Japanese naval doctrine leading up to the Pacific War was focused on the concept of the decisive battle. It was multifaceted, yet all of it was concerned with whittling down a large enemy fleet, largely through night attacks using superior weaponry fired from long ranges. While the traditional battleship and battleline remained a cornerstone of this doctrine, the preliminaries were to be conducted by massed torpedo attack, particularly at night, by squadrons of heavily armed, high speed destroyers with torpedoes of greater range, speed and warhead size than those of other countries.  Accordingly, much attention was given over to new destroyer design.
 

Design

Omitting subclasses, the Kageros were the fifth class of modern destroyers built for the offensive battle doctrine of the IJN, and the class was widely considered by the Japanese to have reached the ideal combination of speed, range, firepower, and stability as required in a destroyer. Nineteen units were built between 1939 and 1941.

The Kagero type was an improved version of the preceding Asashio class destroyer, with slightly more powerful engines, a slightly higher top speed, improved turning radius, and a re-positioning of the forward torpedo reloads bays and torpedo reload equipment for improved reload performance and better overall stability. In fact, the Kageros benefitted greatly from the early issues that plagued the Asashios, so much so that the Kageros had essentially none.

Aside from the changes to the forward torpedo reloads, they were nearly identical in appearance to their immediate predecessors; mounting the same armament of six 5" guns in Type C turrets, two twin 25mm AA and eight 24" torpedo tubes. Sixteen Type 93 torpedoes were carried, enough for two full salvos. Eighteen depth charges were dispensed off individual roll off racks at the stern, and by a Y gun thrower. At 2,023 tons standard displacement, the Kageros were 72 tons heavier than the Asashios, with a slightly thicker bridge structure.
 

A Brief History

Kagero (?? Gossamer Haze) was the lead ship of her class of nineteen vessels. Authorized under the 3rd Naval Armaments Supplement Program (also known as the Circle Three Plan), she was laid down at the Maizuru Naval Dockyard on September 3, 1937 and commissioned on November 6, 1939. 

At the start of the war, she was assigned to Destroyer Division 18 (Shiranui, Kagero, Kasumi, Arare – a mix of Kagero and Asashio class ships), and that division was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 2. DesDiv 18 accompanied the Kido Butai as part of the escort for the Pearl Harbor Attack Operation. She and her division mates continued to escort the carriers on numerous strikes and forays throughout the South Pacific and into the Indian Ocean for the first six months of the war.  In June, at the Battle of Midway, DesDiv 18 escorted the Midway Troop Convoy. 

In July, after Midway, she and her division mates were all involved in escort duties in the Aleutians. It so happened that on July 5,1942, she was on a separate escort mission when all three division mates were torpedoed outside Kiska Harbor by USS Growler. Arare was sunk, and both Shiranui and Kasumi lost a substantial portion of their bows.  With lengthy repair yard visits ahead of those two ships, the integrity of the division was ruptured and Kagero was re-assigned to DesDiv 15 (Kurushio, Oyashio, Hayashio), also of DesRon 2, which had lost sister Natsushio to a torpedoing earlier in the year.

The division soon joined Japanese efforts to retake Guadalcanal.Kagero engaged in several bombardment missions (including that of Henderson Field, twice), and participated inmany troop transport and attack missions. Ultimately, Kagero and her division sisters recorded more escort and attack missions to Guadalcanal than any other Japanese destroyer division. Kagero recorded 14 runs, Kurushio and Oyashio 10 trips apiece, and Hayashio embarked on 7 runs before she was sunk by air attack in late November, 1942. 

Kagero also fought as part of the troop convoy escort during Battle of the Eastern Solomons, as part of the Vanguard Battle Force at the Battle of Santa Cruz, the Naval Battles of Guadalcanal (where she and Oyashio attempted an unsuccessful torpedo attack upon USS Washington), and in the Battle of Tassafaronga.  She also helped cover the subsequent evacuation of Guadalcanal in early February, 1943.

Along with her division mates, Kagero returned to Japan in mid-February, 1943 for refit, and the repair of light damage sustained at various times during the Guadalcanal campaign.She gained a new, twin 25mm AA mount on a raised platform in front of her bridge.  Also, while not confirmed, it is likely that she and her division sistershad her twin 25mm AA mounts to either side of number two funnel changed to triple mounts.

