Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryū
Yokosuka , shortly after completion in 1939
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Class overview | |
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Operators | Imperial Japanese Navy |
Preceded by | Sōryū |
Succeeded by | Shōkaku class |
Built | 1936–1939 |
In commission | 1939–1942 |
Completed | 1 |
Lost | 1 |
History | |
Empire of Japan | |
Name | Hiryū |
Namesake | Japanese: 飛龍 "Flying Dragon" |
Builder | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal |
Laid down | 8 July 1936 |
Launched | 16 November 1937 |
Commissioned | 5 July 1939 |
Stricken | 25 September 1942 |
Fate | Scuttled after the Battle of Midway, 5 June 1942 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Aircraft carrier |
Displacement | 17,600 t (17,300 long tons) (standard) |
Length | 227.4 m (746 ft 1 in) (o/a) |
Beam | 22.3 m (73 ft 2 in) |
Draft | 7.8 m (25 ft 7 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 4 × shafts; 4 × geared steam turbines |
Speed | 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) |
Range | 10,330 nmi (19,130 km; 11,890 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
Complement | 1,100 |
Armament |
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Armor |
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Aircraft carried |
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Hiryū (飛龍, "Flying Dragon") was an
After a brief refit, Hiryū and three other fleet carriers of the
Design
Hiryū was one of two large carriers approved for construction under the
The ship had a length of 227.4 meters (746 ft 1 in)
Machinery
Hiryū was fitted with four geared
Flight deck and hangars
The carrier's 216.9-meter (711 ft 7 in) flight deck was 27 meters (88 ft 6 in) wide and overhung her
Aircraft were transported between the hangars and the flight deck by three elevators, the forward one abreast the island on the centerline and the other two offset to starboard.[4] The forward platform measured 16 by 13 meters (52.5 ft × 42.75 ft), the middle one 13 by 12 meters (42.75 ft × 39.3 ft), and the rear 11.8 by 13.0 meters (38.7 ft × 42.8 ft).[8] They were capable of transferring aircraft weighing up to 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb).[9] Hiryū had a designed aircraft capacity of 64, plus nine spares.[4]
Armament
Hiryū's primary
The ship's light AA armament consisted of seven triple and five twin-gun mounts for
Armor
Hiryū had a waterline belt with a maximum thickness of 150 millimeters (5.9 in) over the magazines that reduced to 90 millimeters (3.5 in) over the machinery spaces and the avgas storage tanks. It was backed by an internal anti-splinter bulkhead. The ship's deck was 25 millimeters (0.98 in) thick over the machinery spaces and 55 millimeters (2.2 in) thick over the magazines and avgas storage tanks.[13]
Construction and service
Following the
Pearl Harbor and subsequent operations
In November 1941, the IJN's Combined Fleet, commanded by
In the first wave, 8 B5N torpedo bombers were supposed to attack the aircraft carriers that normally berthed on the northwest side of
The second wave consisted of 9 Zeros and 18 D3As, one of each aborting with mechanical problems.
