the lead ship of two Aoba class heavy cruisers (Aoba 青葉 & Kinugasa 衣笠)
Commissioned: 20 September 1927
Battle of Guam [8~10 Dec 1941]
Battle of the Coral Sea [4~8 May 1942]
Battle of Savo Island (First Battle of the Solomon Sea) [8~9 Aug 1942]
Battle of Cape Esperance (Second Battle of Savo Island) [11~12 Oct 1942]
Repair at Kure [22 Oct 1942 - No. 3 turret was covered over with steel plates & a Type 96 triple-mount 25-mm AA gun.
Repair at Truk [1 Aug 1943] - Restored 200 mm (8 in) guns to the No. 3 turret and a Type 21 air-search radar and two Type 96 twin-mount 25-mm AA guns were installed.
Refit at Singapore [Jul 1944] - Added four triple-mount and 15 single-mount Type 96 25-mm AA guns and a Type 22 surface-search radar.
[23 Oct 1944] Aoba was hit by one torpedo from submarine USS Bream.
Back to Kure [12 Dec 1944] - Aoba was declared irreparable and as a reserve ship.
[24 Apr 1945] Aoba was further damaged by bombing, and settled on the shallow bottom of the harbor. Four twin 25-mm AA guns were added around the mainmast (total number of 25-mm guns was 50 barrels (5x3, 10x2, 15x1). Aoba was used as a floating anti-aircraft battery.
[24 Jul 1945] Aoba was sunk by ~30 planes from Task Force 38.
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