Shimane Maru-class escort carrier
{{short description|Escort carrier class of the Imperial Japanese Navy}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= ShimaneMaru-1945.jpg |Ship caption=Shimane Maru, 28 July 1945 }} {{Infobox ship class overview |Name=Shimane Maru |Ship country=Japan |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Japan|Naval|1944}} |Builders=Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation |Operators={{navy|Empire of Japan}} |Class before={{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Shinyo | 2}}
|Class after=None |Cost= |Built range=1944–1945 |In service range= |In commission range=1945 |Total ships planned=4 |Total ships completed=1 |Total ships cancelled=2 |Total ships lost=2 }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type=Escort carrier |Ship tonnage={{GRT|10,002|disp=long}} |Ship displacement= {{convert|11989|t|LT|lk=on}} (standard) |Ship length= {{convert|160.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} (o/a) |Ship beam= {{convert|20|m|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= {{convert|9.1|m|ftin|abbr=on}} (mean) |Ship propulsion=1 shaft; 1 steam turbine |Ship speed= {{convert|18.5|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range= {{convert|10000|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}} |Ship complement= |Ship sensors=Type 3, Mark 1, Model 3 radar |Ship armament=*2 × single 12 cm/45 10th Year Type naval gun guns
|Ship power=* 2 boilers
|Ship aircraft=12 |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
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 {{GRT|10,002|disp=long}} 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 {{convert|160.5|m|ftin|sp=us}} overall and {{convert|150|m|ftin|sp=us}} between perpendiculars. They had a beam of {{convert|20|m|ftin|sp=us}} at the waterline and a mean draft of {{convert|9.1|m|ftin|sp=us}}. They displaced {{convert|11989|t|LT|sp=us}} at standard load.
The Shimane Maru-class ships were fitted with a single geared steam turbine set with a total of {{convert|8600|shp|kW|lk=in}}. It drove one propeller shaft using steam provided by two boilers. The ships had a designed speed of {{convert|18.5|kn|lk=in}} and a range of {{convert|10000|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}}.
The flight deck was {{convert|508|ft|6|in|m|sp=us|disp=flip}} long and had a maximum width of {{convert|75|ft|6|in|m|sp=us|disp=flip}}.Jentschura, Jung and Mickel, p. 62 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.Chesneau, p. 186
Ships
| class="wikitable" |
| Ship
! Builder !Laid down !Launched !Commissioned !Fate |
|---|
| {{nihongo|Shimane Maru|しまね丸}}
| Kawasaki Heavy Industries Shipyard, Kobe |8 June 1944 |17 December 1944 |28 February 1945 |Sunk 24 July 1945 by British aircraft |
| {{nihongo|Ōtakisan Maru|大瀧山丸}}
| 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{{Cite web|url=http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~un3k-mn/kusyu-oogusi.htm|title=改造空母「しまね丸」爆撃|website=www.asahi-net.or.jp}} at position {{coord|34|20|10|N|134|10|15|E|type:event_region:JP}}. 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.
- {{nihongo|Daiju Maru|大邱丸}} - 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 {{nihongo|Ryūhō Maru|隆邦丸}}. Scrapped at Yokosuka in May 1964.
- {{nihongo|Taisha Maru|大社丸}} - Cancelled in 1944.
Photo
Image:ShimaneMaru-1946.jpg|Shimane Maru in postwar
Image:RyuhoMaru.jpg|3rd sister Ryūhō Maru (ex.-Daiju Maru) in postwar
Notes
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|last=Chesneau|first=Roger|title=Aircraft Carriers of the World, 1914 to the Present: An Illustrated Encyclopedia|edition=New, revised|year=1995|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=0-87021-902-2}}
- {{cite book|last=Fukui|first=Shizuo|title=Japanese Naval Vessels at the End of World War II|publisher=Greenhill Books|location=London |date=1991|isbn=1-85367-125-8}}
- {{cite book| last = Jentschura| first = Hansgeorg| first2 = Dieter |last2=Jung|first3=Peter |last3=Mickel| year = 1977| title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945| publisher = United States Naval Institute| location = Annapolis, Maryland| isbn = 0-87021-893-X|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite book |last1=Lengerer |first1=Hans |title=The Aircraft Carriers of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army: Technical and Operational History |date=2023 |publisher=Model Hobby |location=Katowice, Poland |isbn=978-83-60041-71-0|volume=II}}
- {{cite book|last1=Polmar|first1=Norman|last2=Genda |first2=Minoru |authorlink2=Minoru Genda|title=Aircraft Carriers: A History of Carrier Aviation and Its Influence on World Events|publisher=Potomac Books|location=Washington, D.C.|year=2006|volume=1, 1909–1945|isbn=1-57488-663-0}}
- {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger |publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7|chapter=Japan|first=Ian |last=Sturton|pages=167–217}}
- The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No. 38, Japanese aircraft carriers II, Ushio Shobō (Japan)
{{WWII Japanese ships}}