Upon their return to the Solomon Islands in early 1943, Kagero, Kurushio and Oyashio participated in several successful troop transport reinforcement missions around Shortland Island, and to a garrison at Vila on Kolambangara. For many of these missions, the division transited east to west through the relatively narrow waters of Blackett Strait for their return to base. The US Navy had learned of these missions and sent a small force of old DDs converted to minelayers to successfully mine the strait on the evening of May 6/7, 1943.

DesDiv 15 reinforced Vila once again, early on May 8th, approaching from the east. After unloading troops and cargo, they again transited to the west through Blackett Strait on the way back to Buinon Bougainville, which lay to the northwest. Within an hour, Oyashio staggered to a halt after hitting a mine. Assuming a submarine attack, Kagero and Kuroshio took up anti-submarine positions around Oyashio. Shortly thereafter, Kagero, and then Kurushio, also struck mines. Kurushio was immediately rent by a number of massive explosions, probably her magazines, and sank immediately. Kagero was rendered immobile. 

Kagero and Oyashio subsequently drifted helplessly to the west and southwest, respectively, throughout the rest of the day, while enduring further attacks from the air by American divebombers.  Both ultimately succumbed to progressive flooding in the early evening, barely 20 minutes apart. Losses for DesDiv 15 included 18 men on Kagero, 91 on Oyashio, and 83 on Kurushio.It was a tragic loss of men and ships that was likely avoidable, had the Japanese command bothered to vary their tactics. Complacency and obstinance on the part of their higher command, with regard to the deployment and use of assets, would continue to plague the IJN throughout the war, with grievous impact. 

(Note: Background, Design, History are repeated from the MW review of the Tamiya 1/350 Kagero kit of April, 2016)

Aoshima 1972

The original Kagero class kit was produced by Aoshima. Dimensionally, it was very close to accurate for overall & waterline length, as well as just being a tad narrow on width. The biggest dimensional issue actually had to do with freeboard, which was significantly higher than it should have been by 1.5mm.

Shapes were generally good, particularly the bridge and funnels. One exception was the forecastle deck, which sloped up to the bow in a gently rising curve instead of a straight plane.These kits were devoid of small details: there were no bridge windows, hatches or doors, portholes, degaussing cables, etc., as well missing equipment such as the large paravane winch at the stern. The kits were also equipped with generic or block-like looking weapons, boats, and accessories. However, the shortcomings of the kit were very much a function of the limitations of the injection molding technology of the time, available references, and cost. The kit itself was quite typical of the original waterline series. The box art was generally dynamic and accurate 

Still, there were those talented modelers who found ways (and references) to improve the models. In time, Skywave/Pit-road, began producing improved weapons and accessory kits to add greater detail to these kits as well as the other 1/700 offerings. Even the Waterline Consortium released new weapons sets to provide more accurate details by the 1990s.
 

Pit-Road/Skywave 1992

Twenty years passed. Pit-Road began to fill the growing demand for improved features in the 1/700 range by producing newly tooled 1/700 IJN kits that sought to raise the level of detail and accuracy in this scale. They released a new set of Kagero class kits (Yukikaze and Kagero) in the early 1990s. 

Still sold today, these are very nice kits with sharp, though slightly overscale, details. (This is how Pit-Road achieved its great reputation.) In the early 90’s, better molding technology allowed for improved detail, though not as precise as can be done today. Pit-Road used highly detailed masters that were just slightly overscale that allowed for more and nicer detail on very small parts and surfaces, something that hadn’t been available before. 

Dimensionally, the kit’s overall length, width and freeboard are correct. The waterline length is slightly undersized, and that impacts on the shape/silhouette of the bow, which is the only thing that I can really fault the kit on.The Japanese DDs have a very specific bow form, and I just don’t care for the way Pit-Road has molded it. It shows a more generalized clipper-shape rather than the specific angle changes typical for a Japanese destroyer. The bow can be fine-tuned with some sanding. 

The forecastle rise to the bow is correct, there is steel treading and linoleum tie-downs on the decks, bridge and funnels are detailed, there are paravanes and a winch as well as separate hawser reels, the turrets have vent shields on top, the main guns have blast bags, and the 25mmAA secondary armament and ship’s boats are vastly improved over those from the Waterline Consortium. Everything is distinctly molded. Still, the main turrets are oversized, the portholes aren’t fully formed, no external degaussing cable is present, and some hatches and doorways are not fully developed. Overall, though, these kits are far better than the original Aoshima kits. 

