IJN Isuzu
| This page is about the Japanese light cruiser IJN Isuzu. For the JMSDF Isuzu frigate, see Isuzu. |
Contents
Description
The Nagara-class, IJN Isuzu, 1944 is a rank III Japanese light cruiser with a battle rating of 4.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Ixwa Strike".
The IJN Isuzu is in her 1944 refit, with the sole purpose of acting as a floating anti-aircraft platform in an attempt to counter the United States' air superiority and slow down their advance. To achieve this, her 140 mm guns were replaced with a 127 mm anti-air cannons, as well as a staggering 50 x 25 mm Type 96 anti-air cannons. Giving her an unparalleled anti-air capabilities for her rank in exchange of anti-ship firepower.
General info
Survivability and armour
Even when compared to the infamous Omaha-class cruisers such as the USS Trenton, the IJN Isuzu's protection is easily one of the worst among the range of cruisers in the game. Most of the Isuzu armour were concentrated around the engines, which were a double-layered RHA with 38 mm thickness for the outer layer and 25 mm for the inner layer. This armour can shield off the blast of HE shells, but will not protect her engines from SAP or AP shells.
As her crew compartments is mostly located on the first deck without protection, and as she has a large number of AA mounts, the Isuzu will lose a considerable amount of her crew with a few HE salvos. The ship's low crew count of 510 sailors will not help her to withstand enemy fire for long.
Mobility
With her low displacement, the IJN Isuzu is very fast and agile for a light cruiser. This will be important for the Isuzu's survival as you have to manoeuvre a lot to evade incoming fire.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | |||
| Upgraded | 78 | 29 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 67 | 25 | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armament
Primary armament
Isuzu's main armament consists of 6 x 5 inch (12.7 cm) cannons mounted in 3 turrets. They have no protection so they can be easily knocked out. There are 2 types of shells avaible: HE and HE-TF (time-fused). While HE shells aren't as effective against ships as the previous ship's (IJN Akizuki), time fuse shells can easily destroy enemy planes, especially when they are diving. In combination with the secondary armament, this ship excels in anti-aircraft fire. Fire rate isn't quick, but it is enough to aim a few shells at air targets.
Secondary armament
As an anti-air cruiser, the Isuzu is equipped with 50 x 25 mm Type 96 AA cannons placed all over the ship, a large amount of AA guns of a Japanese ship (only behind the Tone with 62 AA guns). The sheer amount of the guns give the Isuzu a massive burst output that will deter any aerial threats from getting close.
Additional armament
The only capable anti-ship weaponry the Isuzu have at her disposal is eight Type 93 Model 1 "Long Lance" torpedoes launched from quadruple launchers on each side of the ship. As the previous ship in the line, the Yugumo, demonstrated its potential, these fast and deadly torpedoes need no further introduction. Although the Isuzu carries only half of the "Long Lance" of the Yugumo and is therefore less effective at long-range anti-ship duties.
Usage in battles
Due to her disproportional main and secondary/anti-air armament, the Isuzu is essentially an oversized destroyer in term of playstyle. The Isuzu's six 127 mm guns are reasonably effective against most destroyer she will usually face, but is inadequate against anything larger than that. Thus, the Isuzu perform best as an escort ship, providing supplementary and anti-air support for friendly ship, while the Long Lance torpedoes can help the Isuzu to sink some enemy ships.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- 127 mm guns have good rate of fire and good traverse speed
- 50 x 25 mm AA guns gives the Isuzu one of the best AA defence capability in the Japanese fleet
- Very good top speed and mobility
- Equipped with deadly Type 93 torpedoes
Cons:
- Extremely poor protection
- Engines and transmission can be easily damaged
- 127 mm guns lack stopping power against enemy cruisers
- Will be always outgunned by every cruiser and even some destroyers
- Open turrets with lack of gun shield, can be easily disabled
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ship in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the ship and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Ship-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the ship's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the ship;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| Uraga Dock Company (浦賀船渠株式会社) | |
|---|---|
| Sub Chasers (駆潜艇) | |
| No.1 Type | Type K-3 No.1 |
| Destroyers (DD) | |
| Hatsuharu-class | IJN Nenohi |
| Yugumo-class | IJN Kiyoshimo |
| Light Cruisers (CL) | |
| Nagara-class | IJN Isuzu |
| Japan light cruisers | |
|---|---|
| Kuma-class | IJN Tama |
| IJN Yubari* | |
| Nagara-class | IJN Isuzu |
| Sendai-class | IJN Sendai |
| Agano-class | IJN Agano |
| Mogami-class | IJN Mikuma · IJN Suzuya |
| * Unique ship | |
