was one of four s built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1910s. Completed in 1915, the ship played minor roles in World War I and the Second Sino-Japanese War, but she was very active during the Pacific War. Kirishima patrolled on occasion off the Chinese coast during World War I, and helped with rescue efforts following the 1923 Great Kantà  earthquake.
Starting in 1927, Kirishimas first reconstruction rebuilt her as a battleship, strengthening her armor and improving her speed. From 1934, a second reconstruction completely rebuilt her superstructure, upgraded her propulsion machinery, and equipped her with launch catapults for floatplanes. Now fast enough to accompany Japan's growing carrier fleet, she was reclassified as a fast battleship. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Kirishima acted primarily as a support vessel and troop transport, moving army troops to mainland China. On the eve of the Pacific War, she sailed as part of Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's Kido Butai as an escort for the six carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
As part of the Third Battleship Division, Kirishima participated in many of the Imperial Japanese Navy's early actions in 1942, providing support for the invasion of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and in the Indian Ocean raid from February to April 1942, during which she helped to sink the destroyer USS Edsall and the Dutch patrol ship Hoofdinspecteur Zeeman. During the Battle of Midway, she escorted Nagumo's four carriers, before redeploying to the Solomon Islands during the Battle of Guadalcanal. She escorted Japanese carrier fleets during the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Islands, before sailing as part of a bombardment force under Admiral Nobutake Kondà  during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
On the evening of 13 November 1942, Kirishima engaged American cruisers and destroyers alongside her sister ship . On the night of 14/15 November, in one of only two battleship duels of the Pacific War, Kirishima attacked and badly damaged the American battleship before being fatally wounded in turn by 16-inch (406 mm) gunfire from the battleship . Kirishima capsized and sank in the early morning on 15 November in Ironbottom Sound.
The Kongà Â-class battlecruisers were designed by the British naval architect Sir George Thurston as an improved version of the British , based on specifications provided by the IJN. They have been called the battlecruiser version of the British (formerly Turkish) battleship with their heavy armament and armor protection (which took up 23.3% of their approximately 30,000 ton displacement).
As built, the Kongà Âs were long overall, had a beam of and a mean draught of . Kirishima displaced at normal load. Their crew numbered 1,221 officers and ratings.
The Kongà Â-class ships were powered by two Parsons direct-drive steam turbine sets, each driving two propeller shafts using steam provided by 36 mixed-firing Yarrow boilers. The turbines were designed to produce which was intended give the ships a speed of . They carried of coal and of fuel oil which was sprayed on the coal to increase its temperature. This gave them a range of at .
The main battery of the Kongà Âs consisted of eight guns in four twin turrets, one superfiring pair each fore and aft of the superstructure. The turrets were noted by the US Office of Naval Intelligence to be "similar to the British 15-inch turrets", with improvements made in flash-tightness. Each of her main guns could fire high-explosive or armor-piercing shells a maximum distance of at a firing rate of two shells per minute. The ship's magazines could accommodate ninety rounds of ammunition for each of the main guns, which had an approximate barrel life of 250âÂÂ280 shots. In 1941, dyes were introduced for the armor-piercing shells of the four Kongà Â-class battleships, with Kirishimas shells using blue dye.
Her secondary battery was originally sixteen 50-caliber medium guns in single casemates (all located amidships), eight anti-aircraft guns, and eight submerged torpedo tubes. The sixteen 6-inch/50 caliber guns were capable of firing 5âÂÂ6 rounds per minute, with a barrel life of 500 rounds. The 6-inch/50 caliber gun was capable of firing both antiaircraft and antiship shells, though the positioning of the guns on Kirishima made antiaircraft firing impractical. During her second reconstruction, the 3-inch guns were removed and replaced with eight guns. These guns could fire between 8 and 14 rounds per minute, with a barrel life of 800âÂÂ1500 rounds. Designed to fire antiaircraft, antiship, and illumination shells, the 5-inch/40 caliber had the widest variety of shot type of Kirishimas guns. During her second reconstruction, Kirishima was also fitted with a small number of Type 96 antiaircraft autocannons.
Kirishima was named after Mount Kirishima in accordance with the Japanese ship-naming conventions. The class was ordered in November 1910 with the name ship of the class to built in Britain and the others in Japan with significant British aid. The ship was laid down on 17 March 1912 at Mitsubishi's shipyard in Nagasaki. Due to a shortage of available slipways, Kirishima and her sister were the first two capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy to be built in private Japanese shipyards. Kirishima was launched on 1 December 1913 and commissioned on 19 April 1915.
