A purely nostalgic purchase

The Japanese battleship Fuso has a special place in my wargaming heart, and when I saw a 1:1200th-scale model made by Superior was on sale on eBay I just had to make a bid.

Amazingly, my bid won … and I am now the proud owner of the model.

So, why is the Fuso so important to me?

The answer is very simple. Whilst taking part in Eric Knowles’ famous Madasahatta Campaign, I commanded her during a battle with a force of German pre-dreadnoughts and cruisers … and my shooting was incredible. We were using a cut down version of Fletcher Pratt’s Naval War Game rules and my range estimation was phenomenal … and very deadly!

After the battle, I wrote a report about it in the campaign’s newspaper (THE BUNGLER) and I have reproduced it below.

FURIOUS FUSO!

by Our Correspondent

The Japanese Squadron, which is commanded by Vice Admiral Iama Quitageza, has already made its mark upon the course of the War in this area. The Squadron, which consists of the dreadnought battleship FUSO, the cruisers NISSHIN and SOYA, and two destroyers, was on its way to the Island when it intercepted the combined might of the German and Turkish Navies in this area.

The Enemy fleet consisted of the battleships KAISER FREDERICK III (which had only recently arrived in this area), HEIREDDIN BARBAROSSA, TORGUD REIS, and MUIN-I-ZAFFAR, the cruisers REGENSBERG and DRESDEN, the gunboat MUCHE, and the patrolship ILTIS, and is thought to have been commanded by the German Admiral Hans Off.

As soon as both sides came into view of one another both fleets opened fire, and the Japanese opening salvoes caused considerable damage. This can be seen by the examination of the gunnery log of the Japanese flagship FUSO –

'1st Salvo – Enemy cruiser (later known to be the REGENSBERG) disabled.

2nd Salvo – German battleship KAISER FREDERICK III sunk (it is thought that at least one of the FUSO's shells penetrated the armour on the aft 12-inch magazine and this caused the KAISER FREDERICK III to blow up).

3rd Salvo – Near hits on enemy cruiser.

4th Salvo – Further near hits on enemy units.

5th Salvo – Enemy cruiser (known to be the DRESDEN) sunk as a result of 9 simultaneous hits.

6th Salvo – MUIN-I-ZAFFAR hit and sunk by several direct hits from 14-inch shells.

7th Salvo – Turkish battleship HEIREDDIN BARBAROSSA badly damaged by several direct hits and near misses.

8th Salvo – HEIREDDIN BARBAROSSA sunk by further hits by 14-inch shells.

9th Salvo – TORGUD REIS explodes as a result of several direct hits from the guns of the FUSO, NISSHIN and SOYA.'

As can be seen from the above extract the Japanese shooting during the battle was excellent, and this is a result of the training the Japanese Navy has had at the hands of a British Naval Mission, and we remind our readers that many of the Japanese ships in service at the moment are either British built or designed.

During this battle I managed to hit and sink a modern enemy light cruiser and four pre-dreadnoughts of dubious and variable quality, and to damage a further enemy light cruiser. Not a bad result from nine salvos (i.e. 108 rounds) of 14-inch shells!

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The model of the Fuso is actually how she appeared after she was rebuilt during the 1930s, but owning a model of her was more important to me than not having one in my small collection of 1:1200th-scale model ships.