Editing Imperial Japanese Equipment (section)

== Ships ==
Of all the Axis powers, the Empire of Japan had the strongest navy. Germany had to rebuild its fleet effectively from scratch and Italy... [[Fascist Italian Equipment|was Italy]]. Japan, on the other hand, was THE major ally of Great Britain in East Asia after World War 1 and was "permitted" to expand its fleet up to two-thirds the tonnage of Great Britain and the United States through the 1920s and '30s. As might be expected, the Japanese resented the tonnage restrictions and basically tried to circumvent or design their way around them until they eventually repudiated the naval treaties entirely.  What they never really understood was that the naval treaties tied one hand behind the backs of their naval rivals, as both Great Britain and obviously the United States were able to outproduce Japan's shipbuilding industry pretty handily in World War II. The Japanese Navy was extremely effective through 1943, and it was really only after devastating losses at the Battle of Midway, where 2/3rds of their primary carrier fleet were sunk (which they didn't tell the army about for a while), that they began their decline. <s>[[Weeaboo|Good luck trying to look up a Japanese ship name without being bombarded by pictures of anime girls though.]]</s>

=== Aircraft Carriers ===
Japan entered World War II with the most experienced sea aviation force in the world, with a total of 8 carriers constructed before 1940.  They soon learned the lessons America and Britain eventually did, that larger carriers are better and that superimposed decks (multiple flight decks stacked like cake tiers) are a bad idea.  However, they failed to anticipate the scale of their losses and were unable to complete replacement carrier construction for much of the war. One achievement that highlights this failure was the construction of the carrier ''Shinano,'' a converted ''Yamato''-class battleship and thus the largest aircraft carrier built during the war. Because she was a conversion of a half-finished battleship hull that had been hastily chosen after the disaster of Midway, the IJN couldn't actually convert her to a full fleet carrier and settled for making one of their most expensive assets (in terms of time, money, and resources invested) into a support carrier that would focus on repairing and resupplying the air arms of full fleet carriers that, by the time she was launched in 1944, had all been annihilated. She was sunk less than two months after being launched by an American submarine, and had only ever carried 50 '''Ohka''' flying bombs.

* '''''Akagi''''': An ''Amagi''-class battlecruiser hull converted to an aircraft carrier after Japan entered into the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty. Akagi was completed with '''three''' flight decks, from which planes could theoretically be launched simultaneously. In practice, the bottom and top decks worked well while the middle flight deck was less than 1/10th the length of the top flight deck and was flanked by two twin 8" gun turrets that prevented the deck's use in battle. The lowest flight deck was also small, being only 1/3rd the length of the uppermost flight deck; both the middle and lower decks, as a result, could only be used for small, light, and increasingly obsolete aircraft. The remaining armament consisted of six casemate 8" guns, as well as six 4.7" guns for anti-ship and anti-aircraft duty. Much like the USS ''Langley'', this early and pioneering design lacked an island for command and control arrangements. Eventually the ship was completely refit to the iconic aircraft carrier design recognized today: all major gun turrets were removed, the top flight deck was extended, and the lower decks were eliminated in favor of increased hanger space for more aircraft. An island bridge allowed for better aircraft coordination and fire control, especially for the new 25mm autocannons that were fitted to the ship. These improvements did have a negative effect on her speed, though she could now theoretically launch 80 aircraft, most of which would be A6M Zeroes. 
**''Akagi'' carried a weakness common to most early aircraft carriers: Usually made from converted warships built for entirely different purposes, they possessed the armor specifications of a battleship against direct and indirect gunfire, but none against air attack. Their decks were especially vulnerable to enemy aerial attacks, with the American ''Lexington''-class carriers also sharing this characteristic. ''Akagi'' was sunk by aerial divebombs during the Battle of Midway in 1942, partly because tired ordnance crews left explosives strewn throughout the open hangar and most of her planes were being pumped full of aviation fuel in preparation for a strike against the American carriers.
* '''Sōryū''':
* '''Kaga''': Kaga was planned to be the second of the Tosa-class battleships, but after the Washington Naval Treaty she was intended to be scrapped before being completed. Akagi's sister Amagi was wrecked while under construction in the Great Kanto Eartquake, so Kaga was converted instead.
* '''Hiryū''':
* '''Shokaku and Zuikaku'''
* '''Hiyō and Jun'yō'''
* '''Taihō''': An object lesson in damage control.
* '''Unryū, Amagi and Katsuragi (+ whole host of cancelled ships in this class)''':
* '''Shinano''': Taihō at least got to go into battle before it was abysmally mismanaged, this one was a complete and utter failure on so many fronts that the official inquiry declared that so many people from the bottom to the top fucked up in pretty much every single aspect that it was pointless to assign blame.

