IJN Takao (高雄 Kaohsiung?) was a Japanese heavy cruiser used primarily during the second world war as a means of firepower against allied ships. The Takao made a brief appearance in the 2023 film Godzilla Minus One, assaulting the titular monster with a barrage of fire.
Design[]
The Takao-class was meant to succeed the Myōkō-class. She was powered by 12 Kampon boilers that powered 4 turbine engines used for turning three-bladed propellers.
Other differences included thicker armor, advanced firepower, but slightly lacked in speed to its predecessor.
History[]
Godzilla Minus One[]
The Takao was leased to the Japanese for self-defense against Godzilla.
As Koichi Shikishima, Shirō Mizuhima, Yōji Akitsu, and Kenji Noda talk about Shikishima's experience on Odo Island, rising deep sea fish take their attention, and are startled once Godzilla destroys a fellow minesweeper boat in one bite. During a chase, Godzilla is hit by a mine on his back, which proved useless. They launch another mine, dumping it into his mouth, but the mine doesn't detonate due to the cord having snapped. Shikishima gets the idea of using the mounted machine gun to manually blow up the mine from inside, which is successful. As the water clears, Godzilla's blown-up head heals back together, much to the crew's shock and scare.
Before they can be killed, they are saved from death by the Takao firing at Godzilla. Godzilla's attention is driven at the large ship, called a "beast" by Mizuhima. Godzilla lunges onto the Takao and destroys the Takao's superstructure, but is knocked off by more direct cannon-fire. Just when the surviving crew, and the mostly intact ship think they're alive, a glowing blue glows from where Godzilla had been, before a beam of light is shot out and the Takao is split in half. Luckily, the wounded Godzilla flees rather than kill Shikishima and his crewmates.
Arsenal[]
- The Takao had a 127 mm thick side belt, and 35 mm thick deck, while the bridge was armored with 10 to 16 mm thick plating.
- It had an estimated total speed of 35.5 knots, and a range of 8,500 nautical miles.
- 773 people could have worked onboard.
- The final layout had ten 20 cm/50 3rd Year Type No.2 naval guns, eight Type 89 12.7 cm (5 in) dual-purpose guns, sixty Type 96 25 mm (1.0 in) AA guns, and sixteen torpedo tubes.
- The ship could carry three floatplanes and had two aircraft catapults.
Trivia[]
- In real life, the Takao was laid down in 1927 and took five years before the ship would be commissioned. It would later be surrendered to British forces on the 21st of September 1945. In the film, however, the Takao is still in service, or at least given special use for the certain occasion.
- Takao being destroyed by an up-in-the-air atomic breath underwater may be a reference to the 2021 film Godzilla vs. Kong, where Godzilla does something similar to an aircraft carrier.