Katori was a Japanese light cruiser whose keel was laid in 1938, launched in June 1939, and commissioned in the Imperial Japanese Navy in April 1940. The length of the ship was 130 m, width 15.9 m, and a full displacement - 7,100 tons. The maximum speed of the cruiser Katori was only 18 knots. The main armament was 4 140 mm guns in two turrets with two cannons each, and the additional weapons were, among others: two 127 mm guns and two twin 533 mm torpedo tubes.
Katori was the first cruiser of the type to bear the same name - that is, Katori. Originally, at the time of ordering, these types of units were planned as training ships, but during the Pacific War, they were adapted as light cruisers and performed various auxiliary functions in the Japanese fleet. The career of cruiser Katori during World War II began as the flagship of Vice Admiral Mitsumi Shimizu, who commanded Japanese submarines in the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. In February 1942, the ship was severely damaged in an attack by American on-board planes near Kwajalein Island, and she sailed to Japan for repair. He returned to active service in the same year - 1942 -. In February 1944, Katori fought the American landing on the island of Truk, during which she was sunk by the battleship USS Iowa on February 19, 1944.