Imperial Japanese Navy ship Azuma: a powerful piece built to fill a very specific portion of the jigsaw puzzle that was the Japanese naval doctrine. In this case, the project B-65 cruiser (which Azuma is based on) would play a key role in the dogma of the “Decisive Battle”, a philosophy which was central to Japanese plans for victory in a potential war with the United States. This idea was inspired by the singular naval victory at the 1905 Battle of Tsushima, which virtually settled the Russo-Japanese war in favor of the latter. Their goal in future wars was to whittle down the numerically superior enemy with mobile carrier strikes and night-time torpedo attacks, before dispatching the protective escort of lighter ships and then closing in and destroying the enemy capital ships with their own battleships. It’s in this capacity that Azuma would have come in.
In order to eliminate the protective cushion of destroyers and cruisers in this hypothetical event, the plan was for the Night Battle Force (Yasen Butai) — composed of destroyers, cruisers, and battlecruisers — to engage and neutralize them as night fell. The battleships would then duke it out with whatever forces were left the next morning. The initial requirements placed on these new cruisers called for a 40-knot top speed, three triple 310 mm gun turrets, and a heavy layer of armor.
Anticipating the new American ships that might be deployed as part of the enemy’s outer escort screen in their vision of the Decisive Battle, the Japanese design entered its second iteration — B-65. The new design, modified to deal with the new threat, strongly resembled a downscaled Yamato-class battleship and could reach 34 knots with her 32,000-ton standard displacement. Two B-65 ‘Azuma-class’ ships were ordered as part of the 1942 shipbuilding program, but their construction contracts were never awarded. The Battle of Midway had shown that a lot had changed since 1905, and that surface engagements were no longer the key to victory. Accordingly, the Japanese super-cruiser project was postponed indefinitely in favor of aircraft carrier and auxiliary ship production.
Ship’s 3D Model
Originally published on the official World of Warships website.
