The Takao class of Japanese heavy cruisers was approved in the 1927-31 Programme, and the Takao was the first of four vessels launched between May 1930 and April 1931. These were genuinely aggressive ships, being fast, heavily armed with both guns and torpedos, and well-protected. They saw much action in the Pacific War between 1941 and 1945, but Takao, having survived a torpedo attack during the Leyte Gulf battle preliminaries, was sunk by a British midget submarine in Singapore Harbour