While returning to Japan after the attack, Vice Admiral
The carriers arrived at
Hiryū and the other carriers arrived at
Indian Ocean Raid
On 26 March, the five carriers of the First Air Fleet departed from Staring Bay; they were spotted by a Catalina about 350 nautical miles (650 km; 400 mi) southeast of
On the morning of 9 April, Hiryū's CAP shot down another Catalina attempting to locate the fleet and, later that morning, contributed 18 B5Ns, escorted by 6 Zeros, to the
On 19 April, while transiting the
Midway
Concerned by the American carrier strikes in the Marshall Islands,
On 25 May 1942, Hiryū set out with the Combined Fleet's carrier striking force in the company of Kaga, Akagi, and Sōryū, which constituted the First and Second Carrier Divisions, for the attack on Midway. Her aircraft complement consisted of 18 Zeros, 18 D3As, and 18 B5Ns. Also aboard were three A6Ms of the 6th Kōkūtai intended as the aerial garrison for Midway.[41] With the fleet positioned 250 nmi (460 km; 290 mi) northwest of Midway at dawn (04:45 local time) on 4 June 1942, Hiryū's portion of the 108-plane airstrike was an attack on the facilities on Sand Island with 18 torpedo bombers, one of which aborted with mechanical problems, escorted by nine Zeros. The air group suffered heavily during the attack: Two B5Ns were shot down by fighters, with a third falling victim to antiaircraft fire. Heavy damage forced a fourth, flown by squadron leader Rokuro Kikuchi, to crash-land on Kure Atoll, where he and his crew were later discovered and killed by U.S. forces. A fifth B5N was forced to ditch on its return, and five more were damaged beyond repair. In addition, two Zeros were also deemed unserviceable, although none were lost.[42]
The carrier also contributed three Zeros to the total of 11 assigned to the initial CAP over the four carriers. By 07:05, the carrier had six fighters with the CAP, which helped to defend the Kido Butai from the first U.S. attackers from Midway Island at 07:10.[43] At this time, Nagumo's carriers were attacked by six U.S. Navy Grumman TBF Avengers and four USAAC Martin B-26 Marauders, all carrying torpedoes. The Avengers went after Hiryū while the Marauders attacked Akagi. The 30 CAP Zeros in the air at this time, including the six from Hiryū, immediately attacked the American airplanes, shooting down five of the Avengers and two of the B-26s. The Avengers shot down one of Hiryū's Zeros. The surviving aircraft dropped their torpedoes, but all missed.[44]
At 07:15, Nagumo ordered the B5Ns on Kaga and Akagi rearmed with bombs for another attack on Midway Island. This process was slowed by the number of ordnance carts used to handle the bombs and torpedoes and the limited number of ordnance elevators. This meant that the torpedoes could not be struck below until after all the bombs were moved up from their magazine, assembled and mounted on the aircraft. This process normally took about an hour and a half; more time would be required to bring the aircraft up to the flight deck, and to warm up and launch the strike group. Around 07:40, he reversed his order when he received a message from one of his scout aircraft that American warships had been spotted. Depleted of ammunition, two of Hiryū's CAP Zeros landed aboard the carrier at 07:40.[45]
At 07:55, the next American strike from Midway arrived in the form of 16 Marine Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers of Marine Scout Bomber Squadron 241 (VMSB-241) under Major Lofton R. Henderson.[Note 3] Hiryū's three CAP fighters were among the nine still aloft that attacked Henderson's planes, shooting down six of them as they executed a fruitless glide bombing attack on Hiryū. In return, the gunner of one of the Dauntlesses shot down one of Hiryū's Zeros. At roughly the same time, the Japanese carriers were attacked by 12 USAAC B-17s, bombing from 20,000 feet (6,100 m). The high altitude of the B-17s gave the Japanese captains enough time to anticipate where the bombs would land, and they successfully maneuvered out of the impact area. Four B-17s attacked Hiryū, but missed with all their bombs.[47]
Hiryū reinforced the CAP with launches of three more Zeros at 08:25.[48] These fresh Zeros helped defeat the next American air strike from Midway, 11 Vought SB2U Vindicator dive bombers from VMSB-241, which attacked the battleship Haruna starting around 08:30. Haruna escaped damage and three of the Vindicators were shot down.[49] Although all the American air strikes had thus far caused negligible damage, they kept the Japanese carrier forces off-balance as Nagumo endeavored to prepare a response to news, received at 08:20, of the sighting of American carrier forces to his northeast.[50]
Hiryū began recovering her Midway strike force at around 09:00 and finished shortly by 09:10.
