Imperial Japanese Furutaka

Hi all and welcome back for another ship review.

This weeks ship of focus will be the tier 5 Japanese Furutaka. This is the first cruiser in the game to have 203 mm guns. This 'up gunning' changes how this ship should be played coming from the previous tiers Kuma and Tenryu Class Cruisers.

The Furutaka was the first generation of the Japanese navy's high speed heavy cruisers. With the development of the American Omaha (also in World of Warships) and the British Hawkins class scout cruiser the development of a cruiser capable of dealing with this new threat was needed. Following the earlier experiments from the Yubari cruiser, (See my previous ship review on the Yubari for more info) the lessons learnt from that ship were transferred into the design of the Furutaka. The Furutaka was laid down in the 5th of December 1922 and launched on the 25th of February 1925. Upon her initial commissioning in 1926 she was assigned to the 5th cruiser division until 1931 where the Furutaka was placed in reserve fleet. She underwent significant refits during the 1930's where she was fitted with more fire power and defensive armaments.The Furutaka was fitted with a plane catapult which solved the much complained about problem of having to lower planes into the water before they took off (not particularity handy in an engagement).

Her final refit in 1937 saw the Furutaka received her trademark 201 mm guns that we see in World of Warships (203mm in World of Warships but I'm not going to deliberate over 2mm... they are still big guns for a cruiser), new oil fired boilers and the extra addition of new 'Long Lance' torpedo tube mountings.

Entering WW2 the Furutaka was involved in the invasion of  Guam which happened at about the time of the Attack of Pearl Harbour.  After the successful occupation of Guam and the following attempt at capturing Wake Island which had failed, the Furutaka was assigned to cruiser division 6 where the Japanese successfully mounted a second attack and occupied Wake island on the 22nd of December 1942.

The Furutaka was involved in the Battle of the Coral Sea where she was tasked with the escort of the light carrier Shoho. Following a 2 day attack which started on the 7th of May 1942, the US Carriers USS Yorktown and Lexington succeeded in sinking the Shoho and severely damaged the Shokaku carrier. After the attack Furutaka was tasked with escorting the battered surviving Shokaku carrier to Truk for repairs.

August 1942 in the Battle of Savo Island, the Furutaka took part in an successful attack against an enemy fleet. Under the cover of darkness with flares dropped by spotter planes to silhouette the enemy ships,  the Furutaka accompanied by the cruisers Chokai, Kako, Kinugsasa, Tenryu, Yubari and Destroyer a Yunagi, attacked by firing multiple shells and torpedoes. The resulting battle ended with the Heavy Cruisers USS Astoria, Quincy, Vincennes and HMAS Canberra being sunk. Heavy Cruiser USS Chicago and destroyers Ralph Tabot and Patterson being damaged. On the Japanese side a total of only 6 shell hits were received.

The Furutaka's conflict in the Battle of Cape Esperance (also known as the second batle of savo island) was to be her last after an attacking American fleet successfully managed to cross the fleet containing the Furutaka's 'T'. In the confussion of the Attack the Japanese fleet thought they were under friendly fire and began a 180 degree turn. The Aoba was heavily damaged as the ship exposed her sides in the turn.

The Furutaka fell out of the line of battle to engage Salt Lake City only to find herself coming under fire from the destroyer USS Duncan. After numerous shell hits the Furutaka was put out of action, where she was later to be hit by a Torpedo. Combined with up to 90 shell hits her storage of Type 93 Long Lance Torpedoes seated in her mid decks finally went up from the resulting fires. The Furutaka sank stern first with the loss of 33 and 110 counted as missing. 514 survivors were rescued by 3 passing destroyers. 115 were captured by the American fleet.

In World of warships the Furutaka is a tier 5 cruiser. I have found this a ship that has some draw backs that many players (including myself) have found challenging to grasp. The Japanese get their big caliber 203mm guns on the Furutaka and upwards. Due to this up gunning the Furutaka subsequently suffers from a rate of fire loss which in turn results in a big damage per minute disadvantage against the American nations cruisers . The lack of rounds per minute and slow turning of the turrets mean this is not a brawling ship and seats more in a support ship role. Given the opportunity to put down fire on the enemy the guns can really show its superior caliber. Taking fire and manoeuvring to avoid the shells causes this ship its main problems as I will explain as go through comparing this ship to its alike tiers.

