Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku

[Robert9670]

Shokaku (Flying Crane) was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.  She was the lead ship of her class, the Shokaku - class.  Shokaku, along with her sister ship Zuikaku, were 2 of the 6 fleet carriers present for the Pearl Harbor attack.After Pearl Harbor, Shokaku would participate in many battles.  During the Battle of the Coral Sea, aircraft from Shokaku would help sink the USS Lexington (CV-2), but Shokaku herself was attacked on May 8, 1942 by dive bombers from USS Yorktown (CV-5) and USS Lexington, which scored 3 hits on Shokaku: one on the port bow, one to starboard at the forward end of the flight deck, and one just aft of the island.  Fires broke out, but were contained and extinguished.  The severe damage that had been sustained forced Shokaku to return to Japan for major repairs, but on the way, Shokaku shipped so much water through her damaged bow that she nearly capsized in heavy seas, because she was maintaining a high rate of speed in order to avoid American submarines out hunting for her.  Shokaku arrived at Kure on May 17, 1942 and entered drydock on June 16, 1942.  Repairs were completed within ten days, but the time required for repairs, combined with aircrew losses, kept Shokaku from participating in the Battle of Midway.  Returning to front-line duty, Shokaku would take part in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, but Shokaku was damaged again on October 26, 1942 during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, being hit by 3 1,000-lb bombs (possibly as many as 6) from a group of 15 Douglas SBD-3 dive bombers from USS Hornet (CV-8), with ample warning of the incoming American air strike however, Shokaku's aviation fuel mains to the flight deck and hangars had been drained down, and few aircraft were on board at the time of the attack.  As a result of these precautions, no major fires broke out, and Shokaku's seaworthiness was preserved.  However, her flight deck and hangars were in shambles and this left Shokaku unable to conduct further air operations during the battle.  The damage sustained would keep Shokaku out of action for months.  After several months of repairs and training, Shokaku was assigned in May 1943 to a planned counterattack against the Aleutian Islands, only for the attack to be cancelled after the Allied victory at Attu.  For the rest of 1943, Shokaku would be based at Truk, later she would return to Japan for maintenance in late 1943.  On June 15, 1944 Shokaku departed with the Mobile Fleet to participate in Operation "A-Go", a counterattack against Allied Forces in the Marianas.  During the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Shokaku's strike waves suffered heavy losses from US combat air patrols and anti-aircraft fire, but some aircraft survived to return to Shokaku.  But one of her D4Y Suisei strike groups, which was composed of veterans from the Coral Sea and Santa Cruz engagements, was able to break through and one plane allegedly struck the battleship USS South Dakota (BB-57) with a bomb, damaging her and causing many casualties, but this group of planes suffered heavy losses themselves.  On June 19, 1944 at 11:22 Shokaku was struck by 3 (possibly 4) torpedoes from the submarine USS Cavalla (SS-244).  Since Shokaku had been in the process of refueling and rearming aircraft and was caught in an extremely vulnerable position, the torpedo hits started fires that proved impossible to control.  At 12:10, an aerial bomb exploded, which detonated aviation fuel vapors that had spread throughout the ship.  The order was given to abandon ship, but before the evacuation had progressed very far, Shokaku quickly took on water and sank bow-first, taking 1,272 officers and men with her.  The survivors included the commander of Shokaku, Captain Matsubara Hiroshi, and 570 men, who were rescued by the light cruiser Yahagi and the destroyers Urakaze, Wakatsuki, and Hatsuzuki.

 

Shokaku

http://www.combinedf...om/shokak01.jpg

 

Career

 

Name:  Shokaku (Flying Crane)

 

Laid Down:  December 12, 1937

 

Launched:  June 1, 1939

 

Commissioned:  August 8, 1941

 

Fate:  Sunk by the submarine USS Cavalla on June 19, 1944

 

General characteristics

 

Class and type:  Shokaku - class aircraft carrier

 

Displacement:  25,675 long tons (26,087 t) standard

32,105 long tons (32,620 t) full load

 

Length:  257.5 m (844 ft 10 in)

 

Beam:  26 m (85 ft 4 in)

 

Draft:  8.8 m (28 ft 10 in)

 

Installed power:  160,000 shp (120,000 kW)

 

Propulsion:  4 x Kampon geared steam turbines

8 x boilers

4 x shafts

 

Speed:  34.2 knots (63.3 km/h, 39.4 mph)

 

Range:  9,700 nmi (18,000 km, 11,200 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h, 21 mph)

 

Complement: 1,660

 

Armament:  December 1941:

   16 x 127mm (5 in) dual-purpose guns

   36 x 25mm (1 in) Type 96 AA guns

 

Aircraft carried:  72 (+12)

[Robert9670]

The 28 chief shipbuilders of the Shokaku pose at the ship's prow prior to launching, May 30, 1939

[Robert9670]

Planes from the Shokaku preparing for the attack on Pearl Harbor

[Robert9670]

A Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" leaves the Shokaku for Pearl Harbor

[Robert9670]

Shokaku on August 23, 1941 upon completion and delivery to the Imperial Japanese Navy

 

Shokaku in 1941

[Robert9670]

Shokaku, at high speed and turning hard, has suffered bomb strikes and is afire

 

Bomb damage to Shokaku's bow and forward flight deck

[Robert9670]

Japanese fighter and dive bomber aircraft on Shokaku prepare to launch for an attack on US carrier forces the morning of October 26, 1942

[Robert9670]

Shokaku as she appears in Navyfield

http://www.tarrif.ne...ons/shokaku.jpg

[Wunderwaffen1945]

Nice

[Elouda]

You already have one topic on Shokaku here.

 

Was there really any need for another?

[Robert9670]

Elouda, on 27 January 2013 - 12:04 PM, said:

You already have one topic on Shokaku here.

Was there really any need for another?

Well that thread was about both Shokaku and Zuikaku, the two ships that made up the Shokaku class.  But this thread is only about the Shokaku because I wanted to go into more detail.

[sharlin648]

Robert9670, on 27 January 2013 - 02:00 PM, said:

Well that thread was about both Shokaku and Zuikaku, the two ships that made up the Shokaku class.  But this thread is only about the Shokaku because I wanted to go into more detail.

By copy pasting from wikipedia.

[admarillstonewall]

Cool