Offered by Over The Blue Horizon and recently obtained in Tokyo is a vintage (May, 1979) MARU SPECIAL, Volume 27: "Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) SENDAI Class Light Cruisers". 

Launched between 1924 and 1926, the three ships in this class (SENDAI, JINTSU, and NAKA) were named after Japanese rivers and participated in numerous actions during the Pacific War where they were used mainly used as destroyer flotilla leaders. Displacing 7,100 tons at full load, these ships were 535 feet long, had a top speed of 35 knots, and had a main armament of 7 x 5.5 inch guns. The SENDAI class light cruisers were a development of the earlier NAGARA class, and their boilers were better located and they had four funnels instead of three. Each ship was designed with a flying-off platform and hangar, but did not actually carry aircraft until a catapult system was installed in 1929. All three ships were lost in action between 1943 and 1944.

As most of you already know, the MARU SPECIAL series was published for a number of years and each volume focused on a naval vessel, family of vessels, or campaign – most dealing with the Imperial Japanese Navy. The 135 volumes offered a very popular combination of period photographs (some with rare detail), line drawings, and affordability. Printed with Japanese text and regardless of the difficulty of translation, they remain very popular with military historians and advanced naval modelers, and these out-of-print gems are still frequently referenced.

This 68-page, 7.5 x 10 inch softcover is full of photographs and line drawings of these three ships, and condition of the book is VERY GOOD bordering on LIKE NEW -- TIGHT, BRIGHT, and exceptionally CLEAN! Note that Over the Blue Horizon ships from the USA with FREE United States Postal Service (USPS) Priority or First Class shipping to USA buyers! eBay charges sales tax for certain states; Over the Blue Horizon charges Hawaii residents state general excise tax. Your purchase will be carefully wrapped to ensure that it arrives in the same condition as described in the eBay listing.  If you are not happy with your purchase for whatever reason, we will work something out -- your satisfaction is GUARANTEED.  Regardless of where you are in the world, buy with confidence from a well-established eBay merchant with a sterling reputation and an exceptionally high customer satisfaction rate.