IJN Furutaka

This page is about the Japanese heavy cruiser IJN Furutaka. For other uses, see Furutaka (Family).

IJN Furutaka

IJN Kako

IJN Aoba

IJN Furutaka

IJN Kako

IJN Aoba

Japan

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.7	5.7	5.7

Class:

Heavy cruiser

Research:75 000

Purchase:250 000

Description

The Furutaka-class, IJN Furutaka, 1942 is a rank IV Japanese heavy cruiser with a battle rating of 5.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.89 "Imperial Navy".

With the arm races during late 1930s rendered the Warshington naval treaty null and void, the Imperial Japanese Navy started a massive modernization program for most, if not all of their ships. The IJN Furutaka is one of the ship to receive a major overhaul. With the weight restrictions removed, the Furutaka's beam were widened to accommodate new machinery, such as replacing the six single 200 mm turrets with three improved twin 203 mm 3rd year turrets, an addition of torpedo bulges, replacing the hull-mounted torpedo tubes with a conventional launchers with the famous Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes, improved Kampon boilers to maintain the ship's mobility with her increased weight, as well as improved anti-air defense. Compared to her sister ship Kako, the Furutaka lean more towards a conventional heavy cruiser, features good continous firepower and various weaponry to deal with all kinds of targets.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Citadel76 / 76 / 35 mm

Main fire tower25 / 25 / 25 mm

Hull25 mm (steel)

Superstructure10 mm (steel)

Number of section9

Displacement11 273 t

Crew680 people

The Furutaka's armour layout is mostly the same with her sister ship Kako with some improvements, most notably the addition of 57 mm of RHA around her ammo elevators that made it less prone to damage, as well as a torpedo bulge capable of taking up to 250 kg of torpedo hit. One negative change being that a small coal bunker strip on the upper midship section were removed, thought this reduced protection is mostly negligible.

As with the Kako, Furutaka's armour is very effective when angled properly. Since the Furutaka has more crews than the Kako (680 men compared to Kako's 616) and only has few extra AA mounts, she can survive a bit longer than her sister ship.

The Furutaka retains the unique fire resistant characteristics from the Kako, meaning that she will suffer less casualties from a fire damage and sometime doesn't lose any at all. This made the Furutaka much more beginner friendly than other ships at her rank, as well as highly survivable with proper damage control.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB71 / 23 km/h

RB61 / 20 km/h

Write about the ship's mobility. Evaluate its power and manoeuvrability, rudder rerouting speed, stopping speed at full tilt, with its maximum forward and reverse speed.

Mobility Characteristics
Game Mode	Upgrade Status	Maximum Speed (km/h)		Turn Time (s)	Turn Radius (m)
		Forward	Reverse
AB	Stock	___	___
	Upgraded	71	23
RB/SB	Stock	___	___
	Upgraded	61	20

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB9 750 → 13 162

RB9 462 → 12 773

Total cost of modifications69 300

132 200

Talisman cost1 500

Crew training72 000

Experts250 000

Aces940

Research Aces480 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

430 / 600 / 100 %

166 / 166 / 166 %

Modifications

Seakeeping	Unsinkability	Firepower
Dry-Docking Research: 2 700 Cost: 5 200 180 Rudder Replacement Research: 3 000 Cost: 5 800 200 Propeller Replacement Research: 3 300 Cost: 6 400 220 Engine Maintenance Research: 5 400 Cost: 10 000 360	Damage Control Division Research: 2 700 Cost: 5 200 180 Fire Division Research: 3 000 Cost: 5 800 200 Smokescreen Research: 3 000 Cost: 5 800 200 Shrapnel Protection Research: 3 300 Cost: 6 400 220 Ventilation Research: 3 300 Cost: 6 400 220 New Pumps Research: 5 400 Cost: 10 000 360 Ammo Wetting Research: 5 400 Cost: 10 000 360	Anti-Air Armament Targeting Research: 2 700 Cost: 5 200 180 200mm_jp_type0_aa_distant_fuse_navy_he_ammo_pack Research: 2 700 Cost: 5 200 180 200mm_jp_type88_navy_apc_ammo_pack Research: 2 700 Cost: 5 200 180 200mm_jp_type0_aa_distant_fuse_navy_he_ammo_pack Research: 2 700 Cost: 5 200 180 Auxiliary Armament Targeting Research: 3 000 Cost: 5 800 200 120mm_jp_type0_distant_fuse_naval_he_ammo_pack Research: 3 000 Cost: 5 800 200 Primary Armament Targeting Research: 3 300 Cost: 6 400 220 Improved Rangefinder Research: 3 300 Cost: 6 400 220 Hydroplane Research: 5 400 Cost: 10 000 360

Armament

Primary armament

3 х Turret2 x 20 cm/50 3rd year type No.2 cannon

Ammunition240 rounds

Vertical guidance-5° / 55°

Provide information about the characteristics of the primary armament. Evaluate their efficacy in battle based on their reload speed, ballistics and the capacity of their shells. Add a link to the main article about the weapon: {{main|Weapon name (calibre)}}. Broadly describe the ammunition available for the primary armament, and provide recommendations on how to use it and which ammunition to choose.

