The Furutaka-class, IJN Furutaka, 1942 (古鷹, namesake: Mount Furutaka) was the lead ship of the namesake class of "scout heavy cruiser" of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Designed to directly counter the American Omaha-class and the British Hawkins-class cruisers, the Furutaka-class featured superior mobility and firing range that allowed the ship to, in theory, outrange and outspeed their counterparts.

With the arms races during the late 1930s rendering the Washington Naval Treaty null and void, the Imperial Japanese Navy started a massive modernisation programme for most, if not all, of its ships. IJN Furutaka was one of the ships to receive a major overhaul. With weight restrictions removed, the Furutaka's beam was widened to accommodate new machinery, such as replacing the six single 200 mm turrets with three improved twin 203 mm 3rd year turrets, an addition of torpedo bulges, replacing the hull-mounted torpedo tubes with conventional launchers for the famous Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes, improved Kampon boilers to maintain the ship's mobility with her increased weight, as well as improved anti-air defence.

Along with her sister ship Kako, Furutaka was assigned to Cruiser Division 6 at the outbreak of the Pacific War. After covering the Attack on Pearl Harbor and island hopping campaigns around the Pacific in 1941, Furutaka and Division 6 saw combat at the Battle of Savo Island on 8 August 1942, where the Japanese managed to score a victory by sinking three American heavy cruisers and forcing the Australian cruiser HMAS Canberra to be scuttled. After Kako was sunk by an American submarine a day later, Furutaka and the remaining Cruiser Division 6 were sent to cover the invasion of Guadalcanal. Around two months later, Furutaka and Division 6 were caught off-guard by the American Task Force 64 due to being spotted by American radar. In the ensuing Battle of Cape Esperance between 11-12 October, Furutaka was sunk by a combined fire from USS Salt Lake City and USS Buchanan after her Type 93 torpedo storage was detonated.

Furutaka was introduced in Update 1.89 "Imperial Navy". Compared to her sister ship Kako, Furutaka leans more towards a conventional heavy cruiser, featuring good continuous firepower and various weaponry to deal with all kinds of targets. While a bit slower than her sister ship, Furutaka is still quite mobile for a heavy cruiser; this will be very useful for evasive manoeuvres and keeping up with the rest of the fleet. However, care must be taken not to expose your broadside, as your belt armour is not thick enough to withstand incoming fire when not angled properly.