Shipbucket

Interesting additions.

Oooh, nice!

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R.I.P. Admiral Furashita.
May you sail to glory forever. *salutes*

As our resident IJN master artist, BB1987, recently redrew the Oyodo-class CLs, I felt it only fair to give the improved-Oyodo-class CLs in the AU thread a redraw as well.

The Isoshima-class CLs were not laid down until late January 1943, and as such were not commissioned until mid-1945. With the superstructure combining elements of both the Agano- and Oyodo-classes, as well as the triple turrets of the latter, they were handsome vessels. Isoshima was commissioned in early June 1945, with Yasoshima following in mid-August and Aoshima in later October, respectively. The last ship of the class, Yakushima, was commissioned in early January 1946.


Isoshima as commissioned on 10 June 1945.

As they were commissioned so late in the war, all four managed to survive intact, only the second class of light cruiser to not suffer any losses. They served with distinction in the 3rd Sino-Japanese War, with Yasoshima remaining in commission as a training ship until early February 1976. They remained in Reserve Status for some time, but eventually all were stricken from the Navy List starting with Aoshima in early May 1987. By February 1988, all were awaiting final disposal, but even this took some time; the last of the class, Yakushima, was not towed to the scrapyard until early March 1994.


Aoshima as she appeared in 1957, with her secondary guns removed and replaced by 40-mm. Bofors and helicopter facilities in place of the catapult.

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

What??
New stuff so soon?
Awesome!

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R.I.P. Admiral Furashita.
May you sail to glory forever. *salutes*

Does Japan in this AU actually scrap any vessels? Or does every ship afloat become a museum ship?

It seems a bit ridiculous and smacks of weird sentimentalism which really doesn't have a place when designing an AU.

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USN components, camouflage colors, & reference links (World War II only)

Read the last two posts...six CLs go to the breaker's yard.

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Sure but you're also preserving easily 1 or 2 ships out of every single class. That's a bit on the ridiculous side - especially with a nation of people as "efficient" as the Japanese. Do they even have any museum ships in Japan? I can only think of one or two.

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USN components, camouflage colors, & reference links (World War II only)

There wasn't much to make museum ships out of after WWII, not that this would've been permitted had there been. Japan tried to get Yukikaze back in 1970, but for whatever reason, the effort failed. Most of the post-war ships will go to the breakers (with a couple exceptions), but any big ship (BB, CV, etc.) left over from WWII is a likely candidate for preservation. The only reason I preserved all four Suwas is because I wanted to have at least one heavy ship class like the USN's Iowas...four built, four preserved.

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Nice additions.

My heartiest thanks to BB1987, who took the time to do the post-war versions of this class.

The last class of wartime light cruiser, the Oyabe-class, was intended compete with the United States Navy's Cleveland-class cruisers. Originally designed to have eighteen 6.1-inch guns in six triple turrets, the stability problems that would have produced caused the Naval General Staff to order a drastic redesign. The result was the loss of two gun turrets, bringing the ships down to twelve 6.1-inch guns in four twin turrets, on par with the Clevelands, and the first of six ships, Oyabe, was laid down in late October 1943. She was launched in March 1945 and commissioned in March 1946.


The original design for the Oyabe-class ships. Note the overloaded superstructure and the near-afterthought torpedo placement.


Oyabe as completed in March 1946. The elongated hull and lines taken from most of the wartime-built CLs made for a handsome ship...the IJN's version of the USN's Cleveland-class.

By the time the war ended in August 1946, only three of the six ships had been commissioned, with the other three in the process of fitting out. The remaining three vessels had all entered service by late February 1947, and the entire class served with distinction during the 3rd Sino-Japanese War.


The fifth ship of the class, Takase, as she appeared in 1954, with updated radar, her secondary armament replaced with 40-mm. Bofors guns, and the seaplane facilities converted to helicopter operations.

By the mid-1950s, it was obvious that the all-gun cruiser was going to become a thing of the past, and as the Oyabes still had quite a bit of life left in them, the Naval General Staff ordered them converted into missile cruisers, similar to the United States Navy's Galveston- and Providence-class cruisers.


Oyabe post-refit, in 1958. Although she retained her forward guns, she was practically a new ship from her stack aft. TALOS missile launchers took the place of her aft guns, and aircraft facilities were moved to the very stern.


The third ship of the class, Naruse, as converted in 1960, with increased communications for use as a flagship.


The last ship of the class, Shonai, seen in 1967, with Tartar weapons systems. Like Naruse, she had increased communications and was used as a flagship.

As missile cruisers, the Oyabes enjoyed long careers serving their Emperor and country, but like everyone and everything, time eventually caught up to them and they began showing their age. As such, it was decided to retire them, starting with Oyabe herself in June 1969. Oirase followed her in May 1970, while the other sisters aided the U.S. Navy units off Vietnam. Takase was decommissioned in August 1973, followed by Naruse in May 1974, and only three months later Naruse was scrapped. Takase followed her sister ship to the scrapyard in March 1975, and Oyabe joined her in May of that year.

Shonai was decommissioned in May 1976, her final service being flagship to Emperor Hirohito at the Navy Day Celebrations that year. The era of the gun cruiser came to an end for the Japanese Navy when Kurobe was decommissioned in December 1979. All the Oyabes retained their forward turrets to the end of their service lives, and part of Kurobe's final cruise included gunnery exercises in the Inland Sea, where she fired her 6.1-inch guns for the last time.

Oirase and Shonai were scrapped in July 1980, but it seemed as though the Navy Department forgot about Kurobe, for she languished in Reserve for nearly twenty years. She was in danger of being scrapped, but the citizens of Maizuru raised enough money to buy her from the Navy, and she was towed there after being removed from the Navy List, opening as Maizuru's first museum ship in early January 1999.

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB