A lot of new naval vessels for the US and Japanese. No.101/103-class landing ship + LST + Mogami (1943) + Musashi + Super Yamato.

Posted by eYe.ris on Nov 22nd, 2013

No.101/103-class landing ship

After the defeat in the Guadalcanal Campaign, the IJN realized the necessity of a high-speed military transporter. They obtained information and photographs of landing crafts from Germany which they collected during Operation Torch. The result was the No.101-class landing ship, the first of 69 ships was completed in early 1944.

So far the Japanese in FHSW had no proper way of transporting and landing a great amount of vehicles and troops at once. The small Daihatsu landing craft can only carry one light tank and is extremely vulnerable. The No.101/103 landing ships now have enough armor to withstand the heavy fire in the landing zone at least for some time and can also defend themselves against airplanes and infantry.

Landing Ship, Tank

The British evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940 demonstrated to the Allies that they needed large, ocean-going ships capable of transporting tanks and other vehicles in amphibious assaults. The British and US collaborated upon a joint design and over the course of the war more than 1000 Landing Ships, Tank (LST) were laid down. They participated in the invasions of Sicily (Operation Husky), Italy, Normandy, and southern France in the European Theater and were an essential element in the island-hopping campaigns in the Pacific.

The Allied troops in FHSW already have the LCT which can transport a couple of tanks but the LST is a lot bigger. It can land a huge strike force which can cause a lot of problems for the opposing force if they notice it too late. Compared to the LCT the LST is also relatively well armed, several 40 mm Bofors and 20 mm Oerlikon guns can repel air attacks very effectively.

Mogami (1943) (Mogami class aircraft cruiser)

The Mogami was initially a heavy cruiser of the Japanese navy, after the Battle of Midway however it underwent a major conversion to an aircraft cruiser to improve the fleet's reconnaissance capabilities. During the battle of Surigao Strait she was damaged beyond repair by gunfire and bombs thus after the battle the Japanese scuttled her.

The Mogami is one of the oldest models of FHSW but so far we "only" had the cruiser version. As you can see the aft turrets were removed and the deck extended to make room for ten Aichi E16A’s which is the plane we just introduced in our last news. A new feature is that as the planes start from the catapults you can see the number of planes on the deck decreasing accordingly.

Musashi (Yamato-class battleship)

Together with the Yamato the Musashi was the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleship ever constructed. The model in FHSW represents the ship during the battle in the Gulf of Leyte. Before that operation the deck was painted with a mix of water and soot to camouflage the ship for a night breakthrough. The battle was a disaster for the Japanese navy as they lost several heavy ships, the Musashi also sunk there after being hit by at least 19 torpedos.

The biggest difference compared to the late Yamato is that she‘s missing six of the 127 mm twin turrets. Instead this space was used for several 25 mm triple AA guns.

Kii ("Super Yamato"-class battleship)

After the Japanese navy had launched the Yamato they anticipated the Americans to build an even heavier ship as answer. The Super Yamato was then intended to counter that but after the heavy losses at Midway all plans for battleships were cancelled and all efforts shifted towards aircraft carrier production.



Since the release of 0.5 the Super Yamato is already in the game but it hasn’t been presented in any news yet. Essentially it‘s a Yamato hull with improved armament, besides the massive 510 mm main battery (Yamato 460 mm) it’s not 100% certain what they planned for the smaller armament. In FHSW it has a secondary battery of 155 mm and 100 mm dual-purpose guns as well as countless 25 mm AA guns in triple turrets.

Animated wake

With so many new naval units it’s also time to improve the visuals a bit. In the next update every ship will leave a wake behind it which is nice to look at but also has an effect on the gameplay since bombers, submarines and other ships can spot you easier.

Source: Wbmuse.blog89.fc2.com