"The Japs' big cruisers' forward stack is always fat and falling back." (Published in the Office of Naval Intelligence manual ONI 41-42)
Larger ships-of-the-line of the Imperial Japanese Navy often featured a large smokestack that curved backwards, sometimes linking up with another smokestack. This was probably done to try and keep soot away from the bridge of the ship, but also helped to distinguish friend from foe.
Japanese builders were so fond of this that they also installed falling stacks on captured vessels, such as the USS Steward, which was captured, converted, and used in Japanese service as PB No. 102
