Shimane Maru-class escort carrier explained
The
Shimane Maru class was a pair of auxiliary
escort carriers built for the
Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during
World War II.
Four additional conversions were reportedly considered but not carried out. Although both ships were launched, only one was completed, and neither entered active service before being destroyed.
Design and description
The concept of the class was similar to British merchant aircraft carrier. The class consisted of two oil tankers of that were modified by the Navy to provide minimal anti-submarine air cover for convoys going from Southeast Asia to the Japanese homeland. The conversion consisted of fitting a full-length flight deck, a small hangar, and a single elevator. An island and catapults were not installed. The only other change was the rerouting of the boiler uptakes to the aft starboard side where they discharged in a typical downward-facing funnel.
The ships had a length of 160.5m (526.6feet) overall and 150m (490feet) between perpendiculars. They had a beam of 20m (70feet) at the waterline and a mean draft of 9.1m (29.9feet). They displaced 11989t at standard load.
The Shimane Maru-class ships were fitted with a single geared steam turbine set with a total of 8600shp. It drove one propeller shaft using steam provided by two boilers. The ships had a designed speed of 18.5kn and a range of 10000nmi at .
The flight deck was 508feet long and had a maximum width of 75feet.[1] The hangar, built on top of the well deck, was served by a single elevator from the flight deck. It had a capacity of a dozen aircraft.[2]
Ships
| Ship | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
|---|
| Kawasaki Heavy Industries Shipyard, Kobe | 8 June 1944 | 17 December 1944 | 28 February 1945 | Sunk 24 July 1945 by British aircraft |
| Kawasaki Heavy Industries Shipyard, Kobe | 18 September 1944 | 14 January 1945 | Never | Scrapped, 1948 | |
- She was completed on 28 February 1945, but was sunk 24 July 1945 by British aircraft at Shido Bay, Kagawa Prefecture[3] at position 34.3361°N 134.1708°W. Her hulk was also mined, then scrapped at Naniwa in 1948.
- Her construction was 70% completed when she drifted onto a mine on 25 August 1945 and sank. Her hulk was scrapped at Kobe in 1948.
- - Laid down by Kawasaki on 18 December 1944, construction stopped in February 1945. Constructions were restarted and sold to Iino Lines K.K. on 19 October 1949, and renamed . Scrapped at Yokosuka in May 1964.
- - Cancelled in 1944.
Bibliography
- Book: Chesneau, Roger. Aircraft Carriers of the World, 1914 to the Present: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. New, revised. 1995. Naval Institute Press. Annapolis, Maryland. 0-87021-902-2.
- Book: Fukui, Shizuo. Japanese Naval Vessels at the End of World War II. Greenhill Books. London . 1991. 1-85367-125-8.
- Book: Jentschura, Hansgeorg. Dieter . Jung. Peter . Mickel. 1977. Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. United States Naval Institute. Annapolis, Maryland. 0-87021-893-X. amp.
- Book: Lengerer . Hans . The Aircraft Carriers of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army: Technical and Operational History . 2023 . Model Hobby . Katowice, Poland . 978-83-60041-71-0. II.
- Book: Polmar. Norman. Genda . Minoru . Minoru Genda. Aircraft Carriers: A History of Carrier Aviation and Its Influence on World Events. Potomac Books. Washington, D.C.. 2006. 1, 1909–1945. 1-57488-663-0.
- Book: Sturton, Ian . Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Chesneau. Roger . Conway Maritime Press. Greenwich, UK. 1980. 0-85177-146-7. Japan. 167–217.
- The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No. 38, Japanese aircraft carriers II, Ushio Shobō (Japan)
Notes and References
- Jentschura, Jung and Mickel, p. 62
- Chesneau, p. 186
- Web site: 改造空母「しまね丸」爆撃. www.asahi-net.or.jp.
