Japanese cruiser Yura

was the fourth of the six ships completed in the of light cruisers for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), and like other vessels of her class, she was intended for use as the flagship of a destroyer flotilla. She served in the early stages of World War II. Background and description The second batch of three Nagara-class cruisers, including Yura, was authorized by the Diet as part of the 8-6 Fleet Completion Program on 12 March 1918 although they were not funded until the Fiscal Year 1920 Naval Estimates. The ships were intended to serve as flagships for destroyer and submarine squadrons, long-range scouts for the battlefleet, and to protect Japanese merchant shipping. The Nagara class was intended to displace at (standard load) and at normal load, but was slightly overweight and actually displaced . They had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draft of Their crew numbered 37 officers and 413 enlisted men. When serving as a flagship, an additional 5 officers and 22 enlisted men were embarked. The Nagaras propulsion system consisted of four geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam from a dozen Kampon water-tube boilers. All of the boilers but two were oil-fired and those used a mixed-firing system where fuel oil was sprayed onto the coal to increase power. The turbines developed a total of and were intended to give the cruisers a speed of . Yura only reached from when the ship ran her sea trials on 18 February 1923. The ships carried enough fuel oil and coal to give them a range of at , an increase of from their designed range. Armament, fire control and protection