Heavy cruiser Furutaka on speed trials after reconstruction off Ugurujima, 9 June 1939. The main gun director and rangefinder tower on the top of the bridge had not yet been installed. (Colorized) Furutaka was the lead ship in the two-vessel Furutaka-class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship was named after Mount Furutaka, located on Etajima, Hiroshima, immediately behind the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy. She was commissioned in 1926 and was sunk 12 October 1942 by USS Salt Lake City and USS Buchanan at the Battle of Cape Esperance. Furutaka's original appearance, 1926. (Colorized) Furutaka and Kinugasa seen from Kako in the Strait of Bungo, October 1941. (Colorized) Furutaka at anchor off Shinagawa, Japan, on 4-10 October 1935. The three bands painted on her after smokestack signify that she is the third ship of the 6th Sentai (squadron). The cruisers Aoba and Kinugasa, also members of Sentai 6, are in the left distance. (Naval History & Heritage...