The military liaison officer at the Dutch embassy at Japan supplied in his letter dated Tokyo, Japan 1 February 1922 to the supreme command of the Dutch army a lot of details dealing with the Japanese navy. The attachments were in English and not translated by him to prevent a wrong translation of the technical details.
Dealing with the 39.900 tons battleship Kaga (1) he wrote that she was launched at the Kawasaki Dockyard, Kobe on 17 December 1921 with her keel laid down on 20 July 1920. Dimensions 715 x 100 x 30.9 feet. The blister started well forward and was about 6 feet amidship. The machinery consisted of 4 sets Brown Curtiss geared turbines and 24 small tube boilers. Her speed was 23 knots. The armament consisted of 10-16” 45 cal guns, 20-5.5” 50 cal guns, 4-3” 40 cal guns and 8-20” torpedo tubes (4 submerged and 4 above water). He remarked especially that the number of 16” guns was not official, but that the press continuously reported 10 guns with this calibre. The extra tonnage of the Kaga and her sister ship was a result of the increased armour and fuel capacity but not by the additional 16” guns. The designed range for both ships was reported to be 9.500 nautical miles. The Kaga and Tosa launched in respectively November and December 1921 were to be stricken when the Washington Naval Treaty was ratified. In pencil is for the name of the Kaga written: aircraft carrier.
Source
Archive Dutch Naval Staff 1886-1942 inventory number 137 (National Archive at The Hague, Netherlands.
Note
1. Of the Tosa-class dreadnought battleships, laid down at the Kawasaki Shipyard, Kobe, Japan on 19 July 1920, launched on 17 November 1921 and was to be completed on 25 December 1922. Instead she was converted into an aircraft carrier, commissioned on 31 March 1928, rebuilt 1933-1935 and sunk during the Battle of the Midway against the allied forces on 4 June 1942.
