As a result of a thread I read the other day (csvousden) that mentioned a lack of Japanese Cruisers in the IL2 world, here are two for a rainy Friday :
The Nagara Class Light Cruisers ,
and the Mogami Class Heavy Cruisers
Japanese Light Cruisers ( KEI JUNYOTAN) were built in 8 classes before and during WW2.
Agano , Oyodo , Nagara , Kuma , Naka , Tenryu , Yubari , and Katori Classes.
Japanese Heavy Cruisers ( IHO JUNYOKAN) were built in 5 classes before and during WW2.
Furutaka , Myoko , Takao , Mogami , and Tone Classes.
I propose modding the Nagara Class Light Cruiser - the most numerous,
and the Mogami Class Heavy Cruiser in two versions , as it served both as a heavy cruiser and later as a floatplane cruiser.
Nagara Class Light Cruisers
The Nagara-class light cruisers were the first Japanese cruisers to be equipped with the famed 610-millimeter Type 62 "Long Lance" torpedoes that were so successful in the Pacific War. These light cruisers were based on the previous Kuma-class design and were similar to British Royal Navy cruisers in terms of layout, but through the 1930s and 1940s they receive numerous upgrades that made them stand out more. Some of the upgrades were fairly extensive, even during war time, such as the post-Midway modernization that removed the entire No. 5 and No. 7 gun turrets on each ship in favor of additional anti-aircraft weapons and air search radars sets. Of the six ships built, none of the Nagara-class light cruisers survived the Pacific War; many of them fell victim to American submarines.
There were 6 Vessels built in the Nagara Class between 1922 and 1925 :
Nagara
Isuzu
Yura
Natori
Kinu
and
Abakuma
Abakuma AAA mount
Nagara class weighed in at 5,570 tons displacement
534'9" x 48'5" x 16'0"
capable of 36 knots
Armament :
7 x 5.5" 50 calibre guns
up to 36 x 25mm AAA
6 x 13mm AAA MG
Crew 438
8 x 24" Torp Tubes
Mogami Class Heavy Cruisers
These ships win the prize for "Egregious Treaty Violation." The London Naval Treaty of 1930 (a follow-on to the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922) specified that cruisers of all signatory nations were to be held to displacements of 10,000 tons. Mogami, when first built, weighed in at about 13,400 (although I should also mention that some other Japanese CAs had been rebuilt by that point to exceed even this displacement). Not surprisingly, foreign naval observers were a little suspicious about her. Turns out that even given her extra displacement, she was overloaded. When she began running trials, it was discovered that firing all the guns of her main battery simultaneously had the unpleasant effect of popping the welds along her sides. Hmmm... When first launched, these ships were officially classified as light cruisers, because they were armed with 15 x 6" guns. They had been cleverly designed so that the turret base rings would also accept a dual 8" turret when the time came, and all were re-armed this way shortly before the war. Very sneaky...
At the battle of Midway, Mogami was very nearly sunk, and it was decided to rebuild her as an a hybrid cruiser/carrier to carry additional float planes. As you probably gathered from my comments on Ise and Hyuga, I'm not very impressed with this move, because none of these hybrid ships were very useful as aviation vessels. I find it ironic that Mogami's last action was to be sunk at the hands of the same U.S. battleships that sank Fuso and Yamashiro in Surigao Strait. Apparently, she was useless enough as an aviation vessel that she wasn't even included in Ozawa's sacrificial carrier bait force, but was relegated to surface combat duty with the two oldest BBs in the Japanese Navy.
There were 4 vessels built in the Mogami class between 1935 and 1937 :
Mogami
Mikuma
I guess everyone loves lemonade????!!!Mikuma stern detail
Mogami Class bow detail
Suzua
Kumano
Suzua / Kumano Bridge equipment comparison (wish I could read japanese!)
Midships details
Turret CU (which calibre gun?)
...more assembly instructions
Mogami class weighed in a t 13,440 tons displacement
649'10" x 66'3" x 19'4"
capable of 35 knots
Armament :
10 x 8" 50 calibre guns
8 x 5" 40 calibre guns
up to 50 x 25mm AAA
12 x 24" Torp Tubes
Crew 850
After Midway, Mogami was modified into a float plane cruiser
As always , more details and corrections appreciated.
I hope the shipwrights out there see some appeal in these.
Kopfdorfer
Author
Topic: Two For Friday - Japanese Nagara and Mogami Class Cruisers (Read 14040 times)
