Assembled model 1/700 Japanese heavy cruiser Cruiser Ashigara Water Line Series Hasegawa 49336 "Ashigara" is a Japanese heavy cruiser, laid down in 1925, launched in April 1928, which entered the Imperial Japanese Navy in August 1929. The ship had a length of 204 m, a width of 19 m, an actual full displacement of 13,500 tons. The maximum speed of the cruiser "Ashigar" was 36 knots. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the main armament consisted of 10 203-mm guns in five twin towers, and additional armament included: 8 127-mm guns and 12 610-mm torpedo tubes. "Ashigara" was the fourth and last cruiser of the "Mekko" type. Cruisers of this type were officially built in accordance with the requirements of the Washington Treaty on Disarmament, signed by the authorities in Tokyo in 1922, but in fact significantly exceeded its limits on displacement and armament. Undoubtedly, the Meko-type installations were a great success: at the time of launching, they had a significantly stronger artillery armament than their counterparts from the Royal Navy or the US Navy, and they also had a very high speed. The combat path of the cruiser "Ashigara" in the Second World War began in December 1941 with the support of Japanese amphibious operations in the Philippines. Ashigara also took an active part in the victorious Battle of the Java Sea in February 1942, where he played a decisive role in the sinking of the cruiser HMS Exeter and the destroyer HMS Encounter. In the period 1942-1944, despite its significant combat potential, it was used to cover convoys and troop transports. Ashigar's next, more serious action was the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. In December of the same year, the battle continued in Philippine waters, where it was damaged by an aerial bomb. The cruiser "Ashigara" was sunk on June 8, 1945 as a result of torpedoing by Allied submarines during the campaign from Batavia to Singapore.
