2,894 [HINON] Doomlock [HINON] Wiki Lead, Beta Testers, Privateers 6,801 posts 5,248 battles Report post #1 Posted February 20, 2017 Hi guys! Sorry for the delay on this, things and stuff happened so I forgot about doing this for a while. But I'm back and here to do a few IJN carriers you may not have heard of before. As stated before, the poll for the next colorized pics will be on the last IJN CV post, so stay tuned for that one. As per usual, the pics are from: http://blog.livedoor.jp/irootoko_jr/ Let's get this show on the seas! Despite the class name being named after Zuihō, Shōhō was the first laid down, launched, and commissioned...Scharnhorst and Gneisenau situation here. Anyway, Shōhō has the dubious distinction of being the first IJN carrier sunk in the war, having been sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea, by a combination of 5 torpedoes and 13 1,000 Ib bombs. She took 834 of her crew with her to the bottom of sea. We now get to Zuihō, which had a great service history with the IJN, ranging from Midway to the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in the Battle of Cape Engaño. This picture, taken from a TBM Avenger from Torpedo Squadron VT-20 from USS Enterprise (CV-6), has been called one of the best photographs of a Japanese aircraft carrier. She is exhibiting damage to her flight deck, with buckling near the middle elevator. She will be sunk during this battle, with a loss of 215 men. (Hey this picture was taken 50 years before I was born!) On to Ryūhō. Ryūhō was a submarine tender under the name Taigei (Great Whale). She was converted to a light aircraft carrier and given the name Ryūhō meaning Dragon Phoenix. Seen here on October 9, 1945 at Higasinoumi Is, she was another of the few IJN warships to survive the war relatively unscathed, and certainly one of the only carriers to survive. Here we see the light carrier Chitose at Sasebo on August 31, 1943, at anchor. She was originally a seaplane tender before the conversion to aircraft carrier. Below is pictures of Chitose and her sister Chiyoda as seaplane tenders. Chitose. Chiyoda. Speaking of Chiyoda, here she is on sea trials at Tokyo Bay on December 1, 1943. She was part of the diversionary force designed to lure the 3rd Fleet away from the landings at Leyte long enough for Yamato to obliterate the landing troops. A certain Taffy 3 made the diversion a lost cause. Taiyō, the first in her class of 3, was a converted ocean liner as were her sisters. These were escort carriers, bigger, faster, and larger aircraft capacity than their US counterparts, but lacked arresting gear to make them truly functional carriers. The second of the Taiyō-class, Un'yō, seen here at anchor at Truk Atoll, May, 1943. Un'yō means, Cloud Hawk. And the last of the class, Chūyō, seen at Truk Atoll, in May, 1943. Her name means "Hawk which soars." The Sea Hawk, Kaiyō, seen on sea trials at Tokuyama on November 15, 1943. She was yet another escort carrier for the IJN, but her potential was not fully utilized and was mainly used for training air crews. She survived the war, though abandoned at Beppu Bay. And the last one for today, Shin'yō, seen here on sea trials at Iyonada on November 1, 1943. The Divine Hawk was another escort carrier of the IJN that did not see many battles. Funnily enough, she was converted from the German ocean liner, Scharnhorst. And that is all for today, I hope you enjoyed! The next carriers on the list are Taihō, Shinano, and the Unryū-class aircraft carriers, after that I will have shown you all of the aircraft carriers fielded by the IJN. In that post there will be the new poll for the next colorized photos you guys want to see next. Fair winds and following seas captains! 9 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3,150 [HINON] RivertheRoyal Privateers 6,266 posts 3,405 battles Report post #2 Posted February 20, 2017 (edited) Very nice! I always like seeing these! Edit: Oh for the love of....I've run out of upvotes. Can we get more please! It's never enough! Edited February 20, 2017 by RivertheRoyal 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
825 [ARMDA] Unabletony Members 9,004 posts 6,779 battles Report post #3 Posted February 20, 2017 Nioce~ +1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
293 TheZeke00 Wiki Editor 798 posts Report post #4 Posted February 20, 2017 awesome as usual Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
563 [FOXEH] HowitzerBlitzer [FOXEH] Members 1,983 posts 3,253 battles Report post #5 Posted February 20, 2017 Japanese Scharnhorst as premium? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
937 [WOLFB] Lonewolfpj Members 3,212 posts Report post #6 Posted February 20, 2017 always love this stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
34 [NAV] JohnnyThund3rs [NAV] Members 175 posts 8,524 battles Report post #7 Posted February 20, 2017 great pictures, thanks for posting Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3,287 [WG-CC] SireneRacker -Members-, Members 9,101 posts 8,050 battles Report post #8 Posted February 20, 2017 Damn that Zuihou pic is great Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1,519 [SIMP] capncrunch21 Members 1,747 posts Report post #9 Posted February 20, 2017 Damn that Zuihou pic is great Yeah it is. One thing I don't get is the logic behind the deck camo. Are they trying to make it look like a short battleship? It would still make it a priority target for enemy planes... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3,287 [WG-CC] SireneRacker -Members-, Members 9,101 posts 8,050 battles Report post #10 Posted February 20, 2017 Yeah it is. One thing I don't get is the logic behind the deck camo. Are they trying to make it look like a short battleship? It would still make it a priority target for enemy planes... That is indeed a good question. I can only guess here but I think it is just to confuse dive bombers and to make a clear identification impossible. Compared to the unpainted flight decks on Kaga and Akagi this flight deck does not offer a good target (the red sun). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