The sisters were then assigned to the 1st Battleship Division of the First Fleet. After seven months of trials, she was reassigned to the 3rd Battleship Division of the Second Fleet, with Captain Shima Takeshi in overall command of the ship. In April 1916, Kirishima and Haruna departed Sasebo Naval Base to patrol the East China Sea for ten days. She remained in Sasebo until April 1917, when she again deployed to the Chinese coast with her sisters and . Her last patrol operation of World War I was off the Chinese and Korean coast in April 1918. In July 1918, Kirishima acted as the transport of Prince Arthur of Connaught for his extended cruise to Canada, before returning to Japan.
Following the end of World War I, the Japanese Empire gained control of former German possessions in the central Pacific per the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Due to Japan's warm relations with the British Empire and the United States at the time, Kirishima and other Japanese warships became significantly less active than during the war. On 1 December 1920, she was reassigned to the Third Division of the Second Fleet. Other than a patrol alongside Kongà  and off the Chinese coast in August 1921, Kirishima remained in Sasebo. On 10 September 1922, she collided with the destroyer during fleet maneuvers, with both ships sustaining minor damage. Following the Great Kantà  earthquake of September 1923, the capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy assisted in rescue work until the end of the month. She was placed in reserve in December 1923.
With the conclusion of World War I and the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, the size of the Imperial Japanese Navy was significantly lessened, with a ratio of 5:5:3 required between the capital ships of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. The treaty also banned Japan from building any new capital ships until 1931, with no capital ship permitted to exceed 35,000 tons. Provided that new additions did not exceed 3,000 tons, existing capital ships were permitted to be upgraded with improved torpedo bulges and deck armor. By the time the Washington Treaty had been fully implemented in Japan, only three classes of World War I-era capital shipsâÂÂthe and battleships, and the Kongà Â-class battlecruisersâÂÂremained active.
Stripped of the ability to construct new capital ships, the Imperial Japanese Navy instead opted to significantly upgrade and reconfigure their existing battleships and battlecruisers. Kirishima was placed in Third Reserve in December 1926, before beginning her first reconstruction in early 1927. Horizontal armor over the ammunition magazines was strengthened, and she was also fitted with anti-torpedo bulges, as permitted by the Washington Treaty. To upgrade Kirishimas speed, the 36 coal-fired Yarrow boilers were removed and replaced with ten new mixed-firing Kampon boilers. To allow for more equipment to be installed on board, her forward superstructure was reconstructed in the Pagoda mast style, requiring removal of one of her three funnels. The reconstruction of the Kongà Â-class battlecruisers added an additional 4,000 tons of armor to the ships, directly violating the terms of the Washington Treaty. On 16 April 1930, the reconstruction was declared complete.
Six days after Kirishimas reconstruction was completed, Japan pledged to scrap several battleships and signed the London Naval Treaty, which placed further bans on capital ship construction until 1937. From August to October 1930, she was outfitted with the equipment necessary to equip reconnaissance seaplanes. Kirishima patrolled the coast of China near Shanghai in April 1932, before she was again placed in the Third Reserve.
In September 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria. On 25 February 1933, based on a report by the Lytton Commission, the League of Nations agreed that Japan had violated Chinese sovereignty in its invasion of Manchuria. Refusing to accept the organization's judgment, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations the same day. Immediately following, Japan also withdrew from the Washington and London Naval Treaties, thus removing all restrictions on the number and size of her capital ships.
On 18 November 1934, Kirishima was drydocked in Sasebo Naval Arsenal in preparation for her second reconstruction, which would enable her to function alongside Japan's growing fleet of fast carriers. Her stern was lengthened by , while her superstructure was rebuilt to allow for new fire-control mechanisms. Her boilers were removed and replaced with eight new oil-fired Kampon Boilers, and she received newer geared turbines. The elevation of her main and secondary battery was increased, and she was equipped with two Nakajima E8N "Dave" and Kawanishi E7K "Alf" reconnaissance floatplanes. To this end, aircraft catapults and launch-rails were also refitted. Her older 3-inch guns were removed and replaced with eight 5-inch dual-purpose guns. She was also outfitted with twenty Type 96 25 mm antiaircraft guns in twin mounts, while two of her 6-inch guns and her remaining torpedo tubes were removed. Kirishimas armor was also extensively upgraded. Her main belt was strengthened to a uniform thickness of 8 inches (as opposed to varying thicknesses of 6âÂÂ8 inches before the upgrades), while diagonal bulkheads of a depth ranging from reinforced the main armored belt. The turret armor was strengthened to , while were added to portions of the deck armor. The armor around her ammunition magazines was also strengthened over the course of the refit. The reconstruction was declared complete on 8 June 1936. Capable of speeds of up to , Kirishima was reclassified as a fast battleship.
