Kaneda 500,000 ton Battleship

Unbuilt proposal.

Hidetaro Kaneda’s enormous battleship concept envisaged a warship vastly larger than contemporary dreadnoughts, often described in later accounts as a 500,000-ton design. It was not built, and popular reconstructions vary. The scale of the idea far exceeded the dry docks, construction resources, and operating arrangements available for normal capital ships of the period. It is valuable as evidence of ambitious strategic imagination, not as a practical construction program. Kaneda’s proposal emerged in an era when navies debated whether larger and more powerful ships could provide decisive tactical superiority. HMS Dreadnought had already transformed battleship competition in 1906. Japan pursued successive capital-ship programs during the following decades, but none approached the unprecedented scale imagined in this concept.

Finish and color

Supplied unpainted and printed in the selected color. Choose from the available product color options.

Tabletop use

Suitable for period-appropriate custom scenarios in Global War 1936, Global Empires, and compatible Axis & Allies games. Use suitable scenario or house rules for unit statistics and any technology upgrades. This piece does not supply additional game rules.

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