Comments by "" (@RedXlV) on "The Drydock - Episode 218" video.
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As I recall, the Kongos were actually first redesignated as battleships not after their major refits in the 1930s, but after their late 1920s refits. Because in those much smaller refits, deck armor was added but nothing was done with their machinery. This cut their top speed to 25.9 knots, which made them too slow to be battlecruisers. After all, Nagato was capable of 26.5 knots. Having battlecruisers that are slower than your battleships would just be silly. So at that point, they're considered to just be poorly-armored battleships. This also explains why, around 1930 whenJapan was looking to replace the Kongos with treaty-compliant new construction instead of rebuilding them, almost all of Hiraga's "Kongo replacement" designs were for 25 to 26.5 knot battleships and not 30+ knot battlecruisers.
And when the 1930s rebuilds happened, the Kongos were designated as "fast battleships" rather than battlecruisers, because Japan had simply stopped using the latter designation.
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