As commander of IJN 2nd Fleet, the Navy's principal detached force for independent operations, Kondō was regarded as second in importance only to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Kondō commanded the IJN 2nd Fleet, participating in the invasions of Malaya, the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies.

In the second night action of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 14/15 November 1942, Kondō personally led the battleship Kirishima along with cruisers Atago, Nagara, Sendai, and Takao, in what was to have been a decisive attack to eliminate the threat from Henderson Field through a massive nocturnal shelling.

Yamamoto's demotion of Kondō was nonetheless less harsh than that of his predecessor, Hiroaki Abe, due to Imperial Navy culture and politics.

Kondō, who also held the position of second in command of the Combined Fleet, was a member of the upper staff and "battleship clique" of the Imperial Navy while Abe was a career destroyer specialist.

[4] Kondō was appointed Deputy Commander of the Combined Fleet in October 1942 and was promoted to full admiral on 29 April 1943.