　重巡洋艦「鳥海」は、高雄型重巡洋艦の4番艦です。昭和3(1928)年3月26日に三菱造船長崎造船所で起工。昭和6(1931)年4月5日に進水、昭和7(1932)年6月30日に竣工しました。同年12月1日には、高雄型4隻で第四戦隊を編成。艦内艤装が姉妹艦より質が良かった（三菱造船長崎造船所が多くの商船建造を行っていたことが理由とされる）ため、度々旗艦を務めることになります。
　大東亜戦争では、東南アジア攻略作戦、ベンガル湾通商破壊作戦、ミッドウェイ海戦、第一次ソロモン海戦、第三次ソロモン海戦、マリアナ沖海戦、レイテ沖海戦などに参戦。特に第一次ソロモン海戦では、第八艦隊旗艦として重巡「青葉」「衣笠」「古鷹」「加古」、軽巡「天竜」「夕張」、駆逐艦「夕凪」を率いてガダルカナル島沖合に突撃し、味方の損害なしに米豪海軍の重巡4隻を撃沈する一方的な勝利を収めました。昭和19(1944)年10月25日早朝のサマール島沖海戦で、敵艦上機の攻撃を受けて沈没しました。「鳥海」の生存者は駆逐艦「藤波」に救助されましたが、その藤波もその後消息を絶ち、「鳥海」の沈没における詳細は今も分かっていません。
　作品は、昭和13(1938)年の「鳥海」を描いたものです。写真資料の中でとりわけ作者の目を引いたものが、昭和13年10月に撮影された有明湾外での戦闘射撃中の躍動感ある姿でした。また映像資料の中に残された激浪を越える高雄型重巡の雄姿にも大いに感銘を受けたので、それらの資料を基にして嵐をものともせず進撃する「鳥海」を描き上げました。

総頁数：156P　販売価格：4,400（税込*）*BOOTH価格は梱包・送料込
収録作品：79点（帝国海軍艦艇/海自艦艇/外国海軍艦艇）
仕様：見開きにズレが無く、ほぼ水平に開くク―タ・バインディング製本

Total number of pages: 156p
Price: 4,400(tax included*)*BOOTH price includes packing and shipping costs.
Included works: 79 pieces (IJN, JMSDF, US, British, French, German
and Italian Navy vessels)
Specifications: PUR binding with no misalignment of spreads and horizontal opening.

The heavy cruiser Chokai is the fourth ship of the Takao class heavy cruisers. The construction was started on March 26, 1928 at the Nagasaki Shipyard and Machinery Works of Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Corporation. She was launched on April 5, 1931 and completed on June 30, 1932. On December 1 of the same year, the four Takao-class ships formed the 4th squadron. The ship's interior and equipment were of better quality than her sisters (reportedly due to the fact that the Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Nagasaki Shipyard was building many merchant ships), and she would often serve as the flagship.

In the Greater East Asian War, she participated in the Southeast Asia Operation, the Bay of Bengal Operation for Trade Destruction, the Battle of Midway, the Battle of Savo Island, the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Battle of Leyte, and other battles. Especially in the Battle of Savo Island, as the flagship of the 8th Fleet, she led the heavy cruisers Aoba, Kinugasa, Furutaka, and Kako, the light cruisers Tenryu and Yubari, and the destroyer Yunagi to attack off the coast of Guadalcanal Island and achieved a one-sided victory, sinking four heavy cruisers of the US and Australian navies without any damage to her allies. In the early morning of October 25, 1944, she was attacked and sunk by enemy planes during the Battle off Samar. The survivors of the Chokai were rescued by the destroyer Fujinami, but Fujinami was never heard from again, and the details of the sinking of the Chokai are still unknown.

This work depicts the "Chokai" in 1938. Among the photographic materials, the one that particularly caught the artist's attention was a dynamic image taken in October 1938 during battle shooting outside Ariake Bay. I was also greatly impressed by the image of the Takao-class heavy cruiser overcoming the raging waves in the video materials, and based on these materials, I depicted the "Chokai" surging forward in spite of the storm.