1/350 Shimushu Class Superstructure

The Shimushu class kaibokan (literally sea defence ships; what we in the West would refer to as destroyer escort) were a series of 16 units, of which only 4 were actually completed, of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN); they are also referred to as Type A Kaibokan. Although on the smaller end of the destroyer escort type, the ships were specifically designed to exploit a loophole in the London Naval Treaty, by making the ships between 600-2000tons, with no more than four 76mm (3in) guns, no torpedoes, and a maximum speed of 20kn. The main purpose of the Kaibokan was patrolling, followed by minesweeping, and occasionally convoy escort duties. All were laid down between 1940 and 1943, curiously only one of them (Ishigaki) was lost during the war. Kunashiri would run aground in 1946 but was abandoned after unsuccessful attempts at recovering her, while Shimushu was ceded to the Soviet Union and Hachijo decommissioned and scrapped in Japan.