1/35 35027 Yellow Cat Japanese Navy Particular Type 4 Motor Launch Ka-Tsu
Resin Model Kit, Box Condition: Exc
Very, very rare and highly detailed model cast in high definition resin. Never started. The parts are still in the internal factory sealed bags and includes instructions. From tanks-encylopedia.com: The special Type 4 Ka-Tsu was designed with the Solomon Islands campaign in mind, as a versatile amphibious tractor of large capacity. It was also usable as a landing craft and supply carrier carried on the deck of submarines, but this imposed a perfect sealing of the final drives and engine compartment, capable of sustaining deep water pressure. The whole idea of a supply carrier, which came as a priority in 1943, was to avoid detection of the ever-present US submarine "wolf packs", which operated much in the same way the German U-boats did in the Atlantic, and with the same success. They contributed much more to the starvation and lack of vital supplies for every Japanese garrison in the Pacific than all the air attacks combined. Any naval vessel was at risk. Therefore, the need of supply submarines was made ever more important. The Ka-Tsu registered naturally itself as a concrete solution to the problem, in a quick and efficient way. A surfaced sub loaded with cargo would have taken hours to unload, exposing it and its crew to American spotters at any moment. When the Ka-Tsu production run was finished, they were completed as torpedo carriers, in order to attack the US fleet in well-guarded atolls, such as Ulithi. Five IJN submarines, the I-36, I-38, I-41, I-44, and I-53 were modified to carry two vehicles each. However, the numerous deficiencies of the Ka-Tsu were pointed out in preparation of Operation Yu-Go, the Attack on the Majuro atoll, which never took place. Major issues included the sheer weight of the top-mounted torpedoes, combined with the largely empty hull, which caused major stability issues, the severely underpowered engine and the time needed to unseal the watertight engine covers. The atoll entrance was indeed naturally protected and surrounded by impassable reefs for any boat/sub, but not for an amphibious vehicle which could be released by a sub at some safe distance. The vehicles were found abandoned in the Home Islands in late 1945, in Kure harbor (which was pounded and strafed mercilessly in preparation for Operation Olympic). The navy staff also thought to use the Ka-Tsu as a suicide craft if the invasion would have taken place.
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