Identifying WWII Ships - Now With Pictures!

[Westfalia Chris]

As Bezzo said quite rightly, closer shots with elevations make identifying them easier. I do think I spot some ships on that picture, though:



Generally-speaking, if a ship has a large, stacked central command "tower" for a superstructure, chances are it is a Japanese design. This "pagoda" style is rather distinctive for ships built after the switch to the all-big-gun battleship, especially those built after the Great War or those older ships converted in the 1920s.

I can immediately spot a Yamato class superdreadnought , atop the largest aircraft carrier (it would be the 7th from the top). So either Yamato or Musashi.

Judging from its island's shape and its overall size, that carrier below is probably Shinano, the third Yamato hull converted to a carrier and sunk in 1945 before entering service with barely a picture of it surviving - it could also be Taiho, since their islands are similarly-shaped, especially at the size of those ships.

The other carriers are also Japanese, by my reckoning, due to the placement of the island (on the port side), but it is hard to make a definitive decision: top down, I'd suspect Akagi, due to the small island and the deck shape, next (below the battlecruiser/battleship, which may be a retrofitted Kongo-class) could be Hiryu, but I am baffled by the last one. The gun nests at the bow are more akin to a US design, and there shouldn't be any other port-side island carrier after Akagi and Hiryu. Maybe a converted carrier, but its lacking an island and is a bit large for that.

If the other ships are painted in the same way, I'd suspect them to be IJN as well, various DDs, BBs and cruisers, most likely. I think I spy a Nagato-class BB near the top, but as said, better pictures of the individual ships would help tremendously.

[Ahistorian]

Hi,

Side-on shots are here: http://imgur.com/a/GmHqI

Thanks for any & all help, guys!

[Arrigo]

In order of Imgur images:

1) HIJMS Ise or Hyuga hybrid CV conversion

2) The other 

3) HIJMS Kongo class, I would say HIJMS Hiei

4) Myoko class heavy cruiser, probably the HIJMS Chokai from the massive conning tower.

5) another Kongo class

6) HIJMS Ise/Hyuga before conversion

7) HIJMS Yamato

8-9) HIJMS NAgato and Mutsu before reconstruction

I will look at the carriers later... but god, these ships are awful, the Navwar ones I painted were much much better.

[Ahistorian]

Thank you, Chris & Arrigo. Looks like my IJN is even larger than anticipated then!

The second game was a draw, coming down to the line for an incredibly tense last three turns. The final fire phase was an absolute bloodbath, seeing the sinking of six or seven ships (most of them, admittedly, were either already crippled or hit with 4-5 simultaneous volleys of torpedoes). The butcher's bill was high again, with both sides losing about two thirds of their fleets.

EDIT: The third and final game with the exact same fleets was a second British victory, coming 26:17 in victory points. Neither side used smoke this time, so the battleships had a field day. Combined with co-ordinated torpedo strikes from destroyers, there were a few terrible casualties, including two Japanese admirals in one turn, and in another, a whole squadron of four British cruisers.

The final tally for this 45 minute game was:
British: 4 destroyers & 4 cruisers lost; 2 battleships crippled
Japanese: 7 destroyers & 3 cruisers lost; 1 battleship & 1 cruiser crippled

[fastolfrus]

among the 47 named vessels is the "Iron Duke".

I have two pieces of deck teak turned into decorative barrels on my bookcase.

My father was posted to her in September 1939 from HMS Glasgow for a W/T course ready to transfer to Royal Oak.

[Ahistorian]

That's cool. It's always nice to have these connections to history.