¹⁄700

Building on their ever expanding range of 1/700 ships Seals Models have announced the release of the 1/350 IJN Light Cruiser Izumo . This kit is available now and is an exciting addition to the Seals Models IJN range.


Ship History

The IJN Izumo was an armoured cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Although very similar to the Asama-class cruisers its differences are significant enough to classify it as the lead ship in the separate Izumo class, which also included its sister ship, the IJN Iwate.

The Izumo was named after Izumo Province, an ancient province of Japan.

The Izumo was one of six armoured cruisers ordered to overseas shipyards after the First Sino-Japanese War as part of the “Six-Six Program” (six battleships-six cruisers) intended to be the backbone of the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was built in Elswick, Great Britain by Armstrong Whitworth.

The Izumo served an important role in the Russo-Japanese War, where it was the flagship of the 2nd Fleet under Admiral Hikonojo Kamimura. The Izumo participated in Battle off Ulsan on 14 August 1904, and also the crucial Battle of Tsushima on 26 May 1905.

On 22 May 1909, under command of Captain Takeshita Isamu, the Izumo departed Sasebo for the United States to participate in the 140th anniversary celebrations of the founding of San Francisco.

In World War I, the Izumo was used extensively for overseas patrol. Its relatively large size made it suitable for long-term overseas service, and it was dispatched to Malta. In 1934, the Izumo was equipped with a floatplane, which it launched by lowering from a crane on its aft deck to the ocean.
Assigned as flagship of the Japanese 3rd Fleet during the Japanese invasion of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Izumo was attacked at the Battle of Shanghai by a Chinese torpedo boat. It was also attacked on 14 August 1937 by Chinese Air Force aircraft.

Still in Shanghai on 8 December 1941, at about 0400, the Izumo opened fire and forced the surrender of the American gunboat USS Wake and sunk the British gunboat HMS Petrel, in one of the first acts of the Pacific War following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
With the start of the Pacific War, despite its antiquated age, the Izumo was retrofitted with anti-aircraft guns and re-classified back as a 1st class cruiser on 1 July 1942.

However, throughout the duration of the war, it was used as a training vessel, never departing from the safe confines of the Inland Sea.The Izumo was sunk at dock in an American air attack on Kure at on 24 July 1945, and its hulk was later raised and scrapped in 1947.