Chidori
History
Built 1931-1934 to skirt the destroyer tonnage limits of the 1930 London Naval Treaty: officially classified as torpedo boats (水雷艇), the ships carried roughly half the armament of a Fubuki-class destroyer on only 535 tons standard displacement (738 tons full load). The resulting top-heaviness caused Tomozuru to capsize in a storm shortly after completion on 12 March 1934 - a scandal that triggered a fleet-wide stability review of contemporary IJN designs. Of roughly 20 planned units, only 4 were completed.
Ships in this class
| Ship | Kanji | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| Chidori | 千鳥 | Sunk 21 December 1944 (submarine USS Tilefish). |
| Manazuru | 真鶴 | Sunk 1 March 1945 (air raid on Naha). |
| Tomozuru | 友鶴 | Capsized in a storm shortly after completion on 12 March 1934 (stability scandal, returned to service after rebuilding); sunk 24 March 1945 (air raid off Amami Ōshima). |
| Hatsukari | 初雁 | Survived the war; taken over by Britain in 1947, scrapped in 1948. |
Builds of this class
No build for this ship class yet.
Available kits
| Ship | Scale | Manufacturer | Item number | First release | Status | Configuration | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chidori | 1/700 | Pit-Road | W274 | 2025 | available | 1936 nach Stabilitätsumbau oder 1944 | Bausatz enthält Decals für alle vier Schiffe; zwei Modelle pro Karton; Wasserlinien- oder Vollrumpfausführung möglich. |
| Manazuru | 1/700 | Pit-Road | W274 | 2025 | available | 1936 nach Stabilitätsumbau oder 1944 | Über die beiliegenden Decals darstellbar. |
| Tomozuru | 1/700 | Pit-Road | W274 | 2025 | available | 1935 nach Stabilitätsumbau oder 1944 | Bekannt durch den Tomozuru-Zwischenfall; Bausatz erlaubt beide Bauzustände. |
| Hatsukari | 1/700 | Pit-Road | W274 | 2025 | available | 1934 (Fertigstellung) oder 1945 | Als zweite Bauoption im Bausatz vorgesehen. |