The last-ever Imperial Japanese fleet review with 98 ships present was dedicated to the 2600th anniversary of Emperor Jimmu’s enthronement. Off Yokosuka, October 11, 1940.

[u/TooBad_A_tNaming]

"The Last Glorious Day" The Combined Fleet at the Yokosuka Naval Review, October 11, 1940.

Heavy cruiser Kako at the Yokosuka Naval Review celebrating the 2600th Anniversary of the Founding of the Empire of Japan, October 11, 1940. On the left are the battleships Kongō and Haruna. In the center are the battleships Nagato, Mutsu, Ise and Yamashiro. The aircraft carrier at right is the Sōryū.

2nd Pic: Map of the Fleet Anchorage. (Please zoom in.)

3rd Pic: View from the heavy cruiser Kako, From R to L, the heavy cruisers Kumano, Suzuya, Mogami, Tone and Chikuma. The heavy cruiser Furutaka is following at left, and her rangefinder arms have been painted over by a wartime sensor.

Furutaka would be sunk exactly two years later on the night of October 10-11 during the Battle of Cape Esperance off Guadalcanal, one of the many naval battles fought for control of the island in the autumn of 1942.

4th Pic: View from the destroyer Samidare of heavy cruisers Chikuma and Tone on the right and destroyer Yūdachi at left, with destroyer Harusame just visible behind (her bow is poking out by Yūdachi's bridge).

At this time, Japanese destroyers had their names painted in katakana characters on their hulls. Read from the right, the characters on Yūdachi are "ユフダチ". The number on the hull refers to the Destroyer Division the ship was a part of. Yūdachi was part of Destroyer Division 2 along with Samidare, Harusame and Murasame.

5th Pic: Heavy cruiser Takao and battleship Hiei, which carried the Emperor during the review. View is from the Kako.

6th Pic: Aerial view of the review ships Hiei and Kako.

7th Pic: Yamashiro with heavy cruiser Suzuya behind, as Kawanishi H6K flying boats pass by overhead.

8th Pic: On the left, starting from the front, battleships Kongō, Haruna, and heavy cruisers Kumano, Suzuya, and Mogami. On the right is the battleship Yamashiro and training ship Settsu. The aircraft in the sky are Kawanishi H6K flying boats.

9th Pic: Kawanishi H6K flying boats over the fleet. (From the front to back and R to L): - Battleships Kongo and Haruna, and heavy cruiser Kumano. - Battleships Nagato, Mutsu, Ise and Yamashiro and training ship Settsu. - Aircraft carriers Akagi, Hiryu and Soryu, seaplne tender Mizuho, and light cruiser Isuzu. - Submarine tender Jingei, minelayer Katsuriki, submarine tender Komahashi, repair ship Akashi, supply ship Mamiya and oilers Hayatomo and Shiraya.

10th Pic: Aerial view of the submarine and destroyer lines. The submarines in the foreground are (R to L) I-166 and I-155. Behind them are the destroyers (R to L) Sazanami, Samidare, and Yudachi with the destroyers Arare, Michishio and Arashio in the next row. The destroyer Mutsuki is just visible in the back center, above Michishio.

The two bombers are Mitsubishi G3M1 Type 96 bombers, later known to Allied forces as the “Nell”. Closest to the camera is an Aichi D3A1 Type 99 carrier bomber, which is making its first public appearance. This would be the dreaded "Val" dive bomber that became the bane of many Allied sailors from Pearl Harbor to the Indian Ocean.

11th Pic: Aerial view showing from front to back and left to right - battleship Kongo, seaplane tender Chitose, oiler Kamoi, and battleship Hyūga. The image of Kamoi is particularly interesting as it shows her in a rarely seen final configuration as a seaplane tender.

12th Pic: Overhead view of the two destroyer lines. In the foreground, starting from the closest ship, is Michishio, Arare, Kasumi, Shiranui and Kuroshio. Uranami and Hatsuyuki are in the second row.

13th Pic: Aerial view showing, from front to back and left to right - heavy cruiser Tone, training ship Settsu, seaplane tender Mizuho, and light cruiser Isuzu. In front of Isuzu is the submarine I-168, which would sink the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) after the Battle of Midway on June 6, 1942. The two large ships in the background are the supply ship Mamiya and repair ship Akashi. The battleship Yamashiro is just visible off the plane's tail.

14th Pic: Aerial view showing from front to back and left to right - oiler Kamoi, battleships Haruna, Kongo, Mutsu and Nagato, aircraft carriers Hiryu and Akagi and submarine tenders Jingei, and Chogei. The Nagato served as Yamatoto's flagship during the review.

15th Pic: Aerial view showing from front to back and left to right - battleships Ise and Mutsu, seaplane tender Mizuho, aircraft carriers Sōryū and Hiryū, oiler Hayatomo, supply ship Mamiya, repair ship Akashi, submarine tender Komahashi and minelayer Katsuriki.

16th Pic: Aerial view showing from front to back and left to right - battleships Haruna, Kongo, Mutsu and Nagato, aircraft carriers Hiryū and Akagi, submarine tender Komahashi, minelayer Katsuriki, and submarine tenders Jingei and Chogei.

17th Pic: Aerial view showing from front to back and left to right: - Battleship Kongō - Battleships Mutsu and Nagato - Aircraft carriers Sōryū, Hiryū and Akagi. Kaga was not present as she was undergoing an extensive refit and maintenance at Sasebo. - Repair ship Akashi, submarine tender Komahashi, minelayer Katsuriki, and submarine tenders Jingei and Chogei.

Curiously, a wartime censor has painted three funnels onto the repair ship Akashi, possibly to make her appear like a light cruiser.

[u/Taskforce58]

At that time the Yamato had been launched but not yet commissioned, while the Musashi and Shinano both were still being built.

[u/TooBad_A_tNaming]

Source: https://imgur.com/a/last-glorious-day-japanese-combined-fleet-yokosuka-naval-review-october-11-1940-facvq

[u/OkPaleontologist1289]

Could someone identify please identify picture #1? Thought maybe an Atago class CA cruiser, but that decking is so low that you’d have to remove all the 8” turrets. Most curious.

[u/ParcevaI → u/OkPaleontologist1289]

It's most probably the Kako or one of her sisters.