First we will start with the Furutaka's good points. For a Cruiser the Furutaka has a decent health pool and has a good Torpedo armament for a cruiser. The Guns are very punchy and have good burst potential if using cover to your advantage between shots. As the guns are of larger caliber they do more reliable damage against armoured targets so have more chance of citadel hits. As a Japanese Cruiser you have a better concealment rating than your american cruiser equivalents but at 12.2 km this is no destroyer. She has a good top speed too so will be normally up alongside the destroyers in the initial engagement. Unfortunately that's really all this ship has when looking at it on paper.

This ship was oringinally designed to specifically destroy Phoenix/Omaha Cruisers but its horrible turret rotation speed and rate of fire of the guns that really let this ship down in World of Warships. The Omaha (Tier 5 American cruiser) in a straight up gun duel can put out over double the amount of damage per minute than the Furutaka with its guns alone (assuming all shots fired are AP and hit citidels the Furutaka has a DPM of 98700 and the Omaha has a DPM of 213280). Even the Phoenix Cruiser vastly out damages the Furutaka in a one on one duel where in lies the first major weakness of this ship. It just can't dish out the damage when its needed to so leaves you in a arisen of trying to dictate the engagements.

This is the First ship I have looked at and feel it needs a decent buff to make it competitive. Being a Japanese ship with such low  rate of fire you would have thought that the turret speed may be ok to compensate... Nope, its 45 secs for 180 degrees turret rotation... like a battleship (face palm). The Omaha has a 24 second 180 degree turret rotation speed. I could carry on with this but you know where I'm going with this... Bigger in this instance definitely isn't better. The Furutaka does however have a secondary armament that can support up to a spectacular range of 4 km. This short range really isn't going to help you in any instance unless you have a destroyer trying to suicide run you.

The main guns slow rotation speed makes you have to straighten out in dangerous situations to get guns on target. where the ship doesn't really have the armour to take prolonged punishment its definitely a risk business. This makes you an easy target for enemy gunners and in my opinion is the single worst thing about this ship.

Due to turret number 4 due to being next to the plane catapult, it has a limited firing arc. In most situations won't be able to fire that turret at what ever your aiming at as you should be angling your armour against fire to maximum the ships armour potential and make yourself a smaller target.

This isn't the most manoeuvrable of cruisers, having quite a large turning circle and slower rudder shift speed for a cruiser. Its not terrible or unworkable when it comes to dodging incoming fire or torpedoes but its still not up to the American cruisers standard. The manoeuvrability mixed with the ships decent speed working fairly well when getting out of dangerous situations however but doesn't have such a superior speed advantage where you could run away from other cruisers. The speed is good enough to chase most fleeing destroyers down so that's definitely a plus for the Furutaka

This really looked to be a terrible ship to play when as I am working my way along the Japanese Cruiser line again. It has some very horribly noticeable weaknesses that are by no means hard to miss. Surprise however when I played in this ship it didn't completely suck. Knowing its blatant weaknesses and playing this ship as a burst damage support ship seems to suit the Furutaka's characteristics of play.

You will not be brawling in this ship as you won't rotate your turrets fast enough to keep up with throwing the ship about and targets circling you.  The guns are reliable in that they do decent damage consistently upon hitting their target. She does seem to be better armoured than the american tier 5 light cruiser and does benefit from angling the armour from incoming cruiser/destroyer caliber AP shells. Getting into engagements where you can work as a team and sit behind close range specialist brawlers. Keeping attention away from you whilst dishing out damage with the bigger guns is the way to use this ship. Going alone against other ship will get you focused down quickly and it can be frustrating knowing you are getting your ass handed to you by rapid firing lower tiered ships spamming HE shells.

Don't get me wrong I don't think this is a horrific ship but I don't think its great either. The Furutaka is one of the biggest missed opportunities for Wargaming World of Warship team to make a really fun ship and all it would take is a slight buff of turret rotation speed and fire rate. I can deal with the manoeuvrability being worse but giving half the amount of damage to an equal Tier is pretty bad balancing in my opinion. Its not impossible to do well if you correctly position your ship in battle but in most instances this is very situational and won't always work out in your favour. With HE being so effective against armour in the Open Beta it negates a lot of this ships big gun caliber advantages. it will be interesting to see if any changes come in to effect that may make this a more competitive ship

That's all for this weeks review I look forward to seeing you back here for my Tiger Update later in the Week.

