IJN "Akashi" - the Imperial Japanese Navy repair ship

“Akashi” was a Japanese repair ship, that served during World War II. It was the only purpose-built repair ship, operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Navy based its design on the US Navy's USS “Medusa”. In 1937, the Imperial Japanese Navy converted the old battleship 
“Asahi” into a repair ship. After the conversion of “Asahi”, it was decided to build a dedicated repair ship, more suited to this task. The Imperial Japanese Navy planned for her to perform 40% of the repairs, required by the Combined Fleet (which required approximately 140,000 man-hours). Ship was therefore equipped with the latest machinery, imported from Germany. During the war, “Akashi” operated from a Japanese base at Truk Atoll, where repaired various types of battle-damaged Japanese warships, including “Shōkaku” in 1942. in October 1943 and “Yamato” in December 1943. In February 1944, the Americans launched a raid on Truk (Operation “Hailstone”), sinking and damaging many ships. During these attacks, “Akashi” was damaged and fled to the Japanese Palau atoll. On 30 March 1944, while anchored off Uruktapeli in the Palau Islands, “Akashi” was repeatedly attacked by bombs and missiles from American aircraft of the 58th Battle Group during Operation “Desecrate One”. The ship sank in shallow water, with her bridge still protruding above the water.

Medium size, a well-designed and richly detailed model of a rare warship type ship for medium-experienced and experienced modelers. It perfectly details all the deck equipment, superstructures, hull, armament and repair equipment, located on the deck. There is no textual instruction, but it is not necessary, when the graphic one is simply excellent, consistently arranged (only, before starting to use it, it is necessary to compare the order of the instruction sheets, because the sheets are loose) and perfectly readable, explaining the gluing of each detail step by step. Some sheets and details are printed double-sided, some details are printed on thin paper (not just the frame), there are considerable gray color reserves.