For almost a quarter of a century, battleship designs had featured ram bows and secondary guns in casemates along the hull. Leading into World War One, American battleship designs were no different in those aspects. When in October 1913 USS Pennsylvania was laid down, she featured these same characteristics. The following class, the New Mexico, changed dramatically in appearance. Although she had hull casemate secondary positions, out was the ram bow, in was the graceful clipper bow. The Tennessee Class completed the metamorphosis by eliminating hull casemate positions during construction. The hull lines of the Tennessee were far sleeker than those of her older consorts. The design of the class was so highly thought off, that the following Colorado Class very virtual repeats with the exception of shipping eight 16 inch guns in place of the twelve 14 inch guns of the Tennessee. 

The improvements of the Tennessee over the New Mexico went beyond the appearance of the hull form. Tennessee incorporated a new armor scheme that was adopted for all subsequent battleship designs. The class also adopted turbo-electric propulsion.and increased the elevation of the main armament to increase range. 

USS TENNESSEE VITAL STATISTICS LAID DOWN- May 14, 1917; LAUNCHED- April 30, 1919; COMPLETED- June 3, 1920; STRICKEN- March 1, 1959; BROKEN UP- Starting July 1959 As Designed DIMENSIONS: Length- 624 feet (190.2m) (oa), 600 feet (182.9m) (wl); Beam- 97 feet 5 inches (29.7m); Draught- 30 feet 2 inches (9.2m)(mean); DISPLACEMENT- 32,300 tons (standard), 33,190 tons (full load) ARMAMENT- Twelve 14", Twenty-two 5", Four 3" MACHINERY- Eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers; Four Shaft Westinghouse turbo-electric drive; 26,800 shp; 21 knots; Range- 8,000 nm at 10 knots COMPLEMENT- 1,083

Tennessee was completed in 1920 but trials were delayed until 1921, due to a generator explosion. On June 17, 1921 she arrived at San Pedro, California and was based there for the next 19 years until she, along with the rest of the Pacific Battle Fleet, was transferred to Pearl Harbor, arriving there. It was thought that basing the Pacific Fleet in Hawaii, instead of California, would damper the aggressive moves of Japan. As history proved, it had the opposite effect tragic consequences for the Pacific Fleet. 

On the morning of December 7, 1941, Tennessee was moored inboard of West Virginia. This protected her from torpedo attack but when West Virginia sank, she was temporarily pinned in position. She received two bomb hits during the attack. One bomb hit the center gun of B turret and a dud bomb hit X turret. On December 20, 1941 Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Maryland sailed for Puget Sound. These were the three least damaged battleships for one common reason, during the attack they were protected from torpedo attack. Maryland was inboard of Oklahoma and Pennsylvania was in drydock. During January and February 1942, Tennessee received full repairs and some modifications. She had her main guns replaced with Mk. 11 guns, had her cage mainmast removed for a short control tower, received additional AA guns of four quad 1.1 inch mounts & sixteen 20mm single mounts, received FC & SC radars, and the five inch 25 cal guns received splinter shields. By June 1942 she received two more 1.1 inch mounts. During this time period she was in TF1 guarding the west coast. 

On August 1, 1942 TF1 with Hornet sailed for Pearl Harbor but Tennessee was recalled to undergo a major rebuild. Tennessee, California and West Virginia received the same rebuild and emerged from it completely different in appearance. The superstructure was completely changed to resemble that of South Dakota, hull blisters were added increasing the beam to 114 feet from 97 feet, five inch 25 cal guns were replaced with eight dual five inch 38 cal DP turrets with new Mk. 37 gun directors, main battery received automatic control and new Mk. 34 directors, a new lighter conning tower was fitted, the AA fit increased to ten quad 40mm Bofor mounts plus 43 single 20mm guns, electrical generating capacity was increased by 75% because all of the new gun mounts required additional power. She came out in May 1943 displacing 40,990 tons (full load), which was 7,000 tons heavier than she was at Pearl Harbor. 

Tennessee was back in action on August 1, 1943 when she bombarded Kiska during the Aleutian campaign. In November she was in the Gilbert Islands bombarding Betio. On November 22, 1943 she used her five inch guns on the submarine I-35, which had been forced to the surface by destroyers. From January 31 to February 2, 1943 she shelled Majuro, Roi, Kwajalein and Namur in the Marshall Islands. Other bombardment missions followed; Engebi and Parry Island from February 17 to February 22, Kavieng on New Ireland on March 20, Saipan on June 14, Tinian on June 15. She was hit by shore batteries on Tinian had suffered one 5 inch turret being disabled. After repairs she went on to bombard Guam. September 1944 saw Tennessee supporting the assault on Palau.

