Waldemar Góralski – författare

Kongo, meaning indestructable, was the Imperial Japanese Navy's first super-dreadnought type battlecruiser, and the name-ship of her class, which also included the Hiei, Kirishima, and Haruna. She was upgraded to a battleship rating in the 1930s and served in several major naval operations during World War II before being sunk by enemy action in 1944.This modelling guide provides a lavishly illustrated history of this impressive warship with numerous close-up and panoramic shots based on actual technical drawings.About the SeriesThis brand-new series focuses on the construction of famous ships– battleships, carriers, cruisers, and submarines. With ground-breaking 3D imagery, each corner, angle, and dimension of the ship is viewable. With various close-up views, and each 3D image based on actual technical scale drawings and photographs, this is an exceptional reference tool. Information on the design, development and combat history of each vessel is also included, as well as numerous photographs and 1/350th scale drawings.

The Japanese cruiser Chikuma According to the provisions of the Treaty of London light cruisers could be armed with cannons with a maximum caliber of 155mm in quantities up to 15 pieces. Japanese engineers, admirals and Fukuda Fujimoto developed a draft of the ship classified as "medium cruiser type." His task was to guard the main force fleet from attacks by enemy light forces and the fight against cruisers. The ship was ordered under the Second Fleet Expansion Program of 1934roku. Funds for the construction of the cruiser entered in the budget for 1935/1936. The ship, which was named Chikuma River (in Nagano Prefecture on the island of Honshu) was built in the shipyard of Mitsubishi Nagasaki.

HMS Badsworth (L03) was one of eighty-six British Hunt-class escort destroyers. The class would eventually comprise four separate types built between 1939 and 1943. Design work on the class began in 1938. The Admiralty wanted to create warships optimized for convoy escort duties and patrolling. Since there was a huge demand for such vessels in the fleet, their cost was to be the deciding factor. A decision was made to design ships which would be smaller and slower than an average destroyer. In conjunction with their overall simple design this was to allow for rapid mass-scale production. The design was based on the Black Swan-class sloop, but the new destroyers were to be faster and better armed.

The Japanese Navy ordered two new battleships in 1912. They were an improved version of Fuso type battleships. Their construction was included in the equipment plan 8-4 of the fleet (8 battleships and 4 heavy cruisers), which was approved by the government and parliament. The amount of money allocated totaled 80 million yen. Design work began in 1913 and all funds for the start of word were collected by July 1914. On May 6, 1915, at the Mitsubishi group shipyard in Nagasaki, a keel for the new battleship was laid. On January 27, 1917, the ship was launched receiving the name Hyuga (after the name of the province). On November 1, 1917, Commander Eitaro Shimodairo became the first captain of the battleship. The Hyuga battleship project was based on the design of the Fuso battleship. Some changes were made to it. The hull was extended by 3 meters, and the armor of the ship's magazines and the central command post were changed. The layout of guns 1 and 2 was changed, which allowed placing the boiler room closer to the bow and fitting the funnels closer to each other. It also allowed putting artillery guns 3 and 4 behind the boiler room. It was not a good choice, because it was necessary to carry the steam ducts to the engine room through the ship's magazines. A better solution was to install the wires under the ship's magazines and over the double bottom.

In 1902, Japan signed an Alliance Pact with Britain, which was then a leading sea power. It ordered modern ships at British shipyards, and Japanese shipyards were to co-operate. After the new class of battlecruisers had emerged, Japan decided to design them for its navy. They were to be ships with a displacement of 19,000 tons and a main armament of 305 mm calibre guns. However, with the news that the British were working on a new design of the LION class cruiser with 343 mm main armament, work on the Japanese project was discontinued. An agreement was signed with the Vickers shipyard for the design and construction of new ships. The design of the LION cruiser was significantly improved by Vickers in co-operation with the Japanese Navy Technical Department. The new project’s main armament envisaged 356 mm guns not used before and developed by Vickers. Medium gun calibre was increased from 102 mm to 152 mm. The power unit was left as on the LION class. Four ships were ordered. The first, KONGO, was built at Vickers’ shipyard, the others were to be built in Japan. KIRISHIMA was built at the Mitsubishi shipyard in Yokosuka. Keel laying – 17 March 1912, launching – 1 December 1913, commissioned on 19 April 1915.

When, in the early 1930s, the Americans began modernizing their navy, they considered the replacement of old destroyers from the Great War as one of the most urgent tasks. However, the new projects, disappointed and dissatisfied the sailors. Some of these vessels were heavily overloaded (e.g. Sims class and early Benson ships), as a result some of the weaponry had to be removed. By proceeding with the design of subsequent series of destroyers, efforts were made to respect the Treaty restrictions (London, 1936). The originally formulated requirements envisaged a destroyer with a displacement of 1,600 tons and armament consisting of not less than 4.5-inch (127 mm) guns and 10 x 533mm torpedo tubes and a speed of 36 knots. There were six variants of vessels slightly different from earlier Benson and Sims classes. It soon became apparent that additional requirements could not be met within the limits of this displacement. This mainly concerned making space for a 28-mm quadruple automatic cannon and more powerful ASuW weapons.

The USS Stevens (DD-479) was one of the 175 Fletcher-class destroyers, and was considered one of the finest world War II warships of that type. What set it apart from most of the standard Fletcher-class destroyers was its aircraft-carrying capability. In May 1940 six of the Fletcher-class destroyers were selected for conversion into aircraft-carrying ships. The upgrades included installation of the Mk VI pneumatic aircraft catapult for embarked OS2U Kingfisher float planes.