 Nyorai kuenderera kweiyi ndima - Kongō uye Haruna vakabva paHashirajima ngarava anchorage musi wa29 Mbudzi 1941 kuti vatange Hondo muPacific sechikamu cheSouthern Malay Forces Main Body, pasi pekutungamira kweVice-Admiral Nobutake Kondō. Musi wa4 Zvita 1941, Main Body yakasvika kumahombekombe ekumaodzanyemba kweThailand nekuchamhembe kweMalaya kugadzirira kupinda muThailand neMalayan Peninsula mazuva mana gare gare. Apo Force Z yeBritain - yakaumbwa nengarava yehondo nebhomba rehondo - yakakurumidza kukundwanendege dzeJapan dzaibva kumaodzanyemba kweVietnam, boka rehondo reKongō rakabva mumvura dzeMalaya. Iri boka revarwi rakazobuda muIndochina kwemazuva matatu pakati paDecember kuti vadzivirire ngarava yekusimbisa yaienda kuMalaya, uye zvakare musi wa18 Zvita kufukidza mauto eJapan kuLingayen Gulf, Luzon, muPhilippines. Main Body yakabva kuCam Ranh Bay muFrench Indochina musi wa 23 Zvita yakananga kuTaiwan, ichisvika mazuva maviri gare gare. Muna January 1942, Kongō neheavy cruisers uye vakapa chifukidziro chiri kure nokuda kwokudenha kwemhepo paAmbon Island. 