She participated in the assault on Leyte and was part of the battleline at the Battle of Surigao Strait on the night of October 24-25, the last battleship versus battleship duel, albeit a very one sided action. During this battle she fired 69 rounds from her main guns and obtained hits on the battleship Yamashiro. In February 1945 she bombarded Iwo Jima and in April it was Okinawa. On April 12 she was hit by a kamikaze on the port side amidships but she remained on station. Her final action was supporting minesweeping operations in the Ryuku Islands and South China Sea. After the Japanese surrender she arrived at Wakayama, Japan on September 23, 1945. She was dispatched to Philadelphia and this was the first time she had been in the Atlantic in 25 years. Mothballed in 1946, she was never to be recommissioned. Tennessee was scrapped at Baltimore starting July 1959. (The bulk of this history is from Battleships of World War Two by M.J. Whitley.) 

RESIN CASTING
Hi-Mold has the reputation of producing some of the finest resin castings available. Their casting of the parts for Tennessee lives up to this impeccable reputation. Each part is finely crafted with additional detail. The hull displays the clean lines of the prototype, from the graceful clipper bow to the tapering fantail. As usual Hi-Mold has cast the various deck fittings integral to the hull. Winches, bollards, deck plates, access ways and anchor chain all are part of the hull casting. The detail on the sides of the hull are especially nice. Unusual attention to detail was lavished on the often overlooked architectural features found on the outer hull of warships. The armor belt, vertical strakes and hull plating are superbly captured and add layers of detail often missed in other 1:700 scale models. 

Complete photographic coverage of all the unassembled components for the Hi-Mold USS Tennessee is found in the "First Look" article linked below.

Superstructure parts fit cleaning into their positions on the deck. Hi-Mold uses locator rectangles to insure accurate positioning of the superstructure. Some manufacturers use locator studs/holes, some use scribed locator outlines, others don’t use any locator device at all to help place the smaller parts in their accurate positions. The Hi-Mold method of providing uniquely shaped locator rectangles with the same size receptacles on the underside of the smaller structures insures that no mistake can be made in assembling the model. The model virtually clicks together. 

The smaller resin pieces are all of the same high casting quality as the hull. As with the hull, extra detail is cast into each piece. The funnels have banding and steampipes. Every deck from the 01 gun deck through the highest bridge level, as well as the mast top "birdbaths" have the characteristic outer support ribs to their shielding. However, Tennessee of all the battleships at Pearl Harbor, apparently did not have the support ribs on the 01 deck shielding. Also she seemed to have narrower fighting tops with only one window on the side, rather than the more common two windows per side. Barbettes have been given their unique fittings, the rectangular ventilators have scribed louvers, ship’s boats are well done, the conning tower has incised view slits; the list goes on and on of the detail given to the resin parts of Tennessee.  

WHITE METAL PARTS
A large percentage of detailed parts come in the form of white metal fittings. On the whole they are very well done. Directors, boat cranes, searchlights, carley floats and four types of mushroom ventilators all have the excellent detail displayed by the resin parts. Both aircraft catapults, one on X turret and one on the fantail, are white metal. I used these in my build of Tennessee, although I believe photo-etched parts would better exhibit their characteristic lattice work. 

I only have one significant reservation about the white metal parts. Hi-Mold provides 5 inch 25 cal deck guns for the 01 deck with splinter shielding. Prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, the Pacific Fleet had started its own initiative to develope splinter shielding for these open mounts in order to protect the crews. The trick was to make them light enough, so as not to interfere with the training and operation of the gun, and to provide adequate observation for the guns’ control. By December 7, 1941 this program was still in the experimental stage. On December 7, West Virginia had at least two of her mounts with shielding and apparently Maryland had at least one mount with the shielding. However, no source mentions that Tennessee had any of her 5"/25 cal mounts equipped with the splinter shielding. To the contrary, most sources state that she received the shielding for these guns in the short January to February 1942 refit at Puget Sound. In describing this early war refit, Myron J. Smith in Volunteer State Battlewagon, states at page 20; "The eight 5-inch/.25 caliber guns were now guarded by semi-enclosed splinter shields." Likewise M.J. Whitley in Battleships of World War Two, also states that the splinter shields were not fitted until the January to February 1942 time frame. Accordingly, it appears that Hi-Mold was in error in providing gun mounts with splinter shielding and not providing open mount 5"/25 cal guns. No one seems to have these open mounts available as additional detail parts, so I raided a Corsair Armada cruiser kit to come up with the right mounts for Tennessee. Granted, this can be an expensive fix. However, there is a much less expensive alternative. MiniHobby released a 1:700 scale Arizona. Priced at $7.00 from Pacific Front Hobbies, the open mounts from the Arizona kit should be acceptable substitutes. I have not seen that particular kit so I can’t venture an opinion on their accuracy. 