In August 1936, Kirishima departed Sasebo alongside to patrol the Chinese coast off Amoy. From March 1937 to April 1939, she was frequently deployed as a support vessel and troop transport during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In November 1938, Kirishima was designated the command vessel of the Third Battleship Division, and was under the command of Rear Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. In November 1939, she was placed in reserve and fitted with additional armor on the front faces of her turrets and barbettes.
On 11 November 1941, after a series of transfers between Japanese naval bases, Kirishima was outfitted in preparation for coming hostilities and assignedâÂÂalongside her sister shipsâÂÂto the Third Battleship Division. On the 17th, Kirishima along with Hiei departed Sasebo naval base for the destination of Hitokappu Bay, Kurile Islands, where she arrived on the 22nd. Kirishima and Hiei gathered in port with the six Japanese aircraft carriers of the First Air Fleet Striking Force, also known as the Kido Butai, , , , , , and , alongside two heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and nine destroyers, with a secret mission known only to the command staff of each ship. It was only after Kirishima and the rest of the fleet departed Hitokappu Bay on 26 November that her crew learned of the mission's intent, a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that would begin the Pacific war and result in Japan and the United States of America entering WW2. Kirishima would escort the aircraft carriers to their destination until the 7th of December saw the attack commence and air attacks ravage the naval base, before Kirshima escorted the carriers back to Japan where she arrived at Kure on 24 December. Three days later Kirishima was drydocked for maintenance and was undocked another three days later and departed Kure for Hashirajima.
On 8 January 1942, Kirishima departed Japan for Truk Naval Base in the Caroline Islands alongside the Carrier Strike Force. She provided escort during the invasion of New Britain on 17 January before returning to Truk. She sortied again in response to American carrier raids in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands at the start of February, before spending the next three weeks transiting between naval ports with her sister ships. On 21 February, Kirishima arrived at Staring Bay along with Kongà  and Hiei to join the Kido Butai and their escorts for operations off Java in the Dutch East Indies, departing 4 days later.
On 1 March 1942, one of Kirishimas floatplanes attempted to bomb an enemy merchant vessel. However, south of Java, the Japanese fleet was surprised by the appearance of the destroyer which was attempting to escape the Dutch East Indies for safety in Australia. Initially mistaking Edsall for an Omaha class light cruiser, Kirishima joined Hiei and the heavy cruisers Tone and Chikuma in chasing the destroyer, but did not join Hiei and Chikuma in opening fire at 27,900 yards, which achieved several straddles but not a direct hit. However, dive bombers from Akagi, Sà Âryà «, and Hiryà « disabled Edsall and set her on fire with one hit and one near miss. Now correctly identifying Edsall as a destroyer, Kirishima finally opened fire with both her main and secondary battery at 19,400 yards shortly joined by Hiei, then Tone and Chikuma, and 13 minutes later Edsall succumbed to a hail of 14-inch (356 mm), 8-inch (203 mm), and 6-inch (152 mm) gunfire and sank with the loss of 196 men. During a 90 second film reel taken by Tone of Edsall sinking, a 14-inch (356 mm) shell hit from Kirishima lifted the destroyer out of the water.
On 5 March, Kirishima and Hiei were still patrolling off Java when they stumbled upon the Dutch patrol ship Hoofdinspecteur Zeeman, which had already been damaged by an air raid the previous day. Kirishima and Hiei opened fire and sank the patrol ship with ease. After another week of escorting the carrier fleet, during which the Dutch East Indies surrendered to Japan, Kirishima returned to Staring Bay on the 11th.