Minekaze Destroyer, The Japanese Imperial Navy Torpedo Ninja

welcome back to my blog,

This week I am taking a look at one of my favourite destroyers currently in World of Warships, the Minekaze. For its tier I feel this is a incredibly competitive ship with its stealthy nature and fast reloading powerful torpedoes. 

The Minekaze class destroyers consisted of 15 ships commissioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy whilst the first world war was still at its height. The first world war came to a end but of the ordered Minekaze destroyers were completed. The decision was made to continue their production to replace the already dated destroyers in the Imperial navy at that time. Unlike previous design choices the Japanese moved away from just copying pre existing British designs to take their own approach to creating an effective ship. The decision to lengthening the forecastle with a beak gave vital shielding from dangerous wash to crew members manning torpedo launchers at the front of the ship. This and other design choices made the Minekaze very competitive alongside any other destroyer of that time frame. The Minikazi was primarily designed as a destroyer escort for the Amagi class Battleships. The Amagi in an 'act of god made' was damaged extensively in its construction when a earth quake struck. This ultimately lead to this Battleship being scrapped and the Minekaze destroyers being deployed else where in the Imperial fleet.

The design and construction of the Minikaze Class destroyer came really at the wrong time frame to be of any effect in many of the major world war conflicts. Arriving to late for WW1 and being too outdated for Pacific conflicts by WW2 the service history of the Minikazi ship is somewhat unremarkable. Most of the Minizake Destroyers were relegated to either support ships or patrol boats. Many of of the 15 ships built were sunk by US Subs, used as target practice or taken as prize by other nations.Only a small percentage were eventually scuttled or broken down for scrap.

One of the Minikaze ships the Akikaze was the subject of a War Crime investigation after reports that civilians were strung up by the hands on a gallow, shot dead and then thrown overboard. No action was taken against the ships crew after the Austrailian War Crimes Trial was handed over to the American authorities. The Akikaze found equally gruesome end being eventually sunk by a torpedo hit (which was meant for the aircraft carrier Jun'yo but the Akikaze sacrificed herself to save the carrier) from the USS Pintado, resulting in the loss of all hands. 

Here in World of Warships I really enjoy playing this tier 5 Destroyer. The Minekaze seems to be the last destroyer that has a focus on more guns and torpedoes before a lot of anti air starts getting strapped on to subsequent Japanese destroyers higher in the tech tree. Whilst this is good in a support anti air role (which at this tier is largely negated due to most ships having vastly better AA than proceeding tiers but more importantly me turning AA off right at the start) the lack of decient guns for self defence seems to be the major downfall of the Japanese destroyer line. The lack of gun performance is balanced with the having the best Torpedoes currently in the game for its tier.

In World of Warships the Minekaze is a solid destroyer for people that like the stealthy approach to game play. With a surface detectibility range of only 5.9km and a torpedo range of 7 km with its non upgraded torpedoes. These stats enable you to kill without ever been seen unlike the american line where you have to close to dangerously close to make use you your torps. You can upgrade the torpedoes to a 10 km range but this comes with the disadvantage of  losing 11 knots of speed. I personally use the faster but lower range torps as I don't like giving people the option of dodging. The Torpedoes reload once every 46 seconds and with 3 separate dual launchers. With controlled fire I never seem to find myself in a position where I am caught out with at least 4 torpedoes ready to fire.

The guns on the Minekaze aren't particularly great. When compared to the Nicholas Destroyer (the equivalent American tier destroyer) the guns are only just a bit smaller being 120mm to the American 127mm but its the rotation speed that really hampers these guns performance. This seems to be the Japanese Nations characteristic with their destroyers having powerful torps but horrendous turret rotation speed.

The Minekaze has great manoeuvrability being over half a second faster rudder shift time than the Nicholas and Gremyashchy destroyers and is also the fastest of its equivalent tiers. These stats gives the Minekaze all the makings of a awesome ambush ship. In a Destroyer, being able to dodge and dish out pain quickly is the important feature to have and for tier 5 I think the Minekaze is probably the best at it.

