--Aoba was laid down at Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works as the first Furutaka-class ship in February 1924, and was completed in September 1927.
--The Furutaka class was designed by Colonel Hiraga and boasted an unprecedented attack power as a 7,100-ton class light cruiser, but the arrangement of six 20 cm single guns is welcomed by the Navy on the military side. It was something I couldn't do.
――For that reason, both Aoba and Kinugasa were particular about the main gun arrangement, in which the 20 cm guns were housed in three twin turrets from the beginning.
――As a background during this period, the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff, who hated Colonel Hiraga, who had no other intention to compromise, drove Colonel Hiraga to a sinecure and dared to entrust the redesign to his successor, Colonel Fujimoto, and laid down this Aoba class. is.
――However, although the 7,100-ton class cruiser had a heavy load on the twin turret, it seems that there was no doubt that a more modern cruiser was born as a result.
――Aoba, who was commissioned in this way, organized the 2nd Fleet and the 5th Fleet into Furutaka, Kako, and Kinugasa, and was devoted mainly to training in China and the Utsumi area.
――The Aoba class was an epoch-making cruiser, but I couldn't deny the feeling that it was forcibly armed.
――Furthermore, the times are constantly advancing.
――It has become inferior to the 10,000-ton class treaty cruiser that was created after this class.
――Therefore, following the Furutaka class, modernization and renovation work will be carried out.
――The basic refurbishment points are the same as the Furutaka class, but since it was equipped with a twin turret from the beginning, this part only had to re-boring the caliber of the main gun from 20 cm to 20.3 cm.
--Aoba's renovation work began in October 1937 and took three years to complete in October 1940.
――In this way, Aoba served in the military as the flagship of the 1st and 6th squadrons, and in May 1941, the port side electric circuit was installed and the Pacific War began.
――The 6th Squadron is composed of 4 ships, Aoba, Kinugasa, Furutaka, and Kako. However, I had not experienced a full-scale battle during this time.
--In May 1942, he participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea as the main unit of the MO capture unit, but after losing the aircraft carrier Shoho, he retreated to the north.
――Aoba, who once returned to Wu, advances to Rabaul again and throws himself into the battle over Guadalcanal Island.
--Participated in the Battle of Savo Island in August 1942, and in collaboration with Toriumi and the 6th Squadron, sank four US heavy cruisers and wrecked one. ..
――In October immediately after that, Aoba, the flagship of the 6th squadron led by Maj. Gen. Goto, who advanced with the intention of shooting at Henderson Airfield on Guadalcanal Island, was hit by the onslaught of a US cruiser ambushed by misidentifying it as a friendly destroyer fleet and suffered great damage. Maj. Gen. Goto was seriously injured by the bullet that hit the bridge and later died in the war.
――Furutaka who tried to protect Aoba sank in this battle off Savo Island, and Aoba barely survived the sinking due to the strenuous battle of Kinugasa.
--After about four months of repair work from October 1942 to February the following year, he advanced to Rabaul again, but in April 1943, he was attacked by the U.S. military at Meue Passage. After an emergency repair at Cavien, which eats a large number of hit bullets 1 and close-up bullets, it travels to Wu via Truck Island, and undergoes repair work for about 4 months again from July to November 1943. ..
――At this time, it is equipped with No. 21 electric probe and many anti-aircraft machine guns.
――In addition, the No. 3 turret was damaged during the Battle of Cape Esperance and was removed, and the 25mm cannon was placed at this location, which was restored by the repair at this time.
――By the end of 1943, all Furutaka, Kako, and Kinugasa ships of the same type were killed in action, and only Aoba survived, and they were deployed to the 16th Squadron of the 1st Southern Expeditionary Fleet and advanced to Singapore.
――After that, I performed several transportation missions between Singapore and the Ringa berth, and also performed transportation missions to Borneo and various parts of the Philippines such as Balikpapan, Penang, Tarakan, Davao, and Solon.
――While doing so, the battle force became more and more disadvantageous to Japan, and the Japanese Navy, which suffered a defeat in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, launched Operation No. 1
--In response to this, the 1st Squadron departed from the Ringa berth as an escort for the transport ship, but at the point 70 Kairi southwest of the Manila Bay mouth, on October 23, 1944, it was hit by an enemy submarine. He suffered damage that made him unable to navigate, and was towed by a light cruiser Kinu and returned to Manila.
――The next day, this time in Manila, it was damaged by an air strike by the U.S. military, and on the 29th, it was also bombed, so it will return to Kure in December 1944 via Kao Port. It will not be repaired and will remain moored outside Kure Port.
――However, there is no reason for the U.S. military to leave it alone, and the stern was cut off by two air raids at the end of July 1945, and it was wrecked and landed on August 15th. ..
――In this way, Aoba survived the Pacific War, the only one in her class, but in December 1946, she was dismantled and died.
――Looking back, it feels like a ship with little luck, but did you run out of luck in the complete victory of the Battle of Savo Island?
[Point: Last time]
--Standard displacement: 9,000 tons
--Water line length: 183.53m
--Maximum width: 17.56m
--Main cans: 10 b-type Kampon-type heavy oil cans
--Speed: 33.43 knots
--Cruising power: 14 knots 8,223 nautical miles
--Weapon: 20.3 cm twin guns x 3, 12.7 mm single high angle gun x 425 mm, triple machine guns x 9, 25 mm twin guns x 6, 61 cm 4 twin launch tubes x 2
--Number of parts ... 176
--The total length of the model ... 264mm
--Overall width of the model ... 25mm
――In order to accurately reproduce the difference in shape between Furutaka / Kako and Aoba / Kinugasa, most of the main parts such as the hull, bridge, turret, and chimney are new mold parts.
--The bridge, chimney, and mast parts are dedicated parts.
★ The first privilege will end without notice. note that.
( This is a machine translation. Please allow for possible misinterpretations in the text. )