Japanese battleship Ise
Despite the expensive reconstruction, the ship was considered obsolete by the eve of the Pacific War, and did not see significant action in the early years of the war. Following the loss of most of the IJN's large aircraft carriers during the Battle of Midway in mid-1942, she was rebuilt with a flight deck replacing the rear pair of gun turrets to give her the ability to operate an air group of floatplanes; lack of aircraft and qualified pilots meant that "Ise" never actually operated her aircraft in combat. She participated in the Battle of Cape Engaño in late 1944, where she decoyed the American carrier fleet supporting the invasion of Leyte away from the landing beaches. Afterwards the ship was transferred to Southeast Asia; in early 1945 "Ise" participated in Operation Kita, where she transported petrol and other strategic materials to Japan. The ship was then reduced to reserve until she was sunk during American airstrikes in July. After the war "Ise" was scrapped in 1946–1947.
Ise-class battleship
Upon commissioning, the sister ships were assigned to the 1st Battleship Division of the 1st Fleet. "Hyūga" had an explosion in one of her main gun turrets that killed 11 men and injured 25 in 1919; the following year she accidentally collided with and sank a schooner, losing two crewmen. Before the start of the Pacific War, both ships frequently exercised off the coasts of the Soviet Union, Korea and China in addition to training in Japanese waters. "Ise" hosted Edward, Prince of Wales, and his aide-de-camp Lieutenant Louis Mountbatten in 1922 during the prince's visit to Japan. In Korea Bay when the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake struck, they sailed to Kyushu where they loaded supplies from for the victims on 4 September. Together with two other battleships and a pair of light cruisers, "Ise" sank the destroyer in 1926 during gunnery practice. "Ise"s AA armament was upgraded in 1931 and "Hyūga"s two years later. The latter ship was modernized in 1934–36 and "Ise" in 1935–37, both at Kure Naval Arsenal. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the sisters frequently patrolled the Chinese coast in support of the blockade imposed by Japan. In August 1937 "Hyūga" ferried two battalions of Special Naval Landing Forces to Port Arthur. Three years later, she served as the flagship for the Emperor of the puppet state of Manchukuo, Henry Pu-yi, during his state visit to Japan in June 1940. On 15 November the ships were transferred to the 2nd Battleship Division of the 1st Fleet. The sisters were refitted in late 1940 in preparation for war, which included the fitting of external degaussing coils and additional AA directors.