PHOTO-ETCHED PARTS
The Tennessee comes with a stainless steel photo-etched fret. By far the most significant items are the two cage masts. I was glad that the fret was stainless steel rather than brass because a steel fret is more durable and forgiving than one of brass. Since I had not "rolled" a brass/steel cage mast before, I approached forming and mounting the cage masts with a certain degree of trepidation. It proved to be far easier than I imagined. Using the taper of a ball point pen, I started rolling the flat mast cage over the curves to get the gentle curves of the cagemast. After the initial curling, I switched to the taper of a paint brush to achieve the final shape. It worked like a charm. Hi-Mold made it easy to fit the masts as the decks upon which the masts rest have plates with the correct diameter, as well as the undersides of the tops. The masts fell together without a hitch. Other larger photo-etched parts include boat crane booms, aircraft crane, amidships boat rack and foremast lattice yard (Hi-Mold furnishes a solid white metal version of this yard as well). The fret was obviously designed for the other "Big Five" battleships as there was a second style boat rack and the CXAM radar carried by West Virginia, parts not used on the Tennessee. All parts of the fret were easy to bend and work, going together extremely easily. No generic items, such as railing or inclined ladders are provided. I advise getting Toms, GMM, or WEM three bar railing with inclined ladders to supplement the kit. At the very least add the inclined ladders as there are a number of them and they are quite prominent going from the quarterdeck to the main deck and on the rear face of the forward superstructure. 

OTHER PARTS
Hi-Mold provides Clipper brass gun barrels for the 14" guns. If you have not seen these brass barrels, they are completely superior to white metal or resin barrels. You don’t have to worry about them being warped or lop-sided and the hollowed out gun bores provide excellent detail. You’ll have to shorten them to get the accurate length. This is easily done with a sheer. Just reduce the length in small increments. You can always take off more but you can’t add if you take off too much. I used one barrel as my pattern and gradually reduced its length at the base (not the bore) until its length from the turret matched the plan provided in the instructions. The location of the end of the muzzle in relation to the turret below was my guide. When I achieved the right length, I used that barrel as the pattern to cut the rest. 

Also included are three sizes of brass rod. Two types are used for the director support on the bridge and the smallest is used in a number of areas such as athwart supports in the boat rack, jack staffs and upper masts. The instructions provide the length in mm for each part. A generic flag and number decal sheet is also included. A small, thin plastic card is provided for use in shaping a limited number of parts. 

INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions comprise six pages. Although the text is almost all in Japanese, the assembly diagrams are logically presented. I did not experience any confusion in following them. The first two pages have the history in Japanese and a parts lay-down. A drawing for each part, drawn to the size of the part is shown with its parts number. The second page also has measurements and templates for the parts to be cut from the plastic card and measurements for cutting the brass rod for other parts. 

The following three pages display the assembly process in four steps. No problems, ambiguity or confusion was experienced at any step of this process. Hi-Mold provided inset boxes to show further detail in the assembly of certain structures. As an example, the cage main mast has 14 levels, the inset drawing clearly showed that the searchlight platform is positioned at the junction of level seven and eight. The last page provides a plan and profile in 1:700 scale, although it does show the 5"25 cal mounts with splinter shielding. 

VERDICT
The Hi-Mold USS Tennesee is an exceptional model. The detail is outstanding, the parts engineering excellent and the instructions are easy to follow. The only blemish to this superior product is the absence of open mount five-inch guns. Having built Hi-Mold kits in the past, I noticed another common characteristic of the Hi-Mold product line. You look forward to building a Hi-Mold kit because, with their excellent design and engineering, they are very fun to build.

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