Secondary armament

4 х Turret120 mm/45 10th year type cannon

Ammunition250 rounds

Some ships are fitted with weapons of various calibres. Secondary armaments are defined as weapons chosen with the control Select secondary weapon. Evaluate the secondary armaments and give advice on how to use them. Describe the ammunition available for the secondary armament. Provide recommendations on how to use them and which ammunition to choose. Remember that any anti-air armament, even heavy calibre weapons, belong in the next section. If there is no secondary armament, remove this section.

Anti-aircraft armament

4 х Turret2 x 25 mm/60 Type 96 automatic cannon

Ammunition3000 rounds

Belt capacity15 rounds

Fire rate261 shots/min

2 х Turret2 x 13.2 mm Type 93 machine gun

Ammunition3600 rounds

Belt capacity30 rounds

Fire rate476 shots/min

An important part of the ship's armament responsible for air defence. Anti-aircraft armament is defined by the weapon chosen with the control Select anti-aircraft weapons. Talk about the ship's anti-air cannons and machine guns, the number of guns and their positions, their effective range, and about their overall effectiveness – including against surface targets. If there are no anti-aircraft armaments, remove this section.

Additional armament

Setup 116 x 610 mm Type 93 Model 1, Mod 2 torpedo

Describe the available additional armaments of the ship: depth charges, mines, torpedoes. Talk about their positions, available ammunition and launch features such as dead zones of torpedoes. If there is no additional armament, remove this section.

Usage in battles

Describe the technique of using this ship, the characteristics of her use in a team and tips on strategy. Abstain from writing an entire guide – don't try to provide a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought. Talk about the most dangerous opponents for this vehicle and provide recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of playing with this vehicle in various modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Powerful main armament
  • Accurate 6 x 203 mm (8 inch) cannons with good reload time
  • Can do full boardsides from an even more steep angles compared to the Kako
  • Very powerful APBC shell
• Great survivability
  • Can take a lot of punishments when angled properly
  • Resilient against fire damage
• Decent mobility for a heavy cruiser
• Equipped with powerful 16 x Type 93 torpedoes

Cons:

• Early war Japanese fit
  • Main turrets can be easily knocked out
  • Slow turret traverse
  • Weak anti-air capability
• Torpedo turrets can't both be used at once and has to turn the whole hull to make use of the other
• Large target and usually priority targeted over other vessels

History

Furutaka, although being the lead ship of her class, was laid down after her sister ship Kako in December 1922 at the Mitsubishi shipyard in Nagasaki. Despite construction on Furutaka starting later than on her sister ship, she was completed sooner and was commissioned into service with the IJN in March 1926.

During the interwar period, Furutaka served alongside her sistership before being assigned as a reserve in the early 1930s. During this time, Furutaka underwent overhaul work which, amongst other changes, modernized her anti-air armament. Following the completion of the modernization effort, Furutaka was recommissioned into active service.

However, by 1937 Furutaka found herself once again in drydock for another major overhaul. This time around, Furutaka received upgrades in almost all aspects. Most notably, her primary armament was upgraded to three dual 8-inch guns, a number of smaller calibre AA weapons were added and the previously integrated torpedo launchers were replaced with two quadruple launchers abaft of the funnels. This increased Furutaka's overall displacement significantly, prompting the addition of bulges to the hull in order to preserve stability and also act as an additional layer of torpedo protection.

Modernized for war, Furutaka began her service career by taking part in the invasion of Guam in December 1941 and later, Wake Island. In early 1942, Furutaka assisted in Japanese landings in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Furutaka also took part in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, securing the capture of Tulai island, escorting the Shōhō carrier, and then escorting the damaged aircraft carrier Shōkaku back to Truk. After reorganization in the Japanese navy, Furutaka participated in the successful Battle of Savo Island, witnessing the sinking of her sister ship Kako while Japanese forces returned to Rabaul. However, Furutaka joined her sister ship in the deep shortly afterwards, being sunk by American fire during the Battle of Cape Esperance later in October 1942.

- From Devblog

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the ship;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Development] Furutaka: Readied for War

Japan heavy cruisers
Furutaka-class	IJN Furutaka · IJN Kako
Aoba-class	IJN Aoba
Myōkō-class	IJN Myoko · IJN Haguro
Mogami-class	IJN Mogami
Tone-class	IJN Tone