In a close range knife fight you will probably be throwing this ship around to avoid incoming fire and this is where the slow turret will really start to be a problem. A one on one in close range, the harsh reality is you will probably lose against the American destroyers or cruisers unless you get some torpedoes on target at an early stage. You just won't be able to put the fire down needed to deter their attack. Using your stealth to your advantage will be key to your survival against other destroyers as you have the lowest detectability range and can turn away quickly if you see the odds stacked against you. American destroyers need to hit tier 9 before they can drop torpedoes outside their detectability range so drop torpedoes to force them into evasive manoeuvres and high tail it out of there. Better to run away and drop more torpedoes than stand your ground and be sunk.

Torpedoes on the Japanese ships really make this ship fun to play with. I have missed having the third launcher on the Mitsuki and Hatsuharu as it gives more flexibility on where you can place multiple shot. I remember one particular game where I launched 2 spreads down a channel between 2 islands after being spotted. The enemy ship turned having seen them went right around one of the islands only to find I had launched the final 2 torps to meet him as he nosed round the island. The Mitsuku and Hatsuharu only have 2 launchers (with more torps launched with each launcher so swings and rounds abouts) so I would have had to be more restrained in that kind of attack. Having this option with the Minekaze give more flexibility with your attack choices.

Having centrally mounted torpedoes in the kamikaze something that I like over its American counterpart. The tier 5 Nicholas has more launchers but these are mounted to the sides of the ship. To make use of your larger number of launchers you have to expose both port and starboard lengths of your vessel. Steaming about in this manner tends to make make your attacks movements very predictable which normally leads to you being very dead after taking more fire.

So to conclude this review of this great little destroyer, its a great hit and run ship. With strong torps, low detectability range and god like manoeuvrability its a competitive ship for its tier. Keep your distance from dangerous ships to negate your bad turret rotation speed and attack when the time is right. Its always a mistake in the Minekaze to sail straight in a gun fight to allow your slow turrets to bear on a target. It is generally better to use your small profile and fast reloading torps to your advantage. I have really had fun playing this ship in Co-op and random battles and have had a good amount of success getting a few 5 kill matches (yet I forgot to take a screen shot to prove it... yep noob mistake there but bellow is my max ships sunk. I've had a few 5 kill matches and the Minekaze is definitely responsible for a few along with the Warspite).

I hope you enjoy this little ninja of a ship as much as I have and would like to hear if you share my opinion on this ship. Do you agree that this is a strong ship for its tier, or do you prefer the guns ho approach of the american line? I'd love yo hear your opinions. I look forward to seeing you here later on in the week for an update on my slow but steady progress on my tiger tank.

The Yubari, the Aircraft Prevention Package.

Hi all again and thanks for all your continued interest in my blog.

Just a quick heads up I am thinking of increasing my blog posts to 2 per week but obviously this will increase the amount of commitment for me to post here. I may try a couple of trial runs getting 2 posts up here and see how it goes. I would like to focus a bit more on my 3D as I seem to be posting more about games that I am playing (mainly World of Warships lately, but I will try and incorporate World of Tanks and War Thunder plus a few more when I go through my game rotation). This was originally what I set my blog up for (self reflection and interesting things 3D related). Stay posted if that's what you look here for as I will be being a bit more pro active with my modelling at home. Ironical I am doing another Premium ship review this week on the Imperial Japanese Yubari Class Cruiser but I will try and give you a update on my Tiger Tank progress. Don't be alarmed if its games that you look at my blog as I will be continuing with that too (but hey it may even give gamers a idea of how much work goes into the creation of games if you watch my 3D stuff here too =D)

So the Yubari, what can I tell you about this ship. The Yubari begain its life as a experiemental light cruiser in 1917. Its development was to counter the problem the Imperial Japanese Navy was having following the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty restricting the total fleet displacement to 300,000 tons. The Design philosophy for the Yubari was to improve on existing designs giving a light cruiser the battle potential of a 5000 ton cruiser.  In the design stages and the use of unproven designs lead to some design flaws that were later ironed out later when the Yubari was called back for repairs or refits.

Upon the Ships completion the Ship had a 4190 ton displacement, 13% over its original design specification. The ship featured a curved stem that integrated multiple smoke stacks into one. This resulted in reducing the amount of material needed saving on deck space needed other architecture and weaponry.To also save on weight of the ship the belt armour was incorporated into the hull of the ship drastically reducing the displacement whilst maintaining the overall protection of the ship.