=== Battleships ===
Japanese Battleships are an interesting lot. Unlike [[Nazi|the funny spider people]] or [[Fascist Italy|the Pizzas,]] the IJN actually had a decent number of Battleships that got to participate in the war. They were also rather impressive on a technological level, being well armed and well built. This is all moot though, because by the time of their arrival, it was the twilight of the Battleship era and the beginning of the Carrier era.

* '''Yamato class''': The single largest series of battleships ever built at 263 meters, and the wet dream of any naval enthusiast, weeaboo, and big gun fan everywhere. But before we get excited, we need to make it clear that no, the Yamato was objectively the wrong ship in the wrong war. The age of the battleship, with rare exception for shore bombardment, was pretty much over. Worse of all Japan was somewhat aware of this, with foremost officers like Yamamoto outright saying Naval airpower is the future, and was proven largely correct as the only engagement Yamato or Musashi (Shinano was another ship of the line that was converted partway through construction, see her section in the carriers) ever participated in where they actually got to fire their weapons at anyone turned out to be Leyte gulf in 1944, and both were sunk by angry American dive and torpedo bombers by 1945. 
** With that boring disclaimer out of the way, let's get to the meat and potatoes. The thing had nine 480mm cannons and was housed in a turret that [[Awesome|weighed as much as a small destroyer.]] On top of that, each turret could fire AA shells that would explode after a time fuse delay, and the few test photographs we have show they were a sight to behold, though US pilots reported not being too afraid of them, and they tended to damage the barrels. The class had an incredible number of medium and light weapons that could be brought to bear against lighter targets and fighters as well, with as many as 100 of these lighter weapons, though the 25mm autocannons were reportedly some of the worst in the war. There were some additional 13mm machine guns thrown on the bridge for good measure, but this was more like a desperate afterthought than a concerted effort to add additional AA protection. Still, a Yamato could still cause a small Titan or knight to sweat a little, because those main armaments are utterly insane.
** Yamato had a ludicrous 410-650mm armor in some places, making her an armored behemoth. However, it is important to remember that [[Katanas are Underpowered in d20|Japanese steel historically sucks.]] The torpedo defense system was hoped to protect the ships, but was often troublesome and thus never really as effective as hoped. A prime example of this is when an American submarine hit Yamato and forced her to return to port for repairs, and the outright sinking of the Shinano by the USS Archerfish, a Yamato modified to be a "carrier support vessel". 

*'''Kii Class''': Four fast battleships planned for the eight-eight battlefleet program intended to succeed the Tosa class, cancelled after the Washington Naval Treaty, along with planned successor Number 13 class.

*'''Tosa Class''': Essentially a better post World War 1 version of the Nagato with an extra turret, cancelled with the Washington Naval Treaty. Tosa's hull was used to test armor against ordnance and was scuttled, while Kaga was converted into an aircraft carrier after battlecruiser Amagi's hull that was planned to be converted originally was wrecked in the Great Kanto earthquake.

* '''Nagato class''': The Nagatos were two dreadnought class vessels that served as the heaviest warships in the IJN until the arrival of the Yamatos. They came as a result of the Russo-Japanese War, and were part of a massive armament effort in light of the development of the HMS Dreadnought. The class was armed with four twin 41cm turrets and twenty casemate 5" cannons for dealing with lighter vessels and four 3" guns. They copied American belt armor designs that allowed for additional speed that made them fast for the time. Modernization added new mgs and 25mm cannons, as well as bulges for anti-torpedo duties and equipment replacement. However the class saw relatively little service throughout the war.
** Nagato's sister ship Mutsu saw little service and coincidentally blew up and sank in harbor. The Government covered up the details so little is known to this day, but the best guess we have is that a fire got out of control and the ammo rolled a one on it's existence save. As a side-note, Mutsu was slated to be scrapped per the Washington Treaty, but internal political considerations (made a show of it being partially funded by schoolchildren' donations) made that unacceptable for Japan, so they conceded for US and UK to get extra battleships of their own to keep the ratio on.
** Nagato herself saw very little service as well, despite being the flagship of the Pearl Harbor attacks. She fought the Americans in a few battles, but was bombed and forced to return to Japan. She then stayed in harbor as a AA gun as there wasn't enough material to get her into fighting condition again. After the war the Americans captured her and tested nukes on her, before ultimately letting her capsize. If nothing else, Nagato gets credit where it is due: The thing lasted longer than the Yamato and actually survived to be captured by the Americans, rather than being sunk by a squillion [[Angry Marines|angry pilots]] still pissed off about the boats that they blew up. . .And America then promptly blew it up twice with Atomic Bombs in the Operation Crossroad tests. Amusingly its radiation has faded enough to seemingly become a popular diving site.

