In the wake of the First World War, the Japanese looked to improve upon their 5500ton class cruisers, then building for service as destroyer squadron leaders. New, contemporary cruiser construction in the United States (Omaha class) and Great Britain (Hawkins class) dictated the need for a larger, faster, and more heavily armed reconnaissance type cruiser. The new IJN ships were designed by Admiral Yuzuru Hiraga to carry six new 20cm mounts and a sizable torpedo battery on a flush deck hull of approximately 7000+ tons (Class A cruiser in IJN parlance).
 

Design

To successfully accommodate a superior armament on a moderately sized hull, these ships incorporated many structural and design advances first implemented by Admiral Hiraga in the small cruiser Yubari. As with Yubari, the new ships integrated their deck and side armor plate as part of the hull structure. That, and their flush deck, resulted in both weight savings and increased hull strength. Designated the Furutaka class cruisers, two ships (Furutaka and Kako) were completed in 1926.

Two more ships (Aoba and Kinugasa) had also been authorized, but the design was altered somewhat to take advantage of new twin turrets designed to accommodate the 20.3cm gun currently mounted in single turrets in the Furutakas. Three twin turrets were specified, two forward (with B turret superimposed over A turret), and one aft.  A secondary battery composed of new 12cm single mounts was installed, the superstructure was altered to accommodate new, improved fire controls, and a catapult was placed upon a raised aircraft handling deck aft of number two funnel. All of these changes were accommodated using the same Furutaka class hull, but the differences were enough to warrant these two new cruisers being classified as a new class, the Aobas.  Both were completed in 1927.

All four ships were modified throughout the 1930s, with the Furutakas undergoing an extensive reconstruction that included three new twin turrets to accommodate the 20cm guns, the new secondary batteries, new fire controls, new torpedo mounts firing the Type 93 torpedo, catapults, and an improved superstructure.  The Aobas also underwent an extensive refit, with a revised superstructure and fire controls, new torpedo mounts, and additional AA. Hull blisters were also added to improve stability given the other changes. 
 

History
 

Aoba was laid down at Mitsubishi’s Nagasaki shipyard on February 4, 1924, launched September 26, 1926, and commissioned on September 20, 1927.  The Furutaka and Aoba class ships served together as one cruiser division throughout their careers until the loss of three ships in 1942 obviated the division, then known as CruDiv 6. Aoba always served as the division flagship.

Aoba spent most of the 1930s in a variety of patrol and escort duties, most notably participating in support of landing operations in China in the late 1930s. She then underwent her modernization from 1938-1940. Once the Pacific War commenced, Aoba and CruDiv 6 supported the captures of Guam and Wake Island, the invasions of Rabaul, Kavieng, Lae, Salamaua, the Shortland Islands, and Bougainville. They also provided distant cover for the invasion of Tulagi in very early May, 1942.

A few days later, CruDiv 6 was tasked with providing close escort for the light carrier Shoho as it provided air cover for the invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea. On May 7th, Shoho was attacked by aircraft from USS Yorktown and Lexington. Unfortunately, CruDiv 6’s positioning as escorts (per to the IJN doctrine at that time) was too far from Shoho to provide effective AA fire. Shoho was overwhelmed by multiple bomb and torpedo hits, and quickly sunk. 

The next day, the larger, opposing main carrier forces clashed. Despite sinking Lexington and damaging Yorktown, the Japanese carrier group suffered significant damage to the carrier Shokaku and high losses among both the Shokaku and Zuikaku air groups. Lacking adequate air support, the Port Moresby operation was subsequently postponed, then cancelled, and CruDiv 6 escorted various withdrawing units back to their relative bases. 

In mid-May, CruDiv 6 returned together to Japan via Truk. All the sisters underwent a refit at Kure Naval Yard until the end of the month. Again, they returned together to Truk after conducting training exercises and embarked on a series of escort missions. In mid-July, the IJN created a new entity, 8th Fleet, to support operations around Guadalcanal and New Guinea.  They were soon busy enough.

American and Allied forces invaded Guadalcanal on August 7th, taking the Japanese by surprise. 8th Fleet was tasked with disrupting the Allied landing by attacking the invasion fleet. Headed by Admiral Mikawa in heavy cruiser Chokai, CruDiv 6, along with two older light cruisers and one older destroyer, intercepted a heavy Allied cover force off Guadalcanal in a night action on the evening of August 8-9 that came to be known as the Battle of Savo Island. The Japanese sank four Allied heavy cruisers and damaged another, as well as two destroyers, with minimal damage to themselves. However, they failed to reach the invasion fleet, much less disrupt the landings. 

A month later, CruDiv 6 (less Kako, which was sunk by submarine S-44 during the division’s return to base following Savo Island) was tasked again with disrupting Allied efforts on Guadalcanal. This time, the division planned a night bombardment of Henderson Field. The airfield gave the Americans air superiority during the day, thereby limiting Japanese reinforcements to nighttime arrivals. In fact, the bombardment mission was planned to be concurrent with a Japanese reinforcement mission. 

