Nihon Kaigun 1946

my take for a modernized Tosa class battleship for the AU (description courtesy of Emperor_andreas)

Tosa and Kaga went into their builder's yards for refits as soon as Nagato and Mutsu had been handed back to the IJN, and everyone agree that the two ships that emerged were handsome vessels indeed. Tosa and Kaga formed BatDiv 11 with Nagato and Mutsu, serving together for the first six months of the war. On 5 June 1942, however, Kaga was standing by carrier Hiryu, the blazing carrier outlining her perfectly on the horizon, a perfect target for a prowling U.S. submarine. Hit by four torpedoes in as little as forty seconds, Kaga slowly settled, but by 0150 was ordered evacuated due to her increasing list and the fact that there was no chance she'd make it out of the range of enemy aircraft before daylight. As the undamaged Japanese ships departed, destroyer Hamakaze finished her off with three more torpedoes.

BatDiv 11's fortunes only went downhill from there. A year later, Nagato and Tosa had front-row seats when Mutsu blew up at Hashirajima, leaving them the only two ships left in their division. Finally, in October 1944, the two ships - with Tosa flying the flag of VADM Nishimura Shoji- sortied from Brunei to breach Surigao Strait. Along for the ride were four destroyers, large cruiser Nantai, and their new division mate, battleship Ise. In the ensuing engagement, both Tosa and Ise slugged it out with the American battle line, and they both died like samurai.

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Those are just beautiful.

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The New Wolf's Shipyard
The New Wolf's Shipyard Forum

A classic. Lovely work.

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Inspired by BB1987's redux of the Myoko-class, I've decided to do a redux of my AU's "large cruisers".

The Iwate-class as completed, 1932:

By 1942, the Iwates had undergone a major refit, updating their bridge structures and foremasts:

The Iwate-class as of 1944:

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Continuing the "large cruiser" redux.

The Nantai-class as completed in 1934:

Like her heavy cruiser "cousins" Maya and Chokai, Azami underwent a refit in the late 1930s:

Nantai, Bandai, and Kurai as they appeared in 1941:

In April 1942, Bandai was providing distant screening duties for a major transport convoy when a British carrier force surprised her by pure luck off Singapore. In the ensuing action, she, light cruiser Otonase, four DDs, and a DE were all sunk by air attack, and heavy cruiser Chokai was severely damaged. Also among the dead was VADM Nagumo Chuichi, Commander-in-Chief 1st Southern Expeditionary Fleet.

Azami in 1943:

Nantai and Kurai in 1944:

Nantai was with VADM Nishimura's force in Surigao Strait, and she covered the withdrawal of battleship Nagato. It was through Nantai's sacrifice that Nagato lived to see another day. Kurai was with VADM Kurita as Force A exited San Bernardino Strait, thinking Halsey had been lured towards Cape Engano by Ozawa. Halsey had sent his carriers north, yes, but his battleships - including all six Iowa-class BBs - were still waiting for Kurita, along with three Alaska-class CBs and a host of CAs, CLs, DDs, and DEs. Thus began the Battle of Samar, which would later become known as the "Jutland of World War II".

One of Kurai's AA gunners mortally wounded a Helldiver, who proceeded to drive his plane straight through the ship's main bridge, dropping his 1,000-pound bomb seconds before impact. The bomb crashed through the main deck on the port side abreast No. 2 turret, and into the forward magazine without exploding. However, the top three 'greenhouse' levels of the superstructure had been taken out by that aerial suicide dive, leaving Kurai - which had just completed an evasive turn to port, briefly heading towards Kurita's line of BBs - going at 32 knots and completely out of control. By the time the few survivors on the bridge climbed out of the wreckage, all they could do was scream in terror as Kurai slammed full-speed into the starboard side of battleship Shinano, bringing the IJN's newest super battleship to a crashing halt and causing the ships behind her - each only 500 yards apart - to make emergency turns to avoid them. Then an already bad situation was made about 10,000 times worse when that 'dud' bomb in Kurai's forward magazine decided to detonate. The ensuing explosion obliterated the large cruiser (and all but 27 of her crew), mortally wounded Shinano, and sent a wall of shrapnel hurtling towards battleship Oshima, turning her portside superstructure into a charnel house, and the underwater shock wave from the explosion snapped her keel. (Anyone care to guess what movie I got this idea from?)

Azami in 1945:

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[ img ]

MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Very interesting drawings!

And now the last of the "large cruiser redux".

The Katsuma-class as completed in 1935:

The ships underwent brief refits in 1938:

The class as they appeared in 1944:

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[ img ]

MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

nice ones, they look much more classy with the standard IJN cruiser bow.
i also know from wich movie you got the Kurai smashing Shinano, but as i already told you i won't tell it here

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