Japanese aircraft carrier Chūyō
Chūyō at anchor, Truk, 18 May 1943
| |
History | |
---|---|
Japan | |
Name | Nitta Maru |
Operator | Nippon Yusen Kaisha |
Builder | Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Nagasaki, Japan |
Yard number | 750 |
Laid down | 9 May 1938 |
Launched | 20 May 1939 |
Maiden voyage | 23 March 1940 |
Fate | Transferred to the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1942 |
Empire of Japan | |
Commissioned | 25 November 1942 |
Renamed | Chūyō, 31 August 1942 |
Stricken | 5 February 1944 |
Fate | Sunk by the submarine USS Sailfish, 4 December 1943 |
General characteristics (as converted) | |
Class and type | Taiyō-class escort carrier |
Displacement |
|
Length | 180.2 m (591 ft 4 in) ( o/a ) |
Beam | 22.5 m (73 ft 10 in) |
Draft | 7.7 m (25 ft 5 in) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
Range | 6,500 or 8,500 nmi (12,000 or 15,700 km; 7,500 or 9,800 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
Complement | 850 |
Armament |
|
Aircraft carried | 30 |
Chūyō (冲鷹, "hawk which soars") was a
Civilian service
Nitta Maru was the
The 17,163-
The ship was requisitioned for use as a military transport in February 1941. She made a few voyages, including one transferring roughly 1,200 American
Later that year the IJN decided to convert her to an
The changes made during the conversion limited the ship to a speed of 21.4 knots (39.6 km/h; 24.6 mph). She carried 2,290 metric tons (2,250 long tons) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).[1][Note 2] Chūyō's crew numbered 850 officers and ratings.[15]
The ship was equipped with eight 40-
Operational history
The slow speed and lack of arresting gear prevented the Taiyōs from supporting the main fleet as the IJN had intended.[1][18] They were thus relegated to secondary roles; Chūyō was used primarily as an aircraft transport to and from the naval base at Truk. She made the first of her 13 trips on 12 December 1942 and was back in Yokosuka two weeks later. She made about one trip per month in 1943 and the first eventful voyage was in April. Together with her sister Taiyō and the heavy cruiser Chōkai, and escorted by six destroyers, Chūyō departed Yokosuka on 4 April and made a brief stopover at the island of Saipan three days later. On 9 April, the carrier was attacked by the submarine USS Tunny, but the detonators for the Mark 14 torpedoes were defective, causing them either to detonate early or not to detonate at all, denting Chūyō's hull.[11]
The ship made four more trips between April and August, accompanied by her sister ship Un'yō each time, before she was given a brief refit between 9 and 18 August. The next voyage began on 7 September, this time with Taiyō in company. During the return leg on 24 September, the latter was torpedoed by USS Cabrilla. With one of Taiyō's propeller shafts damaged, Chūyō had to tow her for two days before they reached Yokosuka. Although she was transferred to the Combined Fleet on 27 September and then to the Grand Escort Command on 15 November, it made no appreciable difference to her duties as the ship continued to ferry aircraft to Truk.[11]
On 30 November, the carrier departed Truk in company with the
Notable passengers
- Itaru Tachibana (spy) - Boarded on 21 June 1941 from San Francisco to Japan, forced to leave the U.S. due to being accused of espionage.[20]
See also
- List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines
Notes
- ^ Watts and Gordon and Stille say that the ship was originally equipped with diesel engines that were replaced during the conversion by steam turbines, but this is contradicted by The Times and Lloyd's Register.[4][7] This also seems unlikely as the conversion only took about five months when the conversion of the diesel-powered liner Argentina Maru (Kaiyō) took eleven months. In addition, the turbines in the latter were twice as powerful as those in the Taiyō-class ships[9] and would probably have been used if the IJN wanted to increase the speed of the Taiyōs.[1][3]
- ^ Other sources give a range of 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at that speed.[9][14]
- ^ It is uncertain if the 20 PoWs who did not survive are included in the tally of 737 passengers lost or not.[11]
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d Watts & Gordon, pp. 187–188
- ^ a b "Nitta Maru (4046813)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
- ^ a b Stille, p. 40
- ^ a b c d "New Japanese Ships – Three for the London Service". The Times. No. 48332. London. 15 June 1939. p. 22.
- ^ Tate, pp. 68–69
- ^ "Japan Stops Sailings to America". The Times. No. 48996. London. 5 August 1941. p. 3.
- ^ a b c "Lloyd's Register 1940–41" (PDF). PlimsollShipData. Lloyd's of London. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ a b Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 59
- ^ a b c Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 58
- ^ Wensyel, James W. (November 2001). "Wake Island Prisoners of World War II". World War II Magazine. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f Tully
- ^ Polmar & Genda, p. 262
- ^ Stille, pp. 40–41
- ^ a b Peattie, p. 245
- ^ Chesneau, p. 185
- ^ Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, pp. 58–59
- ^ Stille, p. 41
- ^ Stille, p. 44
- ^ Polmar & Genda, p. 370
- . - Published online on 9 January 2008 - CITED: p. 117.
References
- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
- ISBN 1-55750-432-6.
- Polmar, Norman & ISBN 1-57488-663-0.
- Stille, Mark (2005). Imperial Japanese Navy Aircraft Carriers 1921–1945. New Vanguard. Vol. 109. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-853-7.
- Tate, E. Mowbray (1986). Transpacific Steam: The Story of Steam Navigation from the Pacific Coast of North America to the Far East and the Antipodes, 1867–1941. New York: Cornwall Books. OCLC 12370774
- Tully, Anthony P. (2007). "IJN Chuyo: Tabular Record of Movement". Imperial Japanese Navy Page. Combined Fleet.com. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- Watts, Anthony J. & Gordon, Brian G. (1971). The Imperial Japanese Navy. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0385012683.