IJN Heavy Cruiser Tatsuta 1940

Tatsuta was the second ship in the two ship Tenryu class of light cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). She was named after the Tatsuta River in Nara Prefecture, Japan.

The Tenryu class was designed to act as flagships for destroyer flotillas. The design represented an intermediate class between the light cruiser and the destroyer, which had few counterparts in other navies of the time, although it was inspired by a similar concept to the Royal Navy Arethusa class and C-class cruisers. The IJN and Japanese shipbuilding industry were still closely associated with that of the British because of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, and were able to improve on that experience.

The Tenryu-class vessels were essentially enlarged destroyers, similar in many aspects to the Kagero class. With improvements in oil-fired turbine engine technology and the use of Brown Curtiss geared turbine engines, the Tenryu class had more than twice the horsepower of the previous Chikuma class, and were capable of the high speed of 33 knots (61 km/h), which was deemed necessary in their role as flagships for destroyer squadrons. However, by the time of their completion, newer Japanese destroyers, such as the Minekaze class had a design speed of 39 knots, and newer American cruisers, such as the Omaha class also exceeded it in firepower.

In terms of weaponry, the Tenryu class was weaker than any other contemporary cruiser. The main battery consisted of four 14 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns, which were also utilized as the secondary battery on the Ise-class battleships. However, the guns were situated in single mounts on the centerline, with only a limited angle of fire, and could fire only one gun at a target immediately in front or aft of the vessel. A further weakness was the lack of room for anti-aircraft guns. Despite awareness increasing about the growing threat of aircraft to surface ships, the secondary battery of the Tenryu class consisted of only a single dual-purpose 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval guns, plus two 6.5 mm machine guns. The class also was the first to use triple torpedo launchers, with two centerline-mounted Type 6 21-inch launchers. No reloads were carried.

Shown here is a 1:1100 scale replica of the Imperial Japanese Navy light cruiser Tatsuta