Empire State Aerosciences Museum - Akagi Tora Tora Tora Aircraft Carrier
Bill Maloney
12/2/2008

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01Akagi 02AircraftCarrierAkagi 03AkagiFlightDeck 04Akagi
01 Akagi 02 Aircraft Carrier Akagi 03 Akagi Flight Deck 04 Akagi
05AkagiKateTorpedoBombers 06AkagiAntiAircraftGuns 07AkagiKateTorpedoBomber 08AkagiFlightDeckIsland
05 Akagi Kate Torpedo Bombers 06 Akagi Anti Aircraft Guns 07 Akagi Kate Torpedo Bomber 08 Akagi Flight Deck Island
09AkagiLifeBoats 10ToraToraToraAkagiModel 11ToraToraToraZeroModel 12ToraToraToraZeroModel
09 Akagi Life Boats 10 Tora Tora Tora Akagi Model 11 Tora Tora Tora Zero Model 12 ToraT ora Tora Zero Model
13AkagiBowDetails 14AkagiBow 15AkagiModel 16AkagiFlightDeck
13 Akagi Bow Details 14 Akagi Bow 15 Akagi Model 16 Akagi Flight Deck

Akagi Japanese Aircraft Carrier

The Japanese Aircraft Carrier Akagi's Specifications:

Length: 855 feet
Beam: 102 feet
Draught: 28 feet 7 inches
Crew: 1,630
Displacement: 42,000 tons
Max Speed: 31kts (35mph)
Range: 8,200 nautical miles at 12kts
Fuel Capacity: 6,000 tons of bunker fuel oil
Armament:
 Up to 66 Aircraft
 10 - 8" Guns
 12 - 4.7" AA Guns
 28 - 25mm AA Guns
Aircraft: 27 Nakajima Kate Torpedo Bombers, 18 Aichi Val Dive Bombers, 18 Mitsubishi Zero Fighters
Armor: Belt - 6" Armor Deck - 3.1"
Power Plant: 10 boilers powering 4 Gijutsu-Hombu geared steam turbines driving 4 screws with 133,000 Shaft Horsepower
Launching Date: 1925 at Kure Dockyard, Japan

Aircraft Carrier Akagi Tora Tora Tora Model

Model Aircraft Carrier Akagi's Specifications:

Length: 32 feet
Beam: 3 feet 7 inches
Draught: 0 feet 12 inches
Scale: 1/27
Max Speed:
Armament:
 10 Zero Models, 4 Kate Models
 10 - 8" Guns
 12 - 4.7" AA Guns
 28 - 25mm AA Guns
Aircraft: Finely detailed Aichi Kate Torpedo Bombers and Mitsubishi Zero Fighter models
Power Plant: Either a battery powered golf cart motor or a 2 cylinder diesel engine depending on who I spoke to
Launching Date: 1969, Japan

This rather impressive model of the Japanese Aircraft Carrier Akagi was used in the movie Tora Tora Tora and can be seen in the last few minutes of the film. The level of detail is outstanding and it is very well displayed and lit. There is a second higher observation deck in the room where the Akagi model is displayed so that you can look down at the flight deck and see deck and bridge details more clearly. There is one major discrepancy between this and the original in that the bridge island is on the starboard side rather than port. This was done deliberately as the USS Yorktown was used in the film to depict the Akagi during the launch of aircraft from the flight deck. The Yorktown has it's bridge island on the starboard side, so to lessen the obvious confusion to viewers they matched reversed the positioning of the island on the model Akagi. Personally I think they should have put the bridge island on the correct side and reversed any lettering and numbers visible on the planes and USS Yorktown for the full sized takeoff scenes and just reversed the images in post production. The ESAM museum staff said this model had been built in Japan to exact blueprints of the original Akagi and at the time cost $1,000,000, although it is not clear if that was the price for this model or for all 3 model Akagis used for the Tora Tora Tora movie filming. It was purchased at auction after filming and eventually donated to the museum. To see a couple of photos of the Akagi model during the filimng of Tora Tora Tora, visit Dave's Warbirds Website.

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