Tone (利根, namesake: Tone River), the lead ship of her class, was laid down in December 1934, launched November 1937, and commissioned November 1938. Initially, she was assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District but transferred to the Maizuru Naval District in December 1939. Alongside her sister ship Chikuma, Tone formed the 8th Cruiser Division and participated in major operations during the Pacific War, including the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, where her reconnaissance aircraft scouted Oahu and Maui islands before the strike. She took part in operations such as the Wake Island invasion, the Rabaul landing, the Dutch East Indies campaign, the Indian Ocean raid, and the Battle of Midway, where a malfunction in her catapult delayed the launch of reconnaissance aircraft. In March 1944, during Operation SA No.1, Tone was involved in the sinking of the British merchant ship Behar, after which the treatment of prisoners led to the Behar Incident, resulting in war crimes trials post-war. Tone also participated in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, where she suffered damage but remained operational. Later in the war, due to fuel shortages and damage from air attacks, Tone was converted into a training ship and finally, she was sunk by the dive bombers from carrier USS Monterey during the air raid on Kure Naval Base in July 1945. After the war, Tone was dismantled, and her materials were recycled for reconstruction efforts.

The Tone-class, IJN Tone (1945) is a Japanese heavy cruiser introduced in Update "Starfighters". She can be easily recognised by having all four of her main gun turrets located in the bow section of the vessel, in front of the main superstructure. This concentration of the main guns allows her to have fairly unusual firing angles and low spread of the broadside, but also creates a significant vulnerability, with all the ammunition stored in a single, obvious location, often leading to a chain reaction of explosions blowing up the entire ship if even one of the ammo racks detonates. That said, the armour in that section is not negligible, and the vessel has overall relatively decent survivability, if enemies do not focus on the ammo racks. This is further assisted by Tone's impressive anti-air armament and excellent long-lance torpedoes, giving her a fighting chance against bombers and battleships respectively. Unlike most other Japanese cruisers, and despite the extensive aerial facilities aft of the superstructure, this refit lacks any hydroplanes, making her somewhat less capable of impacting the outcome of the battle.