The IJN Kongo (金剛, namesake: Mount Kongō) was the lead ship of the Kongō-class and would be the last Japanese capital ship built outside Japan. Designed by the British naval engineer George Thurston and laid down in 1911 initially as a battlecruiser, she would see 2 major refits that would reclassify her as a fast battleship. First commissioned in 1913, patrolling the Chinese coast during WWI, she would see many major naval actions in the Pacific War until November 1944 when she would be sunk by a submarine while in transit.

IJN Kongo was introduced in Update "Wind of Change". Being a sidegrade to the other capital ships Japan offers, the Kongō offers speed over total amount of guns and armour, this gives her more opportune reaction times in regards of angling her armour, and getting to desired locations faster than other battleships. Being in her last refit of 1944, she provides a large suite of 25 mm anti-air cannons to fend off medium-close range aerial targets.