Shortly afterwards, 14 Devastators from Torpedo Squadron 6 (VT-6) from Enterprise, led by Lieutenant Commander Eugene E. Lindsey, attacked. Lindsey's aircraft tried to sandwich Kaga, but the CAP, reinforced by four additional Zeros launched by Hiryū at 09:37, shot down all but four of the Devastators, and Kaga dodged the torpedoes. Hiryū launched another trio of CAP Zeros at 10:13 after Torpedo Squadron 3 (VT-3) from Yorktown was spotted. Two of her Zeros were shot down by Wildcats escorting VT-3 and another was forced to ditch.[53]
While VT-3 was still attacking Hiryū, American dive bombers arrived over the Japanese carriers almost undetected and began their dives. It was at this time, around 10:20, that in the words of Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully, the "Japanese air defenses would finally and catastrophically fail."[54] Three American dive bomber squadrons now attacked the three other carriers and set each of them on fire.[55] Hiryū was untouched and proceeded to launch 18 D3As, escorted by six Zeros, at 10:54. En route, the Zeros engaged a group of Enterprise SBDs that they had spotted. They failed to shoot down any of the dive bombers, but two of the Zeros were shot up by the bombers' rear gunners, with one Zero forced to ditch near a destroyer on its return. American radar detected the incoming Japanese dive bombers at 11:52 and vectored Yorktown's CAP of 20 Wildcats against them. The Wildcats shot down three of the remaining Zeros for the loss of one of their own and engaged the D3As. Only seven of the dive bombers survived long enough to make their attack on Yorktown and two of those were shot down by flak during their dive, but they made three direct hits and two near misses that badly damaged the carrier and set her on fire.[56]
Confident that his men had sunk Yorktown, Yamaguchi launched a second wave of ten B5Ns (including one from Akagi), escorted by six Zeros (two from Kaga), at 13:30, with the instruction that they attack a separate carrier than that hit by the first wave. However, the Americans had managed to extinguish the fires on Yorktown by 14:00, and the carrier was making 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) by 14:30 when the second strike group approached. As a result, the strike pilots mistook her for one of her undamaged sisters, and launched the attack. At that moment, six Wildcats were on CAP duty, and four of these were vectored toward the attacking aircraft while the other two were retained to cover the takeoff of ten Wildcats fueling on deck. The Japanese were jumped at 14:38 by two Wildcats, which shot down one torpedo bomber before they were both shot down by the escorting Zeros (two Zeros were shot down later for the loss of one Wildcat). Four more B5Ns fell during the attack, but two of the survivors managed to score hits on Yorktown that damaged three boilers and knocked out all electrical power so that she could not pump fuel oil to starboard to counteract her six-degree
Yamaguchi radioed his intention to Nagumo at 16:30 to launch a third strike against the American carriers at dusk (approximately 18:00), but Nagumo ordered the fleet to withdraw to the west. Unbeknownst to the Japanese, Enterprise and Hornet had already launched airstrikes well before then. Enterprise launched a total of 26 Dauntlesses at 15:25 using her own aircraft plus those from Yorktown that had been forced to recover aboard her after Yorktown was damaged, and Hornet launched 16 more of her own Dauntlesses at 16:00. At this point in the battle, Hiryū had only four airworthy dive-bombers and five torpedo-planes left. She also retained 19 of her own fighters on board, as well as a further 13 Zeros on CAP (a composite force of survivors from the other carriers). At 16:45, Enterprise's dive bombers spotted the Japanese carrier and began to maneuver for good attacking position while reducing altitude. At 16:56, just as the first Dauntlesses were beginning their dives, Nagumo ordered a change in course to 120 degrees, possibly to prepare to recover his reconnaissance floatplanes, that threw off the aim of the leading SBDs. The Japanese did not even spot the Americans until 17:01. The CAP shot down two of the American aircraft in their dives and another after it was forced to abort