The Pit Road Kagero kits are all popped from the same mold; some are now offered with a bottom hull to create a full hull, others with new decals for different ships in the class, and of course, there are early and late war versions. Pit-road also developed its own, new NE line of even more detailed accessories, some of which are also now bundled together with these kits.
 

Aoshima 2003

Eventually, Aoshima responded to the Pit-Road challenge with its own new tool Kagero class kits in 2003. Aoshima took a different tack with regard to detail and scale. For the most part, it adhered more closely to actual scale for its details, which meant both a little less fine detailing, and fewer small parts.These kits feature a beautiful hull, forecastle and bow forms, (they even managed the slight turtleback rounding of the forecastle sides as it meets the hull) and accurately scaled detail for what is there. Aoshima also took the care to mold new main turrets and blast bag equipped barrels for the kit while relying on the Waterline Consortium’s Small Vessel Ordinance set for the other accessories. 

Despite these improvements, there are molded-on hawser reels, no portholesor degaussing cable, and little bulkhead detail, among other things.  An issue for some modelers is that the detail is scaled so correctly that it’s almost too small to see (particularly the linoleum tie-down lines after painting), hence a preference for the kits from other manufacturers. Dimensionally, the kit is slightly undersized in length by 1mm, which is a little surprising given the apparent emphasis on scale accuracy. Width and freeboard are fine. 

Aoshima markets the kit as several ships in various early, mid and late war fits. Additionally, there are late war, full hull versions for Isokaze and Yukikaze, as well as a full hull, post-war version of Yukikaze as a war repatriated destroyer for the Republic of China, renamed Tan Yang. The hull breakdown is a little different, and the linoleum tiedowns are erroneously recessed instead of raised, but otherwise, it's the same tooling. Interestingly, these full hull kits are the proper length.
 

Fujimi 2010 

Fujimi entered the Kagero class fray in 2010. They issued a kit that aimed to match the proper scaling of the Aoshima kit with the detail level of the Pit-Road kit, as they attempt with all of their current kits. I would say that they did so with a moderate amount of success. 

The kit hull itself is reasonably good with a late war fit of full portholes and some sealed scuttles and a degaussing cable with brackets. The late war hull matches Yukikaze’s late war fit. The prow is molded separately from the hull with two parts, and this can complicate the lines of the bow. Dimensionally, the kit is spot-on accurate in all respects save, possibly, the freeboard. The kit uses a hidden bottom plate instead of a waterline plate, and the resulting freeboard appears a shade low. 

The rest of the kit seems over-engineered with too many parts. It is, by far, the most complicated of the 1/700 Kagero kits to build. The bridge has so many pieces that there even more seams to fill than on the Pit-Road version. Still, a higher level of detail has been achieved; the bridge compass deck interior even has a molded wood grating within it. The main turrets and torpedo mounts are also well done. 

However, the detail molding is not always sharp. In fact, it's inconsistent. Different sprues and assemblies almost appear as if they are from different kits. One only has to compare the excellent aft deck house assembly against the bridge assembly to get a sense of how the sharpness of the moldings can vary. The styrene has a nice matte finish, but seems a little on the soft side. 

A nice bonus is that there are two ships included in the boxing. Fujimi has marketed the kits as several sisters in various guises (full hull, with photoetch) and also included new parts to market some in early war fit.
 

Fujimi NEXT 2016

The NEXT series of kits are essentially highly detailed snap-together kits utilizing pre-colored parts, all to ease assembly without glue or paint. The hulls are one-piece upper hulls with a separate, snap-on lower hull. A waterline stance can be achieved without the lower hull, but there is no hidden bottom plate, nor waterline plate, just an internal mounting plate for the lower hull.

Dimensionally, the hull is correct, and the hull itself is beautifully molded with very distinct detailing of the portholes and degaussing cable. The bow form is perfect. The linoleum decking comes as separate pieces that snap in place. The bridge and aft deckhouse are also superior in appearance and details.

While all the larger housing assemblies are sharply molded, some sinkholes do appear in the smaller ones, like the forward funnel assembly. The combined, black funnel band and grills are bulky, and all the small pieces (ex. masts, davits, searchlights, 25mm AA) are slightly oversized, to bulk them up to allow for the stress of snapping them into place. Conversely, the torpedo tube mounts and main turrets are beautifully molded. 

