All Kongō-class destroyers take their names from Japan's mountains, the class name referring to Mount Kongō. The class shares its name with the 1877 Japanese corvette Kongō and the previous Japanese class of battlecruisers named after the Kongō, all of which were lost during World War II (including the Kirishima). Other ships whose names are shared by Japan's modern destroyers: the heavy cruisers Myōkō and Chōkai