Yet another Mighty Jingles Review of the Yubari Cruiser

The Yubari was the only ship of its kind made and was considered a successful concept, future cruiser adopted some of the ambitious design choices of the Yubari. The ship went through a few improvements to make up for the original design mistakes such as enlarging the smoke stacks  by 1.8 meters to improve the draw of exhaust fumes and providing additional ballast to aid with extra stability. 

After its final refit in 1944 its armament had been significantly upgraded with the focus of adding as many AA guns to its upper structure. This was mainly due to its previous conflicts proved their was a need for them. In March 1942 where the Yubari was attacked by 2 SBD-3 dive bombers and 4 F4F-3 Wildcats killing a few of her crew. The following morning the Yubari was again attacked by SBD-3's where this attack caused fires near to the torpedo launchers. In a serious design flaw, the length of the fire hoses were too short, leading to the crew having to manually jettison the torpedo launcher to avoid them exploding. Depite the damage taken in the attack, the Yubari evaded over 65 bombs and up to 12 torpedoes. The Yubari's plight was not quite done there as 4 B17's attacked her whilst returning to harbour. This attack left three gaping holes in her stern from near bomb misses. Strong anti air needed? I think so!

The Yubari in World of Warships this is a premium cruiser on sale for £14.41 singularly or as a pack for £36.04 as a part of a 3 ship pack. These purchases grant you access to the closed beta test so if you don't have access to WoW closed beta and are interested in the game. I would highly recommend purchasing any of the premium ship in this 3 ship pack as they are all fun and exciting to play (such is the life/play time of a destroyer captain).

In game the Yubari has a main battery of 2 turrets with double 140mm guns and one 120mm Secondary gun. The 120mm secondary is a dual purpose gun that acts as both anti air and anti ship defence. Where the Yubari really shines is in its anti air. It has the best anti air in the whole of the tier 4 and arguably tier 5 ships which makes it a real power house of a support ship for battleships (such as the myogi which has zip) and carriers. This ship would be one of the only ships that you hope that there is a massive number of carriers on the enemy team. I find myself actively powering towards incoming planes and getting at least 3 air kills with this ship before payloads are dropped, mopping up the remainder as they run away with their petty lives. The majority of the ships AA armament is self defense but intelligent play can have you seated close to priority targets for carriers to get effective fire in or in the line of travel of incoming planes.

The Yubari is a good light cruiser but like all ships it has its draw backs. The guns are effective against destroyers and cruisers but really struggle when facing thick armored targets such as battleships. Having 2 turrets with your main armament of 4 guns means having 1 turret knocked out reduces your fire power by 50%. The Kuma and the Pheonix by comparison have more turrets and armament on their decks so generally in a gunnery duel you will have the disadvantage there.  Being a light cruiser the Yubari wont withstand sustained fire for long having the lowest health pool of 18.5k hp but some of that health loss can be negated using the agility of this ship by dodging fire.

The Yubari is a decent ship to captain with its good maneuverable which help make up for the Ships terrible torpedo firing arch. Turning to fire the torp's however generally leaves you having to expose a big section of your ship to fire so I tend to use these more of a secondary engagement option. When captaining the ship regardless of how good the jap's torps are in comparison to other nations its just better in this ship to use as a surprise attack. Using the guns is far more effective in combat with a decent range of 12.8 km (over its equivalent tier Kumas 11.6 km and Phoenix's 12.5km) .

The turning circle of the Yubari is 690m considerably less than its equivalent tier cruisers.You will probably find the Yubari behaves pretty much like a heavy destroyer which enables you to get aggressive with your movements and dodging fire. When facing off against carriers when closing the distance, this maneuverability really helps evade incoming torpedoes too.

In summary for this ship you will need to really pay attention to your teams actions during a fight as you will mainly play a support role. Use your maneuverability to your advantage as dodging incoming fire and torpedoes will keep you alive. This ship doesnt like being the subject of sustained fire so be careful with your engagements and use you strong AA fire to aid in the defence of your fleet. You will have a surface detect ability range similar to a heavy destroyer so surprise attacks with torpedoes around head land and hit and gun attacks with your guns will be your friend.

Thats all for today. Till next time.