In April 1942, Kirishima and the Third Battleship Division joined five fleet carriers and two cruisers in an attack against British naval bases in the Indian Ocean. On 5 AprilâÂÂEaster SundayâÂÂthe Japanese fleet attacked the harbor at Colombo in Ceylon, sinking the destroyer HMS Tenedos and the armed merchant cruiser HMS Hector, while seaplanes from the spotted the heavy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire, both of which were later sunk by aerial attack. A floatplane from Kirishima also strafed a withdrawing oil tanker. On 8 April, Japanese carrier aircraft attacked the Royal Navy base at Trincomalee in Ceylon, only to find that all of Admiral James Somerville's remaining warships had withdrawn the previous night; they still sank the cargo ship SS Sagaing. Returning from the attack, a floatplane from Kirishimas sister ship Haruna spotted the aircraft carrier and escorting destroyer , which were quickly sunk by a massive aerial attack. Upon returning to Japan, Kirishima was drydocked and her secondary armament configuration modified with the addition of 25 mm antiaircraft guns in twin mounts.
On 27 May 1942, Kirishima departed Hashirajima to escort Admiral Nagumo's Carrier Strike Force for what became the Battle of Midway, providing escort for Akagi, Kaga, Sà Âryà «, and Hiryà « alongside Haruna. The battle began on the 4th of June as the carriers attacked Midway Island, and at 7:10, Kirishima was operating abreast of Akagi when the group was attacked by US air-force B-26 bombers. Kirishima would assist Japanese fighters with her AA complement - including firing type 3 AA shells from her 14-inch (356 mm) guns - and helped to shoot down two bombers, one of which attempted to crash into Akagi's bridge before missing.
At 8:25, Kirishima continued to escort the carriers, sailing alongside the light cruiser , when the four ships were spotted by the periscope of the submarine , with Kirishima appearing to spot the periscope and opening fire with her secondary battery. Nautilus fired two torpedoes from her bow tubes at Kirishima at a range of , before diving away. One of the torpedoes malfunctioned, while Kirishima evaded the other by turning away to the south. Nautilus was then depth charged by Nagara and the destroyers, before the destroyer was left to pin the submarine down while the other ships continued with the carriers. After failing to sink Nautilus, Arashi resumed course to rejoin the fleet, and was spotted by two squadrons of aircraft from USS Enterprise allowing them to find the Japanese carriers. Between 10:22 to 10:30, dive bombers from Enterprise fatally wounded Akagi and Kaga, while dive bombers from USS Yorktown mangled Sà Âryà «.
Later that day, dive bombers from Enterprise would succeed in bombing Hiryà « beyond saving, and result in the last Japanese aircraft carrier being scuttled like her fallen companions. When attempts to save Hiryà « were being undertaken, Kirishima was ordered to sail to her location and tow the crippled aircraft carrier. When arriving to Hiryà «'s position, the burning carrier illuminated Kirishima and put her at threat of submarine attacks, which contributed to the decision to finally abandon Hiryà «. Kirishima would instead only take on many of Hiryà «'s over 900 survivors from destroyer division 10's , and . Kirishima returned to Hashirajima on 14 June.
Kirishima sailed to Kure on 9 July where she received AA upgrades and new floatplanes, before escorting Shà Âkaku and Zuikaku to Truk, but on the 20th the route was cancelled as the fleet refueled from oilers before sailing to Guadalcanal to counterattack American carrier operations. This would culminate in the battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August in which Shà Âkaku and Zuikaku dueled the aircraft carriers Enterprise and USS Saratoga. They crippled Enterprise with three bomb hits but in turn Saratoga aircraft sank the detached light carrier Ryà «jà  while land-based aircraft sank the destroyer Mutsuki and the troop transport Kinryu Maru. The main fleet came under light attacks first by a scout plane from Enterprise then by B-17 bombers, lightly damaging Shà Âkaku with near misses but achieving nothing else, with Kirishima seeing little action during the engagement. A four-day journey saw Kirishima travel with the fleet to Truk, where Kirishima remained on guard duty outside the naval base for another two days until being allowed to retire, refueling from the fleet oiler Tatekawa Maru. From 10-23 September, Kirishima joined Kongà  and Haruna to escort the fleet on patrol duty in the Solomon Islands, then underwent maintenance and guard duty.
