Japanese aircraft carrier Shōhō
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 Shōhō undergoing trials off Tateyama on December 25, 1941 soon after her conversion to a light aircraft carrier. |
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| Career (Japan) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Shōhō |
| Namesake: | Japanese: 祥鳳 shōhō, meaning "auspicious phoenix" |
| Laid down: | 3 December 1934 |
| Launched: | 1 June 1935 |
| Commissioned: | 30 November 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk by air attack on 7 May 1942 |
| Struck: | 20 May 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Shōhō class light aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: | 14,200 tons (full); 11,262 tons (standard) |
| Length: | 205.5 m (674 ft 2.5 in) |
| Beam: | 18.2 m (59 ft 8.5 in) |
| Draught: | 6.6 m (21 ft 8 in) |
| Propulsion: | Geared turbines, 38.8 MW (52,000 hp), 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 52.2 km/h (28.2 knots) |
| Range: | 14,400 km at 22 km/h (7,800 nmi at 12 knots) |
| Complement: | 785 |
| Armament: | 8 × 127 mm (5 in) guns 8 × 25 mm anti-aircraft guns 12 × 13.2 mm machine guns |
| Aircraft carried: | 30 |
Shōhō (Japanese: 祥鳳 shōhō, meaning "auspicious phoenix"), the lead ship of her class, was a light aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Shōhō was the first Japanese aircraft carrier to be sunk in the Pacific War.
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[edit] Design and Construction
Shōhō and her sister ship Zuihō were laid down in 1934 with a flexible design that could be completed as an oil tanker, submarine tender, or aircraft carrier as needed. Shōhō was launched in 1935 as the submarine tender Tsurugisaki.[1] She began to be converted to an aircraft carrier in 1940 and she was renamed Shōhō on 26 January 1942.
[edit] World War II
In World War II, she joined Carrier Division 4 under the command of Captain Izawa Ishinosuke on 30 November 1941. Her aircraft complement consisted of 16 Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighters and 14 Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers.
In April 1942 she was assigned to Operation MO, the invasion of Port Moresby in New Guinea, sailing with the cruisers Aoba, Kinugasa, Furutaka, and Kako of Cruiser Division 6 under the command of Rear Admiral Aritomo Gotō.
After covering the landings on Tulagi on 3 May 1942, she entered the Coral Sea. In the battle of the Coral Sea on 7 May 1942 she was attacked at 07:55 by fifty-three scout-bombers, twenty-two torpedo planes and eighteen fighters from USS Lexington and USS Yorktown — a force whose intended target had been the two Japanese fleet carriers. Hit by seven torpedoes and thirteen bombs, she foundered quickly, sinking at 08:35 with the loss of 631 men. Captain Izawa and 202 men were rescued by the destroyer Sazanami.
[edit] Commanding Officers
As Submarine Tender
- Chief Equipping Officer — Capt. Miki Otsuka (7 October 1935 – 1 December 1936)
- Chief Equipping Officer — Capt. Ko Higuchi (1 December 1936 – 15 December 1938)
- Chief Equipping Officer — Capt. Tsunekichi Fukuzawa (15 December 1938 – 15 January 1939)
- Capt. Tsunekichi Fukuzawa (15 January 1939 – 15 November 1939)
- Capt. Jotaro Ito (15 November 1939 – 15 November 1940)
- Capt. Takatsugu Jojima (15 November 1940 – 8 August 1941)
- Capt. Chozaemon Obata (8 August 1941 – 1 October 1941)
As CVL
- Chief Equipping Officer — Capt. Ishinosuke Izawa (1 October 1941 – 30 November 1941)
- Capt. Ishinosuke Izawa (30 November 1941 – 7 May 1942)
[edit] References
- ^ ""Evolution of Aircraft Carriers: THE JAPANESE DEVELOPMENTS"" (PDF). http://www.history.navy.mil/download/car-7.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
- Bullard, Steven (translator) (2007). Japanese army operations in the South Pacific Area New Britain and Papua campaigns, 1942–43. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. ISBN 9780975190487. http://ajrp.awm.gov.au/ajrp/ajrp2.nsf/088031725e4569e4ca256f4f00126373/1fcb61d633972daaca257291000abf44?OpenDocument. (translation of excerpts from the Senshi Sōshō)
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Shōhō |
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