These kits are also packaged two to the box and marketed as several sisters in early and late war fits. 
 

Pit-Road/Flyhawk 2020:  This month’s review subject

In what I consider to be a very shrewd move on the part of both companies, Pit-Road and Flyhawk have joined forces to produce this latest kit. It’s just my musings, but I would think that Pit-Road gets to take advantage of state-of-the art production and cheaper labor, while Flyhawk gains significant project revenue and a possible addition to its Kajika division product line. 

The kit is molded in a medium blue-grey, with options for both a waterline plate and underwater portion of the hull for a full hull display. Details are very sharply molded and all the details appear to be extremely well scaled. All the kit surfaces have a nice satin matt finish. On my kit, there was neither plastic flash residue nor sinkholes.

The kit comes packaged in a fashion identical with Flyhawk/Kajika kits in that the hull portions, waterline plate, and major decks are all wrapped within a roll of thin foam and secured at the ends by rubber bands. Beyond those components, there is one large, extensive sprue, a mid-sized sprue, two small sprues, and some separately molded parts. Altogether, the kit has approximately 125-130 pieces. 

There is no degaussing cable and all the components are for an as-built configuration.  So, straight out of the box, this kit can be built as any of the of the Kagero class destroyers prior to the war.
 

The lower hull also continues the series of alternating hull strakes in a manner that shows no interruption of the pattern. Details on the hull include nicely thinned bilge keels, glands for the propeller shafts, and locating points for the prop shafts, prop struts, and rudder.  One last touch is a series of water inlets molded into the bottom of the hull. 

I’m a little surprised to see the hawser reels molded on, but they are so tiny (in scale) that I imagine the production consensus was to mold them in. Obviously, they can be replaced with PE versions. The scale of the overall detailing is reminiscent (to me) of the 2003 Aoshima Kagero tooling, but crisper in execution. 

In my opinion, the only other Kagero kit funnels that are remotely as nice as these are those from the Fujimi 2010 kits, and those are two-part funnels with seams.

The main battery turrets are beautifully executed with very crisp detailing. The rear bulkhead is molded separately with access hatches. Ventilation covers are molded on the turret sides as well as the top. No grab rails are molded on, but stiffening bands do surround the front and sides of the turret. While that’s not entirely accurate (the bands were present on number one turret, but not the aft two for this class), removing the bands seems very problematic, and most modelers will be fine with it. Rivets dot the surface and, while they may be overscale, they are impressively formed.
 

It is instructive to compare the Fujimi NEXT turrets and torpedo mount with these units. Like the deckhouse, the NEXT units are very impressive bits of molding. Still, the argument can be made that the PitRoad units are a hair sharper.  This seems clearly so with regard to the torpedo mount. 
 

The galley pipe that is attached to funnel number one is correctly formed, and all the masts are thinner and truer to scale than any previous Kagero kit. In fact, while beautiful, they are so thin that I would have concerns about their supporting any significant rigging other than that using stretched sprue. The yardarms are molded in a more accurate fashion than previously seen.

Importantly, these decals apply specifically to sisters Kagero, Shiranui, Kurushio, Oyashio, Hayashio and Natsushio in their pre-war markings. The first two ships were part of DesDiv 18, while the other four vessels fully comprised DesDiv 15. The funnel bands are keyed to those particular divisions. Interestingly, funnel markings used to identify individual ships in lieu of the katakana markings after the war started are also included. The box art on the rear of the box lays out the particular pre-war markings for each ship listed, while the front box art shows the stripped down marking typical of a wartime vessel, but with no degaussing cable showing. 

 I’ve always thought well of Pit-road decals but these, like this kit, have gone one step further. The decal material is thinner and cut closer to the lettering than in previous efforts. They are really nice.

This kit makes that sort of effort no longer necessary. With a kit equal to their superb renditions of numerous DKM and RN warships, Flyhawk has raised the 1/700 Kagero bar to a substantially higher level. Now, by virtue of Flyhawk’s partnership with Pit-Road, the Imperial Japanese Navy finally has a 1/700 Kagero class kit worthy of comparison. 

My opinion seems to be shared by a variety of Japanese reviewers. From what I have gleaned off several Japanese modeling sites using Google Translate, the kit is a major hit. Very highly recommended.

This kit was courtesy of my wallet, via HobbyLink Japan. The cost, less shipping, was approximately $25.00. The kit is available from several online retailers.