and they had four funnels instead of three. Each ship was designed with a flying-off platform and hangar, but did not actually carry aircraft until a catapult system was installed in 1929.

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Eight additional 5,500-ton cruisers were planned to be built under the Eight-eight fleet Program. Four Sendai-class light cruisers were authorised to be constructed in Japan in 1921 and were laid down, but the last — Kako — was scrapped on the slipway in accordance with the regulations of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty. The other three were sunk during World War II. Another four units were authorised to be built to the same design in 1922, but were cancelled following the signing of the Treaty after Japan decided that future cruiser construction would focus on heavy cruisers (the heavy cruisers Furutaka and Kako were built in place of two of the five cancelled Sendai Class cruisers).