Fine Molds 1/72 IJN A-Target Midget Submarine Kit First Look

By Stephen Sutton

First Look

Fifty were built. The "A Target" name was assigned as a ruse - if their design was prematurely discovered by Japan's foes, the Japanese Navy could insist that the vessels were battle practice targets. They were also called "tubes" and other slang names.  The submarines were each armed with two 450mm torpedoes in muzzle-loading tubes one above the other on the port bow.  Each submarine had a crew of two men. A junior officer conned the boat while a petty officer manipulated valves and moved ballast to control trim and diving.

In June 1942, during World War II, submarines belonging to the Imperial Japanese Navy made a series of attacks on the cities of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia.  On the night of 31 May – 1 June, three Ko-hyoteki class midget submarines, each with a two-member crews, entered Sydney Harbour, avoided the partially constructed Sydney Harbour anti-submarine boom net, and attempted to sink Allied warships.  After being detected and attacked, the crews of two of the midget submarines scuttled their boats and committed suicide without successfully engaging Allied vessels.  These submarines were later recovered by the Allies.  The third submarine attempted to torpedo the heavy cruiser USS Chicago, but instead sank the converted ferry HMAS Kuttabul, killing 21 sailors. This midget submarine's fate was unknown until 2006, when amateur scuba divers discovered the wreck off Sydney's northern beaches.

Immediately following the raid, the five Japanese fleet submarines that carried the midget submarines to Australia embarked on a campaign to disrupt merchant shipping in eastern Australian waters.  Five of these boats participated in the Pearl Harbor attack, with two actually making it into the harbor. Of the five used at Pearl Harbor, HA-19 was captured where it grounded on the east side of Oahu.  During World War II, HA-19 was put on tour across the United States to help sell War Bonds.  HA-19 is on exhibit at the National Museum of the Pacific War. A second Pearl Harbor midget submarine was located by U.S. Navy divers off Keehi Lagoon east of the Pearl Harbor entrance on 13 June 1960.  The submarine had been damaged by a depth charge attack and abandoned by its crew before it could fire its torpedoes.  This submarine was restored and placed on display at the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy on 15 March 1962.

Fine Molds has released a new tool of the IJN Midget Submarine as used in Sydney Harbor and Pearl Harbor, the kits is molded in grey styrene on one parts tree with only 40 parts, represented are finely engraved detail as well as raised detail to represent weld seams.  The kits measures about 13 inches in length.  Include with the kit is a model of the Type 97 torpedo used in Pearl Harbor.  Styrene stands are provided for the midget sub and the torpedo. 90 percent of the kit instructions are in Japanese with some English text for small details and color identification.  Decals are finely printed in white and red, white decals could be opaque after application on a dark surface.  Decals and separate parts are provided for schemes used at Pearl Harbor, Narumi Bay, Kiska 1943, and Ourasaki, Hiroshima 1944.

I first became interested in this subject after watching Killer Subs in Pearl Harbor on PBS Nova. This is the first and only kit available in styrene and I highly recommend it.