Zaō | Tier 10 | Cruiser

Eight heavy cruisers were supposed to be built under the Japanese naval building program. They were a further development of the Takao, Tone, and Mogami classes. It was planned to arm these ships with twelve 203 mm guns in four turrets—a traditional arrangement. Their armor was designed to withstand 203 mm HE shell hits. The number of ships was later reduced to four, and their construction was then canceled altogether.