its dive when some of Yorktown's SBDs passed in front of it, starting their own dives. Hiryū was struck by four 1,000-pound (450 kg) bombs, three on the forward flight deck and one on the forward elevator. The explosions started fires among the aircraft on the hangar deck. The forward half of the flight deck collapsed into the hangar while part of the elevator was hurled against the ship's bridge. The fires were severe enough that the remaining American aircraft attacked the other ships escorting Hiryū, albeit without effect, deeming further attacks on the carrier as a waste of time, because she was aflame from stem to stern. Beginning at 17:42, two groups of B-17s attempted to attack the Japanese ships without success, although one bomber strafed Hiryū's flight deck, killing several anti-aircraft gunners.[58]
Although Hiryū's propulsion was not affected, the fires could not be brought under control. At 21:23, her engines stopped, and at 23:58 a major explosion rocked the ship. The order to abandon ship was given at 03:15, and the survivors were taken off by the destroyers Kazagumo and Makigumo. Yamaguchi and Kaku decided to remain on board as Hiryū was torpedoed at 05:10 by Makigumo as the ship could not be salvaged. One torpedo missed and the other struck near the bow without the typical plume of water, although the detonation was quite visible. Around 07:00, one of Hōshō's Yokosuka B4Y aircraft discovered Hiryū still afloat and not in any visible danger of sinking. The aviators could also see crewmen aboard the carrier, men who had not received word to abandon ship. They finally launched some of the carrier's boats and abandoned ship around 09:00. Thirty-nine men made it into the ship's cutter only moments before Hiryū sank around 09:12, taking the bodies of 389 men with her. The cutter drifted for 14 days before being discovered by a PBY Catalina and rescued by the seaplane tender USS Ballard. Four men died of their wounds or exposure before being picked up and a fifth died that night.[59]
The loss of Hiryū and the three other IJN carriers at Midway, comprising two thirds of Japan's total number of fleet carriers and the experienced core of the First Air Fleet, was a strategic defeat for Japan and contributed significantly to Japan's ultimate defeat in the war. In an effort to conceal the defeat, the ship was not immediately removed from the Navy's registry of ships, instead being listed as "unmanned" before finally being struck from the registry on 25 September 1942.[60]
The IJN selected a modified version of the Hiryū design for mass production to replace the carriers lost at Midway. Of a planned program of 16 ships of the Unryū class, only six were laid down and three were commissioned before the end of the war.[61]
Notes
- ^ Many sources show Sōryū and Hiryū as members of the same ship class despite their differences.[2] This article follows those sources that treat them as related designs of separate classes.[3]
- Hawaiian Standard Time, so in Japan, the attack on Pearl Harborhappened on 8 December.
- ^ To this day there is much confusion about VMSB-241 at Midway. At that time the squadron was in transition from the obsolete SB2U Vindicator to the modern SBD-2 Dauntless and flew both aircraft during the battle.[46]
Citations
- ^ Bōeichō Bōei Kenshūjo, p. 344
- ^ Chesneau, pp. 165–166; Parshall & Tully, pp. 470–476
- ^ Brown 1977, pp. 18–21; Sturton, p. 181
- ^ a b c Chesneau 1995, p. 166
- ^ a b Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 47
- ^ Brown 1977, pp. 18–19
- ^ Parshall & Tully, p. 9
- ^ a b c d Peattie, p. 241
- ^ a b Brown 1977, p. 18
- ^ a b Brown 1977, p. 19
- ^ Campbell, pp. 192–193
- ^ a b Parshall & Tully, p. 143
- ^ a b Brown 1977, p. 20
- ^ Brown 1977, p. 21
- ^ Stille 2007, p. 51
- ^ Campbell, p. 200
- ^ Silverstone, p. 329
- ^ Peattie, pp. 239, 241
- ^ a b c d e Hata, Izawa & Shores, p. 131
- ^ a b c d e f Tully
- ^ Polmar & Genda, p. 162
- ^ Brown 2009, pp. 116–117
- ^ a b Stille 2011, p. 25
- ^ Zimm, pp. 159–60, 164, 168
- ^ Stille 2011, pp. 49, 51
- ^ Stille 2011, pp. 64–65
- ^ Stille 2011, p. 65
- ^ Brown 2009, pp. 118–119
- ^ Stille 2011, pp. 66, 70
- ^ a b Shores, Cull & Izawa, Vol. I, p. 161
- ^ Shores, Cull & Izawa, Vol. I, pp. 226, 229
- ^ Shores, Cull & Izawa, Vol. II, pp. 176–182