On 11 October, Kirishima departed Truk as part of the escort for the aircraft carriers Shà Âkaku, Zuikaku, and Junyà  and the light carrier Zuihà  on another attempt to lure American carriers into battle and sink them. From the 12th to 15th, Kirishima and Hiei took a detour as distant cover for Kongà  and Haruna's bombardment of Henderson field, and then for the bombardment conducted by the heavy cruisers Chà Âkai and Kinugasa, before returning to the main fleet. During their absence, planes from Zuikaku sank the destroyer USS Meredith. On the 25th, a Catalina flying boat spotted the Japanese fleet, but Kirishima's floatplane badly damaged the American aircraft and chased it off. Later that day a flight of six B-17s attacked Kirishima but failed to inflict damage. The next day saw the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Hornet face the Japanese ships, badly damaging the Shà Âkaku and the heavy cruiser Chikuma with bomb hits but failing to score any sinkings as Kirishima let loose with her AA defense against the American planes. Kirishima was attacked by three SBD dive bombers but not hit. In turn, Japanese aircraft left Hornet on the edge of sinking, until the destroyers Akigumo and Makigumo finished it off 12 hours later. Japanese aircraft also sank the destroyer USS Porter, and badly damaged several other American ships, ending the battle in a Japanese victory as Kirishima returned to Truk on 30 October.
On 9 November 1942, Kirishima departed Truk alongside Hiei and eleven destroyers in preparation for a second bombardment mission on Henderson Field, a former Japanese air base which had been captured by the Americans and used against Japanese shipping to great effect. The previous bombardment by Kongà  and Haruna is considered the most successful Japanese battleship action of the war but was not enough to capture the airfield just yet, so Kirishima and Hiei were to enact the same plan yet again. They would sail with the light cruiser Nagara and 11 destroyers as escorts. They sailed smoothly for the first days of their journey, but rain squalls broke up the destroyer formation and left them operating in small clusters. However, by 1:25 on the 13th, signs of enemy ships began to appear. As it turned out, the force was spotted by US Navy reconnaissance aircraft several days in advance. The US deployed a force of 2 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers and 8 destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan to meet the Japanese force in Ironbottom Sound, and at the exact moment the Japanese spotted the American ships, the light cruiser USS Helena located the Japanese ships on radar at 27,000 yards. Over the next 25 minutes, both fleets closed to point blank range. At 1:50, Hiei and the destroyer Akatsuki ignited their searchlights and illuminated the light cruiser USS Atlanta. American ships then sank Akatsuki with a hail of gunfire while Hiei bombarded Atlanta with her 14-inch (356 mm) guns before the cruiser was torpedoed by the destroyer Ikazuchi and sank hours later, opening up the first naval battle of Guadalcanal. However, Kirishima and Hiei were loaded with type 3 AA shells in their main guns, which carried limited effectiveness in damaging enemy ships; handicapping them for the duration of the battle.
Just before 2:00, Kirishima and Hiei trained their guns on the Allied flagship, the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco, and entered a gunnery duel at 2,500 yards. Kirishima was only hit by one 8-inch (203 mm) shell as the cruiser focused most of her fire on Hiei, but they crippled San Francisco with at least twelve 14-inch (356 mm) shell hits, alongside nearly 40 5-inch (127 mm) and 6-inch (152 mm) shell hits from their secondary batteries and escorting destroyers. The damage destroyed or disabled all of her guns besides 5-inch (127 mm) mount number 8, wrecked her steering and engine control, destroyed all communication equipment, set San Francisco ablaze, and deformed the ship so badly she was not even recognizable as an enemy cruiser to the crew of the destroyer Amatsukaze until her searchlights were ignited. A 14-inch (356 mm) hit to the navigation bridge in particular succeeded in killing Admiral Callaghan, Captain Cassin Young, and most of the ship's command staff, with 86 sailors killed in total. San Francisco limped away from the battle while still being pestered by gunfire from the destroyer Amatsukaze as Kirishima ceased fire. Had Kirishima and Hiei been loaded with proper anti-shipping rounds for their main guns instead of type 3 shells, they probably would have sunk San Francisco. Instead, the mangled heavy cruiser remained out of commission until February 1943.
The Helena soon came to San Francisco's defense, which resulted in Kirishima turning her guns on her. Kirishima hit the light cruiser with five 14-inch (356 mm) shells that caused negligible damage and killed one sailor. Just after 2:00, Kirishima was credited with a pair of 14-inch (356 mm) shell hits to the destroyer USS Laffey, (although anecdotally Hiei was widely believed to have caused this damage) one shell struck the bridge, with the other hitting the superstructure amidships causing some minor damage. A torpedo from destroyer Yukikaze would provide the knockout blow as Laffey would sink at around 2:15. Kirishima then more verifiably attacked the destroyer USS Aaron Ward and landed three 14-inch (356 mm) shells, two 6-inch (152 mm) shells, and four 5-inch (127 mm) shells to Aaron Ward above the waterline that destroyed her gunnery director, disabled steering control, and caused her to lose speed until going dead in the water at 2:35, killing 15 men and wounding 57.
