Like the Myōkō class, the ships were ostensibly intended to remain within the strictures of the Washington Naval Treaty, initially designed to weigh 9,850 long tons (10,008 t).

The large tower bridge added to the instability, but the cause of much of the excess weight remains unclear, as many components were heavier than expected.

After investigation of the recent County-class cruisers of the United Kingdom, it was decided to give the main battery some anti-aircraft ability.

The elevating gear was considered impractical and delicate (later Japanese heavy cruisers used a reduced 55 degree limit on their guns).

Mere days after the Pearl Harbor attack, Chōkai would serve with the naval task force that trailed the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser HMS Repulse for a potential surface action, but she did not manage to engage the pair before they were sunk by land-based torpedo bombers.

[15] Eventually, the Takao class would see more active service hunting down and sinking small warships and other vessels in the Indian Ocean.

Takao and Maya, as Cruiser Division 4, Section 2, were a part of the Aleutian Islands campaign as escorts for the Second Carrier Striking Force.

On August 9, Chōkai served as Admiral Mikawa's flagship during the action that would become known as the battle of Savo Island, one of the most devastating Japanese navy victories of the war, sinking four allied heavy cruisers and damaging several other ships.

In exchange, Chōkai was moderately damaged by three 8-inch (203 mm) shell hits from Astoria and Quincy, one knocked out her A turret, and another exploded in her chart room, injuring Mikawa.

Maya engaged in a gunnery duel with the heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City, and was lightly damaged by a few straddles and near misses.

[23] The four Takao-class ships were assigned to Vice Admiral Kurita's Center Force for the Battle of Leyte Gulf, or Operation Sho-1 as it was known to the Japanese.

[24] Chōkai, the last remaining ship of Cruiser Division 4, continued with the main force, pulling through the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea unscathed, before engaging in the later action off Samar.

During the action, she was engaged by the destroyer escort USS Samuel B Roberts, and was badly damaged by a torpedo hit to her stern.

However, fatal damage occurred when air attacks from USS Kitkun Bay dropped a bomb down the stack, destroying her engine room.

American accounts of the battle often talk about how a shell from White Plains hit the torpedo tubes and detonated them, which was what caused the fatal damage.

On October 29th 1946, Takao was finally expended and sunk as target practice by the light cruiser HMS Newfoundland in the Malacca Strait.