Akagi

Akagi

Originally designed as an Amagi-class battlecruiser, she was converted to an aircraft carrier due to the provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty. This made the Akagi ("Red Castle") one of Japan's first large aircraft carriers. Akagi and her near-sister Kaga straddled the line between aircraft carrier and dreadnought. To keep both options open, the ships were designed so they could be converted quickly to capital ships. They carried turret barbettes, magazines, and other equipment to support large gun turrets, and the wooden flight and hangar deck was designed to be quickly removed to make way for turret mounting. By the mid-1930s, however, admirals viewed the aircraft carrier as the equal of the capital ship, and the Akagi underwent extensive reconstruction to improve aircraft-carrying capacity, ending any possibility of converting her later to a capital ship.

Her aircraft served in the Second Sino-Japanese War in the late 1930s. With the formation of the First Air Fleet in 1941, she became its flagship and remained so until her sinking. Notable actions include the attack on Pearl Harbor, the invasion of Rabaul, the bombing of Darwin, Australia, and the Indian Ocean raid.

In June 1942, she participated in the Battle of Midway, with her planes bombing the American-held atoll. However, US planes launched from Midway, as well as the US carriers Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown attacked Akagi and three other Japanese fleet carriers. Dive bombers from USS Enterprise damaged Akagi so severely that she had to be scuttled by friendly destroyers to prevent her from falling into American hands. The loss of four Japanese aircraft carriers in this engagement, including Akagi, was a decisive defeat for Japan, altering the balance of power in the Pacific.

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted.