Takao, the lead ship of her class of heavy cruisers for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), was an exceptionally powerful and well-traveled warship of World War II. She participated in nearly every major theater of the Pacific War and was the only vessel of her class to survive the conflict. Design and pre-war service A powerful design: The Takao-class was designed in the late 1920s as an improvement on the previous Myoko-class cruisers. They were built with thicker armor and a large, almost battl