Fujimi Model Ships 1/350 IJN Ise Battleship 1944 Kit
Ise was the lead ship of her class of battleships. During the early 1920s, she patrolled off the eastern coast of Russia. On 12 Apr 1922, she hosted a delegation which included Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, and the future Lord Mountbatten. Between 1928 and 1929, she was rebuilt at the Kure Naval Arsenal, Japan, receiving her pagoda-style superstructure, among other changes. Between 20 Nov 1931 and 10 Feb 1932, while under the command of Captain Mineichi Koga, she received four twin Type 89 127-mm/40 anti-aircraft guns and two twin Vickers Type 40 anti-aircraft guns while sacrificing some of her secondary 140-mm guns. Between 1 Aug 1935 and 27 Mar 1937, she drydocked at Kure once again for modernization, replacing her mixed-fired boilers with eight oil-fired boilers and turbines, increasing her speed to just over 25 knots; she also received anti-torpedo bulges and had her six submerged torpedo tubes removed. Her anti-aircraft armament was also improved during the 1935-1937 reconstruction.
Ise began her WW2 career off China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Between 1 Dec 1937 and 15 Nov 1938, she was under the command of Captain Tamon Yamaguchi. She set sail for the Pearl Harbor operation in Dec 1941, though only as an escorting battleship and did not see action. In Apr 1942, she was dispatched to search for the American carrier force that launched the Doolittle raiders but was not able to locate it. In May 1942, she received the experimental Type 21 air search radar. On 29 May, she sailed with the fleet that attacked Midway but did not see action in the subsequent namesake battle.
In 1943, it was decided that both Ise-class battleships were to be converted into carriers in order to each provide about a planned 50 dive bombers to the carrier force, which was seriously weakened after the loss at the Battle of Midway. Because of the pressing need, the plan was changed to convert them into hybrid battleship-carriers instead, which would take less time to complete. Ise's conversion took place at Kure between Feb and Aug 1943.
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