IJN Amagi: The Towering Mountain

Today, we’ll be taking a look at IJN Amagi — an advanced Japanese battlecruiser design whose construction began in 1920 but was ultimately never completed due to adverse circumstances.

IJN Amagi: A Battlecruiser for Japan at Rank VI

At a glance:

  • Deadly 410 mm primary guns!
  • Excellent mobility.
  • Decent protection.
  • Poor AA capability.
Vehicle History

In the early 1920s, the Imperial Japanese Navy made plans to construct a new class of four battlecruisers.The ships were planned to be fitted with 16’’ primary guns, feature reasonable protection and excellent speed. Construction was approved and work began in the early 1920s, with Amagi as the lead ship of the class being laid down in December 1920. However, after the Washington Naval Treaty went into effect in 1922, Japan was no longer allowed to finish construction of the new battlecruisers. Instead, the first two ships under construction were reordered as aircraft carriers while the remaining two were canceled altogether due to the restrictions imposed by the treaty. In 1923 however, the Great Kanto earthquake severely damaged the hull of the Amagi, which was afterwards deemed irreparable. As a result, the ship ended up being sold for scrap. Amagi’s sistership however, IJN Akagi, successfully completed the reconstruction into an aircraft carrier and would go on to serve the Japanese navy up until its sinking at the Battle of Midway in 1942.

Meet the IJN Amagi!

IJN Amagi will soon become the latest bluewater ship to join the top ranks of the Japanese naval tree in the Dance of Dragons major update. Built with speed and firepower in mind, IJN Amagi truly embodies the concept of battlecruisers and will enable its prospective captains to embrace several different tactical approaches, depending on one’s own preference and battlefield dynamics. Keep on reading to find out more!

The upcoming arrival of IJN Amagi to the top ranks of the Japanese fleet will bring with it a unique twist. Sharing some core design principles with the Kongo class battleships that you may already be familiar with, IJN Amagi takes this concept and brings it to a truly new level. For example, this ship is outfitted with a total of ten twin 16’’ (410 mm) cannons, making it one of the most heavily armed capital ships in the game in terms of raw primary battery firepower with an impressive reload rate of 2.5 rounds per minute. This means you’ll be able to comfortably engage in gun duels with virtually any opponent they may encounter on the high seas.

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In addition to the primary battery, IJN Amagi also comes equipped with 16 x 140 mm secondary and 4 x 120 mm anti-air cannons. A further 8 x 610 mm fixed torpedo launchers round off the warship’s impressive arsenal.

Interesting: Some of the main battery guns intended for use on the Amagi class battlecruisers were later on re-purposed for installation on coastal defense batteries.

In terms of gameplay, IJN Amagi can be compared to the Alaska and Kronshtadt battlecruisers. However, this new ship is better armed and protected, but loses to them in terms of air defense capabilities. IJN Amagi’s armor in some areas is close to that of a battleship, for example 254 mm thick in the main armor belt and 70 mm of deck armor allow you to use this ship for shooting at very far distances with a good chance of surviving a hit from an enemy battleship!

Use the hit and run tactic, firing several consecutive salvos with the main guns and then retreating if possible. Or if you’re ballsy, you could play actively and lead your teammate’s attack at a point, all while using the cover of allies air defenses, as the IJN Amagi’s own anti-aircraft defenses are very mediocre. Don’t get too close to enemy ships though, as due to its size, it’ll become an easy target for torpedoes and its armor will not be able to withstand them.

That’s today’s blog! IJN Amagi will soon become a common sight in War Thunder naval battles after it joins the top ranks of the Japanese bluewater fleet with the release of the Dance of Dragons major update. In the meantime, be sure to keep scanning the horizon for more news as we continue sharing the latest on what the upcoming update has in store for you. See you soon!

Please note that this vehicle’s characteristics may be changed before it is added to the game.

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Now wait for ijn tose and yamato

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USSR get 356mm while Japan has 410mm

Considering France has literally zero 7.0 BR ships, and Russia has 4, I don’t think Russia is in need of any more ships right now.

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US BB continue sobbing in the corner

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While glorious to see & adds Imperial Japan to the tables of never finished monsters, It’s odd that Japan gets another 16" armed ship before another nation.

Still great to finally see the Battlecruiser Amagi, but it’s iffy you guys insist on keeping the IJN prefix for 95% Imperial Japanese ships (95% as there’s two ships ingame that make up the 5% that don’t have it thankfully/strangely).

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Bluewater nations keep getting top-tier battleships, while French players are stuck with WWI-era dreadnoughts. It’s frustrating to see others with modern ships while we lack competitive, up-to-date designs. When will the French naval tree get the attention it deserves?

Nice for those naval player but please think about us (even if we received coastal tree, it doesn’t matter to top tier bluewater tree).

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lacking AA capabilities is no issue at this BR because nearly any plane is killed by the cruises laser-guided AA with proxy fuses - not to forget the Bravy and other ships with guided missiles. Resulting that in this BR usage of planes is very rare.

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Which again, only a select handful of nations have: Russia, America, Germany and Italy. I’m not counting the French PT boat thing, since that only has SS.11s, and so doesn’t have a proximity fuse.

Again, the disparity between nations is disappointing. The Brits could get a County Class, the French a T 47 (perhaps? not knowledgeable on French Navy warships).

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i don’t think the jerries have missiles (not yet at least; gaijin when exocets for the albatros)

edit: i forgot about the bernau’s existence, disregard this message

they have the East German thing with Strelas - (this thing for context) - Bernau - War Thunder Wiki

Not really comparable in the same sense as the Bravy (which doubles as an anti ship missile thanks to it being able to see 4.3) but still a missile boat

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i just realised that lmao

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i agree; we NEED the french to have actually good frigates (E-50/Le Corse, Commandant Riviere) instead of just an inbred saetta

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Oh my god, that’s really a huge monster…

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Well, since adding unfinished ship is a norm now. I guess there’s no excuse not to add Lexington in the original BC config now isn’t it?

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Gaijin… Any chance of France, Italy and Britain ever getting more 7.0s?

These nations did also have WW2 navies

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funny that

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Nice addition but now we have 6 Rank VI ships. It’s getting kinda silly since you can only spawn in 3 times in Naval.

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Bernaus Strela are totally useless - they have such a limited range that your guns rather can`t miss before the missile hits. No comparision to Douglas or Freccia

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