judgement of this organization, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations on the same day. Japan also immediately withdrew from the Washington Naval Treaty and the London Naval Treaty, thus removing all restrictions on the numbers and sizes of her capital warships. In November 1934, Kongō was placed in Second Reserve in preparation for further modifications. On 10 January 1935, Kongō was toured by the Nazi German naval attaché to Japan, Captain Paul Wenneker, as part of a gunnery demonstration. 1935–1941: Fast battleship On 1 June 1935, Kongō was dry-docked at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in preparation for upgrades that would enable her to escort Japan's growing fleet of aircraft carriers. Her stern was lengthened by to improve her fineness ratio and her 16 older boilers were removed and then replaced with 11 oil-fired Kampon Boilers and newer geared turbines. In addition, her bridge was completely reconstructed according to Japan's pagoda mast style of forward superstructure, and catapults were added to support three Nakajima E8N or Kawanishi E7K reconnaissance and spotter floatplanes. Kongōs armor was also extensively upgraded. Her main belt was strengthened to a uniform thickness of eight inches (up from varying thicknesses of six to eight inches), and also diagonal bulkheads of depths ranging from were added to reinforce the main armored belt. The turret armor was strengthened to , while were added to portions of the deck armor. Kongōs ammunition magazine protection was also strengthened to . This reconstruction was finished on 8 January 1937. Capable of greater than , despite the significant increase in her hull displacement, Kongō was now reclassified as a fast battleship. In February 1937, Kongō was assigned to the Sasebo Naval District, and in December she was placed under the command of Takeo Kurita in the Third Battleship Division. In April 1938, two float planes from Kongō bombed the Chinese city of Fuzhou during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Throughout 1938 and 1939, Kongō steamed off the Chinese coast in support of Japanese Army operations during the war. In November 1939, Captain Raizo Tanaka assumed command of Kongō. From November 1940 to April 1941, additional armor was added to Kongōs armament barbettes and ammunition tubes, while ventilation and firefighting equipment was also improved. In August 1941, she was assigned to the Third Battleship Division under the command of Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa alongside her fully modified sister warships Hiei, and the . 1942: Pacific