Japanese Oil Tanker *update 7-12*

 

Somewhere along the way I purchased a used copy of "Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869 - 1945," Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0-87021-893-X, and it has a chapter on "Oilers."

Several classes are shown including Shiretoko, Kazahaya, Hayasui, and Tamano.  There's a line diagram for the Tatekawa Maru, and she is listed under "Merchant Ships used as Fleet Tankers," with the annotation 10,009 GRT, built 1935, sunk 24 May 1944."

The box art seems pretty close to the line diagram (including the catwalk set off to portside)and the Tatekawa Maru does indeed resemble a T-type tanker, more so than the other oilers which seem to have taller stacks, more bridge superstructure and less aft superstructure than the T's.

Just about every tanker listed was sunk during the war (mostly by US Subs) - there is one, Kyokuto Maru (10,051 GRT), that was sunk by TF38 aircraft in Sep. '44, then raised and repaired in 1952 and went back to work as the California Maru until scrapped in 1963.

Have fun with the kit!

Mike   

Here she is:

...looks like a T-3 to me...the hull is almost as long as a cruiser's !  Comes with some nice etch for the piping/latticework... 

 

 Hello Manstein !!! I vill haff you know ,you sinkum my tanker und you vill make mad a lot of germans !! All kidding aside you can use a little fun too. Did you know that during ww2 the standard oil co . was running l.n.g. ships too !! The biggest thing to remember is these old beasts had a ^&%$* of deck camber . This is most noticable from the forward quarter looking aft . This is Not hard to do though . .You can fudge it by changing the front plate on the Island on the revell kit . The one you have I really am not sure about . but don,t forget JAPANESE tankers fueled others at sea in an aft trail situation . You have gotten other input on that . If you want to signify type of load you have to change the piping profile for lite oils and av gas or motor fuel. Venting is of primary importance on the lite oil and gas tankers . They had taller than normal vents and less piping on deck . You vill not shmoke on ze deck eizer. Good luck on the build and let us see some pics . Hope this helped ----tankerbuilder   P. S. The other thing is the layout of deckhouses and their sizes .The early tankers even had small structures on the bow deck.During the wars it became clear that a standardized design was needed , hence t-2 and t-3s

mfsob wrote:

Tankers all look kind of alike because of the nature of their cargo, and the large expanses of deck cluggered up with a maze of piping, valves and catwalks. Beyond that, though, every nation had its own ideas on what "should" be in a particular kind of vessel. One thing most Japanesse tankers had that US tankers did not was a prominent tripod mast on the aft deck, usually aft of the funnel, for use in their trailing hose refueling method. That, and a rather distinctive type of styling for the center island superstructure, would give the game away to a serious student of ship construction. For an exquisite model of a standard wartime T-2 tanker (which I am going to get, someday) check out Loose Cannon Production's kit - $75 with the photoetch, but that includes materials to build the optional shelterdeck so you can load the tanker up with deck cargo (PT-boats included!). P.S. - Here's a suggestion for your "moment in time" - 24 May 1944: Off Saranagani Islands, Mindinao. In the early afternoon, lookouts aboard LtCdr Charles H. Andrews' USS GURNARD (SS-254) sight a convoy they identify as consisting of two oilers, "two cargo ships" and three destroyers. Slipping past the escorts, Andrews fires four torpedoes at an oiler. At 1517, TATEKAWA MARU is hit by two torpedoes, the first in oil tank No. 6 and the second in the engine room. She is set ablaze. Ten of her armed guard gunners and 17 crewmen are killed. TATEKAWA MARU sinks at 05-42N, 125-43E. Found that little tidbit here.

Wow...thanks for the info...I'll post the box-art soon so ya'll can see what I am talking about.  Cool idea for the dio...that's the exact ship I am modeling!!! 

Tankers all look kind of alike because of the nature of their cargo, and the large expanses of deck cluggered up with a maze of piping, valves and catwalks. Beyond that, though, every nation had its own ideas on what "should" be in a particular kind of vessel.

One thing most Japanesse tankers had that US tankers did not was a prominent tripod mast on the aft deck, usually aft of the funnel, for use in their trailing hose refueling method. That, and a rather distinctive type of styling for the center island superstructure, would give the game away to a serious student of ship construction.

For an exquisite model of a standard wartime T-2 tanker (which I am going to get, someday) check out Loose Cannon Production's kit - $75 with the photoetch, but that includes materials to build the optional shelterdeck so you can load the tanker up with deck cargo (PT-boats included!).

P.S. - Here's a suggestion for your "moment in time" - 24 May 1944: Off Saranagani Islands, Mindinao. In the early afternoon, lookouts aboard LtCdr Charles H. Andrews' USS GURNARD (SS-254) sight a convoy they identify as consisting of two oilers, "two cargo ships" and three destroyers. Slipping past the escorts, Andrews fires four torpedoes at an oiler. At 1517, TATEKAWA MARU is hit by two torpedoes, the first in oil tank No. 6 and the second in the engine room. She is set ablaze. Ten of her armed guard gunners and 17 crewmen are killed. TATEKAWA MARU sinks at 05-42N, 125-43E. Found that little tidbit here.

Wow...Bondoman or Tankerbuilder have no opinion on this???  C'mon, guys---I need some info here...

Mansteins revenge wrote:

I purchased a 1/700 Skywave Japanese WW2 Tanker (the "Tatekawamaru") at the Regional Atlanta IPMS on Saturday...it looks a LOT like the American T-2 or T-3 type...were tanker designs fairly generic during this time-frame? Looks like I could pass it off as American or British! ...by the way, these little buggers are pricey!

...reason I ask is I am planning a dio where the tanker is burning and sinking...