First, some lengthy background on how this came to be:
The release of Aoshima’s 1/700 Hayasui fleet oil tanker kit in 2016 was an unexpected and pleasant surprise. I picked up one immediately, thinking I would build it within a reasonable amount of time, but that never happened. I find Hayasui a fascinating ship; basically, it was one of the IJN’s Kazahaya class tankers modified to carry attack aircraft as a supplement to their regular force of aircraft carriers while also providing UNREP capabilities. However, that was bit of a desperation move, coming too late for any meaningful participation. Hayasui never carried more than a few E13As seaplanes to supplement ASW and reconnaissance efforts.
As time has gone by, plenty of Hayasui builds have appeared on numerous modeling sites. While still interested, I found myself even more intrigued by the possibilities offered by the Hayasui kit hull. All the Kazahaya class ships, and the subsequent 1TL standard wartime tankers, were all based on the hull and machinery of Kuroshio Maru, which was the only Kawasaki type tanker built using a steam turbine engine instead of a diesel engine. Kuroshio’s hull and appearance was otherwise identical to that of the other Kawasaski type tankers. The Kazahayas retained the same basic hull with some simplifications, and utilized a more compact bridge structure and simplified aft deckhouse. They also were better armed.
The Kazahaya class tankers were a response to the Japanese Navy’s recognition that the twelve Kawasaki and three Harima built, Kawasaki type tankers would not be sufficient to handle the IJN’s UNREP and oil transport requirements. Nor did these ships accommodate the additional transport of aviation gasoline. As a result, four steam turbine powered fleet oilers were included in the Japanese Rapid Naval Armaments Supplement shipbuilding program of 1941. (This is the same program that authorized the construction of CA Ibuki, CV Unryu, the second batches of both the Yugumo and Akizuki class destroyers, and several kaibokan classes. ) However, the IJN found its own shipyards overwhelmed by new construction in 1941, so the design was contracted out to Harima Shipbuilding, which had already built Kuroshio Maru.
Only Kazahaya and Hayasui were ever completed of the class; the latter to a modified design. For the record, Kazahaya was laid down on September 30, 1941 (before Pearl Harbor) but not completed until March 31, 1943. She had a brief service life of six months before being torpedoed and sunk by USS Steelhead.
The other two were cancelled (probably because of the lack of available shipyard space), though another seven such ships were authorized two years later. These, too, were cancelled. In their place, another four fleet oilers of the Hario class were authorized in 1943-44, but only Hario was ever completed. The Harios were 1TL tankers to be built by Harima strictly for the navy.
Unlike the Kazahayas, the 1TL ships were built as commercial ships that could be, and were, requisitioned by the IJN for oil transport. Also, to the best of my knowledge, they did not carry avgas and carried less armament. The hulls were the same as the Kazahayas, but their forward bridge structure was that of a commercial tanker, though simplified as compared to the Kawasaki type. Nineteen such ships were completed during the war, and several more afterwards.
So, I had several choices open to me. I toyed with the idea of building one of the 1TL types as used for UNREP by the navy, but eventually decided that I wanted something that was more distinguishable from the Kawasaki type tankers that I’d already built. Hence, Kazahaya.
The build would be aided by the virtue of Kazahaya having the same bridge structure as Hayasui, along with a tripod crane/mast and other shared features. At the same time, the build would be hampered to an extent by the lack of official plans or full views of Kazehaya. There are descriptions, and countless extrapolated, but speculative drawings of her and the class, but nothing definitive. There are three photos of Kazahaya, but they are all focused on her bow at the waterline. One of these shows a portion of her bridge and its similarity to Hayasui. Still, the hull set-up was pretty basic, as were the deckhouses. It’s really a matter of the smaller details.
Here’s the available Kazahaya information, outside of written descriptions. It’s possible that there’s something in some Japanese archive somewhere, but it hasn’t surfaced as of yet that I know of.
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Kazahaya, Hayasui, Hario, 1TL hulls, MA IJN Aux vol.jpg [ 495.73 KiB | Viewed 1560 times ]
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Navy oiler ''Kazahaya'' on 14 August 1943, Yokosuka Naval Arsenal a.jpg [ 52.07 KiB | Viewed 1560 times ]
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Navy oiler ''Kazahaya'' on 14 August 1943, Yokosuka Naval Arsenal b.jpg [ 275.44 KiB | Viewed 1560 times ]
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Navy oiler ''Kazahaya'' on 14 August 1943, Yokosuka Naval Arsenal c.jpg [ 308.71 KiB | Viewed 1560 times ]
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