Japanese aspirations in the region ultimately led to the invasion of Manchuria during September of 1931 and this, in turn, saw the Japanese abolish its signed naval treaties. In August of 1933, Haruna was selected for yet another conversion, this time to become a "fast battleship", with the intent to increase her straight line speed - necessary in keeping up with the growing reliance on aircraft carriers in the IJN. Her bridge superstructure was wholly revised, dimensions redrawn and new machinery installed. Armor protection was improved as well. She was readied for October of 1934 and went to war against China during the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945 before being placed in reserve for January 1938. She was then assigned to the Third Battleship Division (First Fleet) for 1941 while December 7th of that year marked the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the American entry into the war - marking a critical junction of the War in the Pacific for the Japanese.
Haruna saw combat actions against the British Navy and supported additional amphibious operations and offshore activities. She entered refit in mid-April and was available by the end of May where she formed part of the strike group sent to Midway for the Battle of Midway (June 1942). This action became a major American victory and a shock to Japanese naval superiority - four of its aircraft carriers were sunk in the melee. Haruna managed to survive and was sent back to Japan for another refit. Haruna then formed part of the protection force for Japanese convoys attempting to strengthen its force at Guadalcanal and her guns were effectively used to shell Henderson while providing a clear path for naval convoys of men, supplies and machines. Because of mounting naval losses, Haruna was recalled to Truk for the remainder of the year lest she too be sunk by persistent American warplanes or warships.
1943 was a relatively quiet time for the vessel and her final notable operational sorties took place during 1944 when she took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea - another decisive American victory - where she took hits from American bombs. This forced her to Kure for needed repairs and she underwent another refit while there. In October she was part of the attack force during the Battle of Leyte Gulf which ended with the Allied liberation of Leyte Island and resulted in another major Japanese defeat. Haruna managed to survive this action and was pulled back for repairs. She ran aground near Lingga on November 22nd, 1944 which badly damaged her hull and this kept her out of service until early December and was at Kure for January of 1945.
1945 saw her armament revised as 8 x 14" main guns, 16 x 6" guns and 12 x 5" guns along with 108 x 25mm Anti-Aircraft (AA) guns. The latter installation did away with the torpedo tubes featured in the original design as survivability was now the call of the day. IJN authorities reassigned Haruna to the First Battleship division (Second Fleet) in January and placed her at Kure to provide defense against American bomber raids on this critical naval base. One raid resulted in a sole bomb striking Haruna's starboard but she remained a viable fighting ship for the time being. More attacks on the Kure Naval District followed by the Americans in an effort to completely knock out Japanese Navy capabilities for the remainder of the war. Haruna was once again hit but damage was light. A follow-up raid in late July saw her take eight bombs which caused her to sink in the harbor, formally ended her tenure on the sea.
With the war over in August of 1945 and the Japanese surrender signed in September of that year, Haruna lay in place underwater until she was raised in 1946. She was stripped of her usefulness and her hulk scrapped - becoming the only "survivor" of the war concerning the four-strong Kongo-class.
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