Accompanied by two destroyers, CruDiv 6 unexpectedly ran into an American task force guarding the approaches to Guadalcanal. The Japanese fared poorly in this encounter. As flagship, Aoba was in the lead and bore the brunt of the initial action. She took more than 40 large caliber hits, wrecking her bridge and main gun director, main turrets two and three, and one of her 12cm AA mounts.  Her communication center was destroyed, and several boilers knocked offline. Eighty crewmen were killed, along with Admiral Goto, who was commanding the operation. Even worse, division mate Furutaka and destroyer Fubuki were both sunk. 

Aoba limped back to Shortland Island and then to Truk. After temporary repairs, she headed to Japan and Kure Navy Yard for lengthy repairs, arriving in late October. Repairs were complete by mid-February, 1943, though turret number three had to be completely removed to enable a complete rebuild. In the meantime, the empty barbette was plated over and a triple 25mm AA mount emplaced upon it. Aoba sailed for Truk, and then onto Kavieng, New Ireland where she rejoined 8th Fleet. Her return to action was short-lived.

On April 4, a force of Australia-based USAAF B-17s overflew her anchorage and skip-bombed Aoba from very low altitude with 500 lb. bombs.  One bomb hit one of Aoba’s quadruple torpedo mounts, causing two of the type 93 Torpedoes to explode. The subsequent damage and flooding were bad enough that the ship had to be beached to prevent her from sinking. Aoba again returned to Kure via Truk for further repairs. 

She remained in the yard under repair until the end of November. Some consideration was given to reconstructing her as an anti-aircraft cruiser, but ultimately, a straight forward repair was undertaken. Her fully repaired number three main turret was re-installed, two new twin 25mm AA mounts were added, and a Type 21 radar installed upon the foremast, along with a radar compartment at its base. However, Aoba’s engines had suffered some irreparable damage, limiting her to top speed to 25 knots.

In December, 1943, Aoba was re-assigned to the First Southern Expeditionary Force and based out of Singapore. For the next several months, her duties mostly consisted of convoy escort throughout the water of SE Asia, the Dutch East Indies, and New Guinea. She did participate in a raid into the Indian Ocean with cruisers Tone and Chikuma in March, 1944. At Singapore in July, she received another refit that included upgrading her AA defense with four additional triple and fifteen single 25mm AA mounts. She also received a Type 22 surface search radar. 

She then continued her assorted duties in the area of Singapore and surrounding waters until directed to Manila in October in the company of other warships. Enroute on October 23rd, she was attacked by USS Bream, which hit her with one torpedo in the number two engine room.  Aoba took on a list, and was subsequently towed to the Cavite Naval Yard for repairs. While there, she was twice attacked by carrier aircraft from Task Force 38. With Cavite becoming too dangerous to remain, Aoba departed without completing repairs as part of an escort for a large convoy on November 5th. She arrived at Takao, Formosa in mid-November for more repairs, then continued on to Kure, arriving in mid-December, 1944.

There, she was inspected, deemed unrepairable, and placed in reserve in early 1945.  US Task Force 58 commenced a series of raids against Kure in April, 1945 to reduce the remaining elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy. On April 24th, she was heavily damaged by such attacks, and settled onto the shallow bottom of the bay. Further repairs were considered fruitless, so Aoba was given four additional twin 25mm AA mounts and re-rated as a floating AA battery.

On July 24th, she was attacked again by TF 38 aircraft, taking another bomb hit and near miss. She settled even further into the bottom. On July 28th, she was attacked yet again. Four bomb hits set her afire, then a second attack yielded another four bomb hits. This time, Aoba’s stern was severed, and her hull split open. She took on a list and was rendered completely inactive. The war ended a few days later.

Post-war, Aoba was partially salvaged, refloated, and then scrapped at Harima Shipyard from 1946-47. 

Aoba’s Tabulated Record of Movement (TROM) can be found here.

While no prior review of the new tool Aoba kit has been posted on ModelWarships.com, an evaluation of the Super Detail kit of Kinugasa, Aoba’s near identical sister, was posted by Abram Joslin in May, 2017. Keep in mind that the Kinugasa kit represents Kinugasa in her 1941-42 fit, and the Aoba kit depicts Aoba in her respective 1944-45 fit. Otherwise, the contents of the Aoba kit are nearly identical to that of Kinugasa. I would urge those unfamiliar with either kit to read the original review, as all but one the Kinugasa kit sprues are shared with Aoba. So, please see the Kinugasa review.

My intent in this review is to just focus on the new sprue and the “Super Detail” aspects of the kit.

Everything is sharply molded. Aoba sported a different arrangement of auxiliary piping on this funnel from Kinugasa, and that is replicated here. Unfortunately, it’s also molded onto the funnel.  This is not terrible, but it does detract slightly from what would be the appearance of separate components. Also seen are changes to various bridge decks to reflect changes in equipment for 1944 including the wind deflection vanes, and a radar compartment installed within the base of the foremast.

Thanks to Hobbico (Great Planes) Model Distributors for the review sample. They are your US distributors for Hasegawa. Suggested MSRP appears to be $49.00, though it can be had for less from various sellers.