One way to classify capital ships is as a spectrum shaped by armor coverage, subdivision and the space needed for machinery. Kongō began as a British-built battlecruiser, and her reconstructions in 1929 and 1935 improved protection and subdivision enough to move her only slightly toward the fast-battleship side of that spectrum. The judgment does not extend automatically to every ship in the class. More compact power generation helped make fast battleships practical because a ship could devote less space to machinery while retaining the speed needed to support its cruiser line. During the First World War, Kongō's presence in Asian waters helped deter Maximilian von Spee's German squadron because she could overpower the entire force. Her later service included Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, Midway, Guadalcanal, the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf.
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How reconstruction moved Kongō toward a fast battleship
Kongō's interwar armor and subdivision changes place her near the boundary between battlecruiser and fast battleship rather than neatly in one category.