* '''Kongo class''': The Kongo class is well known among naval combat nerds for being the ones that actually showed up and did the fighting, unlike the Yamatos. Construction of the IJN Kongo took place in Britain, but the remainder of these ships were built in Japan. Initially the primary armament was was eight 14" guns mounted in twin turrets, sixteen casemate 6" guns, as well as a token armament of four 3" guns. In addition the ship had eight torpedo tubes (four per side). The side armor was comparatively thin to the bridge, which had a whopping 355mm of armor compared to the rest of the ship having 203mm maximum belt armor. The Kongo class served quietly in WWI and were forced into training roles to conform with the Washington Naval treaty. A series of innovations during the interwar period included aircraft launchers, additional armor, a new propulsion system, and improvements and upgrades to the main and secondary armaments. This also included the installation of modern hardware like radio systems, searchlights, and fire control systems.
** The Kongos served well and escorted convoys and aircraft carriers during the early conflict. A recurring problem for the class was once an enemy got close, all that armor didn't seem to do any good when the Americans started firing point blank into them. Half the class was sunk in engagements with other enemy ships at Guadalcanal, performing well during combat. Kongo would survive Leyte gulf until being unceremoniously demolished by American submarine USS Sealion. The last vessel of the class to fall, the Shinano, was sunk in 1945 by carrier aircraft while in harbor in Kure. Ironic that holdovers from WWI served with more distinction and service than the supposed mightiest battleships ever built.
** There is some debate as to if the Kongos were "fast battleships" or "battlecruisers". While there is evidence to suggest the latter, they were classified as such in the IJN so that is why they are here. But for all intents and purposes they were closer to battlecruisers than true battleships.

=== Cruisers ===
The cruisers of the IJN were heavily influenced by the Battle of Port Arthur, with a preference for torpedo armed cruisers.  Even within the IJN this policy was not without its detractors due to the risks of torpedo tactics.  In practice, these torpedoes rarely contributed and were a frequent liability, with several cruisers being taken out of action due to their torpedoes being hit.  Otherwise, Japan's cruiser force was generally well built but lacked modern fire control.

*'''Amagi Class''': A battlecruiser class designed to capitalize on the new naval wartime technologies that emerged with the introduction of Dreadnought class warships and other post-WWI innovations. The intended armament was to be 5 twin 400mm cannons as the primary armaments, 16 5.5" casemate cannons, six 4.6" flak cannons, and 8 24" torpedo tubes. The armor was reduced to increase speed, and the overall purpose was to use them as cost effective battleships in support of [[Stellaris|Destroyer swarms]]. We will never really know how they performed, though two of the class were slated to be converted into Aircraft carriers, though only one would ever be completed as an aircraft carrier, the above mentioned Akagi, the Amagi's hull was severely damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake and it had to be scrapped before completion.

=== Destroyers ===

Japanese destroyer construction after the Washington Naval Treaty emphasized fleet destroyers as a way to bulk out their navy while appearing to conform to the treaty.  A series of classes were developed in the 20's and 30's but all were produced in small batches of no more than a couple dozen each.  The IJN never settled on a common design for mass production like the USN did with the Fletcher. Throughout the 30's they had the A design, which was for general fleet support, the B design which was for carrier escort and AA, and the C class which would support battlefleets with torpedoes and cannons.

* '''Fubuki''': A class of Destroyers were developed as a direct response to the Washington Naval treaty. They earned the Fubuki nickname long after they had been built. In short, they were designed to bring heavy dakka to the furthest possible distance as quickly as possible, with the heaviest armor they could get away with. They carried a whopping nine 24" torpedoes as well as some 5" cannons and some mgs, with the 5" cannons acting as AA guns as well as anti-ship weapons. 24 were built throughout the class, with only two surviving the war.
** The Type II subclass were generally considered decent for their armament, but the Type III subclass had better power efficiency. The first ten ships were the Type I class and were particularly bad, though later ships improved on these flaws. Overall the Type III was preferred and many of the improvements found on them were given to the Type II class of ships.
** The Fubukis suffered from being too light in weight and AA armament: the entire class had to have rebuilds to make them better at sea performance, and later in the war those lack of AA weapons bit them in the ass hard: it became so desperate that the rear primary turret was replaced with 25mm aa guns. However, they still served well in spite of these flaws, and was the class of ship responsible for stranding JFK at sea.
* '''Shimakaze''': A planned class of destroyers that roughly fills the "C-class" of destroyers starting and ending with the namesake Shimakaze. The Shimakaze needed to be as fast as greased lightning and were armed with three 5" dual purpose cannons and three quintuple torpedo launchers using the infamous Type 93 long range torpedoes. Anti-aircraft guns...well, they were there, just not in quantity. The class was considered too expensive for general production, and Shimakaze herself saw very limited service in the war until being sunk while escorting some troop transports.

=== Submarines ===