The IJN Akagi (aka. the IJN Kyoshu) was a main Akagi class Aircraft Carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) the Akagi is Namesaked after the Mountain of Akagi, Japan
Background History[]
Akagi was laid down originally as an Amagi class Battlecruiser But the Washington Naval Treaty forced the Japanese to rebuild her as an Aircraft Carrier. She then received an extensive rebuild during 1935-38 which gave her a new appearance and it is the configuration seen in game. She was sunk during the Battle of Midway where faulty and damaged damage control systems led to her untimely end by American bombers.
Overview[]
Akagi, alongside the Kaga are basically Junyo upgrades and should be treated as such. Japanese Carriers are unique in that the same tactics apply to all of them. That is, to always be behind cover and saturate an area with torpedoes to help flush out the enemy team even if you dont get any kills or hits.
Tactics[]
Playing as an Akagi
Assuming that the player gets their hands on Akagi before getting Kaga from a crate drop, she will be the first and cheapest high spec carrier players will get their hands on. When playing Akagi, one must keep in mind that even though it is high tier, it's hangar size is only marginally larger than Sangamon's with 37 planes at max without flags (45 with the right flags) and the planes are also only marginally better at taking damage so it is really easy to find yourself a "mission kill" a state in which you have lost your ability to deliver offensive attacks as an carrier. As such, being frugal yet efficient with her planes when going into AA will pay dividends to your survival and your teams prospects of victory.
An alternative tactic with Akagi is to avoid other ships AA altogether and launch long range torpedo attacks instead. It is not easy to hit the torpedoes but with enough planning and use of choke points, the enemy will find themselves making a hard decision: To take torps and correspondingly a lot of damage, or to back off and lose valuable time that would have otherwise been used to attack your allies.
Playing alongside with an Akagi
When playing with an Akagi, first asses wether the player is a competent CV captain or not. If he/she is the latter type, don't bother to support them as they will most likely end up being "mission kills" from wasting all of their planes. If the player proves to be a competent one however, focus all efforts on keeping the enemy an arms length from the Akagi and defend her when necessary and also provide AA cover. This way, you can maximize the benefits of virtually unlimited strike distance of a carrier and the firepower of other ships within 6KM.
Playing against an Akagi
When playing against an Akagi, the recommended strategy is to stick with allies for AA cover and Charge the enemy CV. Most carriers are mostly defenseless within 2KM as they are within the lethal zone of ship based gunfire and their planes will be shot down the moment they take off due to being in the AA zone of said ships. However, caution be exercised by lower tier cruisers, and destroyers as Akagi's secondaries, while nothing close to the ludicrous 18 guns of Midway and pocket snipers of the Graf Zeppelin, are still quite powerful and can sink ships that are not careful when approaching within a kilometer of the carrier.
Advantages and Disadvantages[]
Advantages
- Moderate HP.
- High speeds (3rd fastest of low-tier).
- Moderate aircraft capacity.
- High damaging AA.
- Unique two sets of secondary battery.
Disadvantages
- Dismal amount of AA and terrible placement.
- Aircraft torpedoes hit softer than previous CVs (except Sangamon) of her tier.
- Boasts one of the slowest aircraft reload times.
- Slow turn time (2nd worst).
- The longest CV of low-tier.
Trivia[]
- Akagi is the only carrier in the game to wield two different sets of secondary battery.
- Akagi has only three AA's but are individually very powerful. However, they are tucked away behind her bridge. Considering this, she is one of the worst CVs in terms of AA defense.
- Despite the fact that Akagi and Kaga are ships of 2 different classes and are of different specifications, their association with each other as japans first pair of fleet carriers had led to many people, even historians to label them as sister ships.
Historical inaccuracies[]
- For a large part of her career, Akagi never donned the Rising Sun paint scheme as seen in-game. It's only near the end of her service was she finally painted as such.