Kriegsmarine: Schwerer Kreuzer Tokio, April 1944

[nönöbär]

Kriegsmarine: Schwerer Kreuzer Tokio, April 1944

The ship:
In early summer of 1939, the IJN cruiser Myoko started for a world tour which should have toured around the world. Starting in Japan, the ship crossed the Pacific with stops at Hawaii and San Diego. After sailing through the Panama Canal and additional visits to the southern part of the USA, the ship moved across the Atlantic for its European visits.

In mid-August of 1939 the cruiser arrived at Kiel, Germany and while approaching the harbor, a massive engine failure occurred disabling the main propulsion completely. Towed into the ship yard of the Deutsche Werke in Kiel, it soon got clear that repairs would take a longer time and required some spare parts from Japan.

Then September 1st 1939 happened, the start of WW2. Still stuck in the shipyard, repair priority of the Myoko soon was lowered as shipyard capacity was required for Germanys war effort. As Japan was not officially involved in the war, there was still a high danger that the ship might got damaged by allied air raids. Repairs only progressed slowly, and it took more than two years until the engines were restored for operational usage. The required parts could not be delivered form Japan so they had to be rebuild in Germany.
On December 4th 1941, the Myoko made its first sea trials in the Baltic Sea which went successful, so the ship was prepared for its return trip to Japan. Which was then cancelled after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. There was no real chance that the cruiser would have been able to return home after Japan also entered WW2.

After intensive consultation between the German and Japanese officials it was then decided to sell the Myoko to Germany, in exchange submarine and aircraft technology. In memory of its origin, the ship was renamed to "Tokio" and was again put into the shipyard for certain refits, mainly addition of Radar (Funkmessgeräte), German rangefinders and replacement of the secondary artillery.
Those modification were completed by March 1942 and the ship began some trials with a mixed Japanese and German crew. In late April 1942, the Tokio was then send to Norway, where it joined the other remaining major Kriegsmarine ships.

Tokio took part in several operations like the battle in the Barents Sea where it heavily damaged the British cruiser Sheffield or Operation Sizilien, the German attack on Spitzbergen. The cruiser was one of the last ships major ships in Norway and returned to Germany after the sinking of the Tirpitz in November 1944.

Operating in the Baltic Sea from then on, the ship was hit by two torpedoes of the Russian Submarine S-13, causing severe damage. Being able to keep the ship afloat, it was beached at the Heikendorf Bight near Kiel and was scrapped there between 1947-1949.

The model shows the ship during its time in Norway in April 1943.

 






Together with Heavy Cruiser Lützow:


The model:
This is a 1/700 scale Hasegawa kit of the IJN Myoko, slightly modified with parts of the spare part box.
Replaced are the secondary guns (now German 10,5 cm), German range finders and AA-rangefinders ("Wackeltöpfe"), additional flashlights, new boats and a new crane.

The model was painted with Revel Aqua Color in a typical Kriegsmarine Norway camo. Antennas are made from fishing line and additional PE figures were used.

[NARSES2]

I like that 

[Joe C-P]

Good story, and a proper build.   

[Dizzyfugu]

Cool, that's looking very good and convincing.