Imperial Navy of Japan

Victory at Sea IJN Aircraft - 743211007

Witnessing massed airpower at the Battle of Taranto, the Japanese were quick to master the tactic, as seen in their infamous attack on Pearl Harbor. Later in the war, having suffered from terrible attrition and facing defeat, the Japanese turned...

IJN Akagi - 742411056

Originally laid down as an Amagi-class battlecruiser, the stipulations of the Washington Treaty resulted in her conversion to an aircraft carrier. As a result, Akagi (赤城, "Red Castle") was one of Japan’s first large aircraft carriers...

VaS IJN Submarines & MTB Section - 743211008

Submarines: The Kaidai-7-class, or KD-7, was developed in the late 1930s, following on from the preceding KD-6 class. With a surface range of 8,000nm at 16kts, and a submerged endurance of 50nm at 5kts, they possessed a slightly better underwater...

VaS Merchant Convoy

Preventing attacks on defenceless merchant ships is the other main role of the navy, and it was her that the war was fought, day in and day out, by the humble corvette, frigate and destroyer escort, and later by escort carriers. Commerce raiding formed a...

Yamato - 742411050

Yamato (大和, "Great Harmony") and her sister ship, Musashi, were constructed shortly before the outbreak of World War II. They were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed; armed with nine 18.1” Type 94 main...

Victory at Sea Imperial Japanese Navy Fleet - 742411002

For centuries, Japan's policy of seclusion (sakoku) saw it concentrate on coastal defences in order to repel foreign vessels. However, with the advances other maritime nations were making, it eventually became obvious that no longer would Japan be able...