Japanese aircraft carrier Chiyoda
 Chiyoda in 1944 after conversion into an aircraft carrier
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Japan | |
| Name | Chiyoda |
| Namesake | Chiyoda, Tokyo |
| Ordered | 1934 |
| Builder | Kure Naval Arsenal |
| Laid down | 14 December 1936 as seaplane carrier |
| Launched | 19 November 1937 |
| Commissioned | 15 December 1938 |
| Recommissioned | 21 December 1943 |
| Reclassified | 15 December 1943 as light carrier |
| Refit | 1942 to 1944 |
| Fate | Sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, 25 October 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Chitose-class aircraft carrier |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 192.5 m (631 ft 7 in) |
| Beam | 20.8 m (68 ft 3 in) |
| Draft | 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power | 56,000 shp (42,000 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 28.9 knots (53.5 km/h; 33.3 mph) |
| Complement | 800 |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried |
|
| Aviation facilities |
|
Chiyoda (千代田, "Thousandth-Generation Field") was a light aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Originally constructed as the second vessel of the Chitose-class seaplane tenders in 1934, she continued to operate in that capacity during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the early stages of the Pacific War until her conversion into a light aircraft carrier after the Battle of Midway. She was sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf by a combination of naval bombers, cruiser shellfire and destroyer-launched torpedoes.[1]
Background
The Chitose-class seaplane tenders were procured by the Imperial Japanese Navy under the 2nd Naval Armaments Supplement Programme of 1934 as purpose-built ships, whereas their predecessors were all conversions of merchant or auxiliary ship designs. During the 1930s, the Imperial Japanese Navy made increasing use of naval aviation as scouts for its cruiser and destroyer squadrons. Due to restrictions imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty and London Naval Treaty, the number of aircraft carriers was strictly regulated; however, there was no limitation as to seaplane tenders.
Design
Chiyoda was designed from the start on the premise that the design from the waterline upwards could be modified to suit a variety of missions. The hull and engine design was based on a high speed oiler, with a maximum speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), but the ship was completed as a seaplane tender, with four aircraft catapults for launching seaplanes, and cranes for recovering landed aircraft on her aft deck. As designed, Chiyoda carried a complement of
Propulsion was of four boilers, which operated two geared steam turbines providing 56,800 horsepower (42,400 kW) and two propellers. With two additional diesel engines operating Chiyoda could attain 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph).
With the loss of four large aircraft carriers at the Battle of Midway, the Imperial Japanese Navy rushed a project to convert the Chitose-class into light aircraft carriers as partial compensation. A wooden 180 by 23 metres (591 ft × 75 ft) flight deck was installed, with two elevators. The bridge was moved to the front end of the new hangar deck, and the boiler exhaust gases were discharged through pipes to the starboard side below the flight deck, and the diesel engines had smaller, separate smokestacks also on the starboard side. As converted, the ship could carry 30 aircraft.
Operational history
As a seaplane tender
Chiyoda was
During the
During June, Chiyoda was refit for operations in northern waters, and departed Yokosuka Naval District on 28 June, arriving at Japanese-occupied
On 25 September, Chiyoda was reassigned to the Guadalcanal area in the Solomon Islands and delivered eight Type A Kō-hyōteki-class submarines to Shortland Island on 14 October. She was attacked by Allied aircraft on 29 October and 31 October, but suffered no damage, and on 6 November, after her return to Truk, she was attacked by the submarine USS Grayling, which fired three torpedoes at Chiyoda, all of which missed. Chiyoda returned to Yokosuka on 8 January 1943 and was converted from a seaplane tender to a light aircraft carrier at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal beginning 16 January, with the work completed on 21 December 1943.[2]
Conversion
After conversion, Chiyoda was assigned to the
Final battle
On 20 October 1944 Chiyoda departed Oita as part of Admiral
Chiyoda was crippled by four bombs dropped by aircraft from the carriers
Notes
- ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
- ^ a b c d e IJN Seaplane/Midget Submarine Carrier CHIYODA: Tabular Record of Movement
- ^ a b c d e IJN Chiyoda: Tabular Record of Movement
- ISBN 0-252-07063-1.
- ^ "The Leyte Operation". Archived from the original on 2012-07-24. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
- ISBN 1-59114-524-4
- ISBN 0253003512. page 200
References
- Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
- Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
- Lengerer, Hans (2023). The Aircraft Carriers of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army: Technical and Operational History. Vol. II. Katowice, Poland: Model Hobby. ISBN 978-83-60041-71-0.
- Lengerer, Hans (2021). "Chitose and Chiyoda". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2021. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. pp. 165–179. ISBN 978-1-4728-4779-9.
- Parshall, Jon; Bob Hackett; Sander Kingsepp; Allyn Nevitt. "IJN CHITOSE: Tabular Record of Movement (Combinedfleet.com)". Retrieved 2006-06-14.