Japanese aircraft carrier Akitsu Maru
 Akitsu Maru in 1944
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Japan | |
| Builder | Harima, Harima[1] |
| Completed | January 1942 |
| Fate | Sunk 15 November 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Akitsu Maru class |
| Displacement | 11,800 tons (standard)[1] |
| Length | 471 ft 7 in (pp)[1] |
| Beam | 64 ft (20 m)[1] |
| Draft | 25 ft (7.6 m) 9 in (maximum)[1] |
| Propulsion | list error: <br /> list (help) • 4 boilers, driving 2 geared turbines • 7,500 shp[1] |
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h)[1] |
| Aircraft carried | 8 (as aircraft carrier) 30 (as aircraft ferry) |
Akitsu Maru (あきつ丸) was a Japanese escort aircraft carrier operated by the Imperial Japanese Army. In some sources Akitsu Maru and her sister ship Nigitsu Maru are also considered to be the first amphibious assault ships.
Design features
Akitsu Maru was a passenger liner taken over before completion by the Imperial Japanese Army. The ship was fitted with a flight deck above the hull, but had no hangar so the aircraft were stored below the flight deck on the original main deck. Conventional aircraft were able to fly off from her deck but could not land aboard: circumstances prevented her or any of the army's other ships being provided with a deck-landing capability. It is said that the ship also operated autogyros.[2] In addition, she could carry 27 Daihatsu class landing craft.
Akitsu Maru's planned role was to provide aircover during amphibious and landing operations; in practice the ship and her sister ship the Nigitsu Maru were essentially aircraft ferries.[3]
Fate
On Thursday 18 November 1943 Akitsu Maru, while in company with large torpedo boat Tomozuru, was torpedoed off the entrance to Manila Bay by the United States submarine Crevalle (SS-291). The Crevalle incorrectly reported the Akitsu Maru as sunk.[4]
The Akitsu Maru was sunk by the submarine Queenfish (SS-393) on 15 November 1944. [5] 2,046 men, mainly of the IJA's 64th Infantry Regiment, were killed. [6]
Photo
-
carried the Ki-76
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g Gardiner. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946. p. 213.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Brooks. Cierva Autogiros. pp. 276–277.
- ^ Worth. Fleets of World War II. p. 176.
- ^ Cressman. The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. pp. 193–194.
- ^ Roscoe and Voge. United States Submarine Operations in World War II. p. 416.
- ^ http://www.combinedfleet.com/Mayasan_t.htm
References
- Brooks, Peter W. (1988). Cierva Autogiros: The Development of Rotary-Wing Flight. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 0-87474-268-4.
- Cressman, Robert (2000). The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-149-1.
- Gardiner, Robert (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-913-8.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Roscoe, Theodore (1949). United States Submarine Operations in World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-731-3.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Worth, Richard (2002). Fleets of World War II. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81116-2.