During the gunfight with San Francisco Hiei was hit by seventeen 8-inch (203 mm) shells, two of which disabled her steering gear, severely crippling the ship. Kirishima and the escorting destroyers attempted to assist Hiei - with Kirishima taking her sister ship under tow - but by daybreak the fleet was attacked by aircraft from Henderson Field and the carrier Enterprise, with Hiei absorbing another 8 bombs and 6 torpedoes prompting the destroyers Yukikaze and Teruzuki of Abe's force and the nearby destroyers Shigure, Ariake, and Yà «gure to evacuate Hiei's crew before leaving her to sink.After the battle, Kirishima would rendezvous with the distant cover fleet north of Guadalcanal, and later that night detached to continue the mission under the command of Admiral Kondà Â, escorted by the heavy cruisers Takao and Atago, the light cruisers Nagara and Sendai, and 9 destroyers. By 7:39 the submarine USS Trout stumbled upon the force and was initially unable to gain an attack formation as the fleet sailed on. However, later that afternoon at 15:18 Trout located the fleet again and managed to unleash 5 torpedoes, her target was Kirishima. One torpedo hit Kirishima but turned out to be a dud, inflicting no damage. Another torpedo passed under a destroyer before nearly hitting the Atago, but just barely missing. At 20:48, Kirishima was notified a floatplane spotted an American formation consisting of 2 cruisers and 4 destroyers heading north at 25 knots, and Admiral Kondà  anticipated a surface action under the assumption his force would demolish the enemy ships, as his escorts alone were significantly superior to the formation described in the report, yet alone the addition of a Kongà  class battleship. However, the report was correct about the four destroyers - USS Walke, Preston, Benham, and Gwin - but the two "cruisers" were actually the battleships USS Washington and USS South Dakota, both of which were among the newest and greatest of the US battleships and far more capable than Kirishima.
The battle began after 00:05 on 15 November 1942 when Washington detected the Japanese fleet on radar at 19,600 yards, followed immediately by the destroyer Uranami spotting the American warships. At 18,500 yards, Washington and South Dakota fired the first shots at the Sendai and her immediate destroyers, scoring a few straddles but failing to inflict real damage. However, the Japanese scored first blood when the Nagara and 5 destroyers neutralized the American destroyers. Walke was blown in half by a torpedo from the destroyer Samidare and sank within 10 minutes; while Preston was hit simultaneously by three 5.5-inch (14 cm) shells from Nagara, which detonated her aft magazines, and also by a torpedo from the destroyer Ayanami, which sunk her rapidly. Benham was fatally wounded by a torpedo, probably from the destroyer Shirayuki, and she sank not long after the battle; Gwin was badly damaged by gunfire from Ayanami, which eliminated the last of Washington's and South Dakota's escorts. In exchange, Washington sank Ayanami with long range gunfire.
At 0:44, South Dakota suffered a power outage which briefly disabled the ship; it took a full two minutes for her radar to be restored, and only by relying on their secondary battery fire control did South Dakota begin to track the Nagara and Sendai at 7,000 yards. The battleship fired three salvos from her 16-inch (406 mm) guns, with no hits scored. Nagara in turn recognized South Dakota as an enemy battleship and reported to Admiral Kondà  aboard Kirishima before turning to engage the Americans. At 00:52 South Dakota presented a perfect broadside as Kirishima opened fire at 11,000 yards and scored two first salvo hits; one was a 6-inch (152 mm) shell that hit a 28 mm AA mount on the forward deck and the other was a 14-inch (356 mm) shell which exploded in South Dakota<nowiki/>s bow. Takao, Atago, Nagara, and Sendai joined Kirishima in clobbering South Dakota, and the battleship took at least 27 shell hits, including six 14-inch (356 mm) shells and eight 6-inch (152 mm) shells from Kirishima, seven 8-inch (203 mm) shells and two 5-inch (127 mm) shells from Takao and Atago, and four 5.5-inch (14 cm) shells from Nagara and Sendai. The damage destroyed or disabled South Dakota's radar, directors, fire control instruments, and electrical circuits, blasted holes in the superstructure and ignited at least 28 fires, and caused minor flooding damage, killing over 40 men and wounding 180 others. Captain Gatch only survived due to the armored conning tower.