- ^ Shores, Cull & Izawa, Vol. II, pp. 307, 327
- ^ Shores, Cull & Izawa, Vol. II, pp. 392–393
- ^ Shores, Cull & Izawa, Vol. II, pp. 393–406
- ^ Shores, Cull & Izawa, Vol. II, pp. 413, 421–423, 426–429
- ^ Parshall & Tully, p. 12
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 10, 42, 88
- ^ Stille 2007, p. 22
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 151, 154; Stille 2007, p. 59
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 3, 90
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 112, 126, 129, 200, 204
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 503–504
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 151–152, 503–504; Lundstrom, p. 337
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 156–159, 503–504
- ^ Condon, p. 13
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 176, 178, 180
- ^ Parshall & Tully, p. 504
- ^ Lundstrom, p. 338
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 183–189
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 154–155
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 205–209
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 213–214, 221, 224, 504
- ^ Parshall & Tully, p. 219
- ^ Brown 2009, p. 153
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 262–263, 290, 292–296, 504
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 311–312, 314–316, 318
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 318–329
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 341, 343, 349–352, 355, 357, 359
- ^ Parshall & Tully, pp. 387–388, 419, 421
- ^ Lengerer, pp. 104–106
Bibliography
- Bōeichō Bōei Kenshūjo (1967), Senshi Sōsho Hawai Sakusen. Tokyo: Asagumo Shimbunsha.
- Brown, David (1977). WWII Fact Files: Aircraft Carriers. New York: Arco Publishing. ISBN 0-668-04164-1.
- Brown, J. D. (2009). Carrier Operations in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-108-2.
- Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
- Chesneau, Roger (1995). Aircraft Carriers of the World, 1914 to the Present: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (New, Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-902-2.
- Condon, John P. (n.d.). U.S. Marine Corps Aviation. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on 10 December 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-906502-84-3.
- 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.
- Lengerer, Hans (2010). "Katsuragi and the Failure of Mass Production of Medium Sized Aircraft Carriers". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2010. London: Conway. pp. 103–121. ISBN 978-1-84486-110-1.
- Lundstrom, John B. (2005). The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway (New ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-471-X.
- Parshall, Jonathan & Tully, Anthony (2005). Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books. ISBN 1-57488-923-0.
- ISBN 1-55750-432-6.
- Polmar, Norman & ISBN 1-57488-663-0.
- Shores, Christopher; Cull, Brian & Izawa, Yasuho (1992). Bloody Shambles. Vol. I: The Drift to War to the Fall of Singapore. London: Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-50-X.
- Shores, Christopher; Cull, Brian & Izawa, Yasuho (1993). Bloody Shambles. Vol. II: The Defence of Sumatra to the Fall of Burma. London: Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-67-4.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
- Stille, Mark (2011). Tora! Tora! Tora!: Pearl Harbor 1941. Raid. Vol. 26. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-509-0.
- Stille, Mark (2007). USN Carriers vs IJN Carriers: The Pacific 1942. Duel. Vol. 6. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-248-6.
- Sturton, Ian (1980). "Japan". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- Tully, Anthony P. (2000). "IJN Hiryu: Tabular Record of Movement". Kido Butai. Combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
- Zimm, Alan D. (2011). Attack on Pearl Harbor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions. Havertown, Pennsylvania: Casemate Publishers. ISBN 978-1-61200-010-7.
Further reading
- Milanovich, Kathrin (2022). "The IJN Carriers Sōryū and Hiryū". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2022. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 47–62. ISBN 978-1-4728-4781-2.