In my humble opinion, the Japanese would have done well to have emulated the Americans conversion of some of our Independence-class light cruisers into aircraft carriers, because this class (though striking looking) were pretty wimpy as cruisers: 6 x 6" guns does not exactly equate to overwhelming firepower. Yahagi was skippered by Captain Tameichi Hara during Yamato's final suicidal foray, and was sunk escorting her. Hara was one of the few survivors.
Light cruiser Yahagi in the process of being sunk by US warplanes, April 7, 1945. (Sorry for the quality of the image; it was the best I could do with the original in such poor condition.)
Not Pictured: Agano, Noshiro, Sakawa.
| Year Completed | Agano: 1942 Noshiro: 1943 Yahagi: 1943 Sakawa: 1944 |
| Displacement | 8,534 tons |
| Dimensions | 571'0" x 49'10" x 18'5" |
| Speed | 35 knots |
| Armament |
6 x 6"/50 4 x 3.1"/65 AA up to 61 x 25mm AA 8 x 24" TT 16 DCs |
| Crew | ? |