However, Washington remained undetected and began to track Kirishima, Takao, and Atago with her main battery. Washington began to close the range when Atago noticed another enemy battleship off starboard. At 1:00, Captain Ijuin ordered "stand by for a gun and torpedo action to starboard", but it was too late. At that moment, at a distance of , Washington fired a full broadside of nine 16-inch (406 mm) guns and immediately straddled Kirishima, which proceeded to continue firing on South Dakota. Washington's second salvo then scored a 16-inch (406 mm) shell hit to Kirishima's compass bridge, and her third salvo scored several 16-inch (406 mm) hits to Kirishima's amidships, which detonated her secondary battery magazines and shredded her torpedo defense system. Kirishima incorrectly identified Washington as an "Idaho class battleship" which was washed up to her deck and sinking by the bow, only for the supposedly sinking Washington to hit Kirishima with another two 16-inch (406 mm) shells below the waterline. Kirishima's WW1 design was not designed to handle WW2 era deep penetration shells, and these two hits in particular cracked and mangled Kirishima's interior above and below the waterline. Meanwhile Washington hit Kirishima with several 5-inch (127 mm) shells from her secondary guns to her forward funnel and surrounding superstructure.
16-inch (406 mm) shells then destroyed Kirishima's 14-inch (356 mm) gun turret 1, forcing the crew to flood its magazines, and holed her bow above and below the waterline before penetrating her stern above the waterline, while 5-inch (127 mm) shells detonated in her aft funnel and director. Then, two more 16-inch (406 mm) shells hit the battleship's stern below the waterline, one destroying her steering gear and the other detonating inside her 14-inch (356 mm) gun turret 4 hydraulic pump room and disabling turrets 3 and 4. Another salvo of 16-inch (406 mm) shells from Washington set fire to the 14-inch (356 mm) turret 2 magazines and forced them to be flooded as well, and at least six 5-inch (127 mm) shells hit the pagoda mast and set it ablaze. Washington's final salvo landed a pair of waterline hits, one penetrating her belt and exploding inside one of Kirishima's three hydraulic pump rooms, while the last 16-inch (406 mm) shell hit and destroyed Kirishima's twin rudders. In total, Kirishima was hit by at least twenty 16-inch (406 mm) shells and seventeen 5-inch (127 mm) shells from Washington.
Listing at 18 degrees to starboard, Kirishima's engines remained relatively untouched by gunfire as the crippled battleship attempted to sail away from the battlefield. Takao and Atago fended off Washington with gunfire and torpedoes while Kirishima escaped. Attempts were made to steer the ship using the propellers, but this failed as extreme heat overtook her machinery and killed most of her engineers, rendering the engine room extremely hazardous as Kirishima waddled to safety. Nagara was ordered to tow Kirishima, but this order was refused. In the meantime, fires previously thought to have been put under control strengthened and spread to the aft magazines and forced them to be flooded. Natural flooding reversed the worsening list to port then back to starboard, until seawater reached and disabled Kirishima's starboard boilers. Captain Ijuin concluded the ship was fatally damaged by that point and ordered the port boilers shut down to allow the crew to evacuate. The destroyers Teruzuki, Asagumo, and Samidare came alongside Kirishima to rescue survivors. Ijuin's choice to abandon Kirishima proved to be the correct path as mere minutes later at 3:25, she finally lost buoyancy and suddenly capsized to starboard. Kirishima's superstructure almost crushed Teruzuki as she went down and took 212 men with her, while the remaining 300 men aboard Kirishima - including Captain Ijuin - were thrown overboard by the sudden sinking before Samidare rescued them. The three destroyers rescued 1,100 sailors.
Kirishimas wreck was discovered by Robert Ballard during an expedition to map the wrecks from the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1992, but a technical emergency caused Ballard's investigation of the wreck to be aborted, with only a small portion of the wreckage imaged. A further expedition to the wreck by Paul Allen's in January 2019 provided more extensive imaging. The remains of the ship lie upside down, with the bow section missing from the bridge forward due to a magazine explosion as the wreck was falling to the sea bed.. The ship's forward anchor chain is wrapped around her stern section.