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The Great War took its toll on all navies; with the implementation

of the Washington Treaty marine architects were faced with the

formidable task of designing a warship with the best possible

armour, fastest speed and heaviest armament all on a modest

displacement. We shall see how different countries approached the

problem.

Next month part 3 deals with the Washington Treaty Battleships.

MMI

illustrates the divergence in design philosophy from the other major

navies. Commissioned in 1914 she weighed in at just below 25,000

tons, significantly less than her rivals although she had the highest

speed of 24 knots. She was fitted with obsolete 12 inch guns fitted

in triple turrets. They, however, are fitted on the centre line without

any super-firing. She could, however, fire a full broadside of all of

her guns. She was still fitted with anti-torpedo nets and was not

fitted for any aeroplanes.

Nagato

The Japanese Imperial Navy was rapidly expanding its Pacific fleet

and the Nagato class battleships were truly formidable opponents

of the time (Nagato and Mutsu). When commissioned in 1920

she was the largest battleship afloat; some 725 ft long and a

staggering 42,850 displacement, she was the first vessel to carry

16 inch guns. She totally outclassed all opposition. She was the

only Japanese battleship to survive WWII and was sacrificed at the

atomic testing ground at Bikini Atoll.

The Japanese company of Hasegawa produce a fine super

detailed model of Nagato as she appeared at Leyte Gulf. It is one

of the finest models around but also one of the most expensive. It

does not come with any etching but the detail is so good it hardly

seems to matter.

http://www.marinemodelmagazine.com APRIL 2015

The plastic kit box art for the Nagato by Hasegawa

IJN Nagato, the world’s first 16 inch gunned battleship. The layout of twin super firing turrets is now standard but was a novel

approach when Nagato was launched. This shows her in her final state at the outbreak of the Second World War

A fine 3/4 view of Nagato showing the arrangement of the main

armament. It also shows the somewhat antiquated arrangement

of the secondary armament on the beam, rather than in turrets at

a higher deck level

The aft turrets of Nagato and the arrangement of the spotter

planes. These were retrofitted when all major warships were

fitted with catapults

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