Shinano

Shinano was laid down in June 1940, but construction was suspended in the summer of 1941 to free manpower and resources for approaching hostilities. Following the disastrous losses at the Battle of Midway, Shinano was selected for conversion to an aircraft carrier. It was the largest aircraft carrier, by tonnage, until the commissioning of the supercarrier USS Forrestal, eleven years later. Shinano was designed as a support carrier, using its extensive machine shops and large fuel capacity to service aircraft operating on other carriers. It would have had a very small air group of its own but a large number of unassigned aircraft to replace losses on other carriers. Scale: 1:200
Size of Model: 1330mm x 300mm x 250mm
Material: Fiberglass Hull, Wood deck, resin & brass parts
Drive System: 4 x 540 motors, 4 x shaft & brass propellers
R/C system: 2 channel Radio Controller with one Servo, ESC (80A) Shinano was floated out of her dock at Yokosuka Navy Yard on November 11, 1944, and commissioned on November 19. On November 28, Shinano, escorted by four destroyers, sailed for Kure for further outfitting. At the time, the watertightness of pipes and connections between compartments had not been tested. The crew also had little training in damage control procedures. Shinano had only been at sea for a few hours when it was sighted by USS Archer-Fish, a Balao-class submarine under the command of Commander Joseph F. Enright. At 03:17, Archer-Fish fired six torpedoes. Four shallow-running torpedoes struck Shinano between the antitorpedo bulges and the waterline. Although the ship initially continued under way, it lost power around 06:00. The inexperienced crew was unable to contain the flooding and Shinano sank at 11:00. Approximately 1400 of the 2500 crew died. Postwar analysis by the US Naval Technical Mission to Japan concluded that the defective design of Shinano's antitorpedo bulges, specifically the faulty connection between the main armor belt and the antitorpedo bulkhead, contributed to her loss.