was a
seaplane tender
A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...
of the
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
(IJN), serving during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
from 1942 until being sunk in September 1944.
Design
In 1938, the IJN wanted to use their large-sized flying boats more effectively, because the
Kawanishi H6K
The Kawanishi H6K was an Imperial Japanese Navy flying boat produced by the Kawanishi Aircraft Company and used during World War II for maritime patrol duties. The Allied reporting name for the type was Mavis; the Navy designation was .
Design ...
was the only aircraft able to hit
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
directly from the
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
. However, the Marshall Islands did not have flying boat facilities at that time. Early in 1939, the IJN converted the
oiler to a seaplane tender. However, she was not able to repair seaplanes.
The IJN therefore planned two kinds of seaplane tenders which were included in the
Maru 4 Programme. One was a 10,000-ton class flying boat carrier, the other a 2,400-ton class flying boat tender. These plans were not able to pass the assessment by the
Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance.
Lists of current ministries of finance
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Finance and Eco ...
. These two basic plans were revived by the
Maru 5 Programme in 1941. However, their construction did not begin. Therefore, the IJN planned a 3,500-ton class tender, which was a scaled-up model of the 2,400-ton class. The ships should be able to maintain, repair and supply seaplanes. The IJN intended to accommodate the flying boat by bow-up trim and slope at first, however this plan was cancelled and the ''Akitsushima'' class was equipped with a 35-ton crane. The IJN changed the design frequently, ending up with a displacement increased by 1,000 tons.
Operational service
While running
sea trials
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and i ...
off
Wadamisaki,
Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, on 21 April 1942 in the aftermath of the
Doolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first American air operation to strike the Japan ...
— which had taken place on 18 April — ''Akitsushima'' opened fire on an approaching Japanese
transport plane
A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft usually do not incorporate passenger a ...
her crew mistook for a
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...
medium bomber
A medium bomber is a military bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft designed to operate with medium-sized Aerial bomb, bombloads over medium Range (aeronautics), range distances; the name serves to distinguish this type from larger heavy bombe ...
.
[Muehlthaler, Erich, and Bob Hackett, "Strange but True Stories: “Doolittle´s After-Effects," Nihon Kaigun, 1 January 2014 Accessed 12 May 2022]
/ref> Splinters from ''Akitsushima''′s anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
shells struck the nearby Japanese passenger ship
A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...
, prompting ''Tennyo Maru'' to transmit a mistaken report that the plane had attacked her with machine-gun
A machine gun is a automatic firearm, fully automatic, rifling, rifled action (firearms)#Autoloading operation, autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as Automatic shotgun, a ...
fire.[
''Akitsushima'' was commissioned on 29 April 1942 and assigned to the 25th Air Flotilla, ]11th Air Fleet
The was a grouping of naval aviation and surface units.
Assignments and Components
Commanders
Chiefs of Staff
Notes
References
*
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Fleets of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Units of the Imperial Japanese N ...
. Two weeks later, she sailed to Saipan
Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...
and Rabaul
Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...
. After the U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
invasion of Guadalcanal
The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and Code name, codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalca ...
, ''Akitsushima'' arrived at the Shortland Islands
The Shortland Islands is an archipelago of Western Province, Solomon Islands, at . The island group lies in the extreme north-west of the country's territory, close to the south-east edge of Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea.
The largest isl ...
on 16 August 1942. She was damaged by B-17E Flying Fortress
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theate ...
bombers at Buka Island
Buka Island is the second-largest island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, in eastern Papua New Guinea. It is in Buka Rural LLG of North Bougainville District, with the Autonomous Region's and district's capital city of Buka, Bougain ...
two weeks later.
Her repairs were completed on 5 January 1943, and she was dispatched to Kavieng
Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2009, it had a population of 17,248.
Kavi ...
, only to proceed to Jaluit Atoll
Jaluit Atoll ( Marshallese: , , or , ) is a large coral atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is , and it encloses a lagoon with an area of . Mos ...
in February. On 30 June 1943 she sailed to Paramushir
russian: Парамушир ja, 幌筵島
, native_name_link =
, nickname =
, location = Pacific Ocean
, coordinates =
, archipelago = Kuril Island
, total_islands =
, major_islands =
, area_km2 = 2053
, length_km = 100
, width_km = 20
...
for the evacuation of Kiska. She returned to Yokosuka
is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
, the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region.
The city ...
in August and sailed via Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
to Truk. Here, she was slightly damaged by U.S. carrier planes which attacked Truk during Operation Hailstone
Operation Hailstone ( ja, トラック島空襲, Torakku-tō Kūshū, lit=airstrike on Truk Island), 17–18 February 1944, was a massive United States Navy air and surface attack on Truk Lagoon conducted as part of the American offensive drive ...
. The following month, ''Akitsushima'' was assigned to the 14th Air Fleet and returned to Yokosuka for repairs. She also received repair ship facilities, because the repair ship had been sunk. Her refit was completed on 1 August 1944 and she was assigned to the 2nd Fleet.
In August 1944, she sailed to Kure
is a port and major shipbuilding city situated on the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. With a strong industrial and naval heritage, Kure hosts the second-oldest naval dockyard in Japan and remains an important base for the Japan M ...
and Imari
is a city located in Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. Imari is most notable because of Imari porcelain, which is the European collectors' name for Japanese porcelain wares made in the town of Arita, Saga Prefecture. The porcelain w ...
, then to Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
and Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, finally arriving at Coron Bay
Coron Bay is a well-known recreational diving region in the Sulu Sea in the western Philippines, between the islands of Coron and Busuanga in the Calamian Islands. Most of Coron Bay is in the Coron Island Protected Area and is a traditional fish ...
on 23 September 1944. Here she was sunk by aircraft of Task Force 38 the following day. ''Akitsushima'' was officially struck from the Naval register on 10 November 1944.
Ships in class
See also
*
*
*
Footnotes
Bibliography
*'', History of Pacific War Vol.62, Ships of The Imperial Japanese Forces'', Gakken
is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947 by Hideto Furuoka, which also produces educational toys. Their annual sales is reported at ¥ 90 billion ($789 million US).
Gakken publishes educational books and magazines and produces other ...
(Japan), January 2008,
*''Model Art Extra No.537, Drawings of Imperial Japanese Naval Vessels Part-3'', (Japan), May 1999
*''Collection of writings by Sizuo Fukui Vol.7, Stories of Japanese Aircraft Carriers'', (Japan), August 1996,
*''Ships of the World special issue Vol.40, History of Japanese Aircraft Carriers'', , (Japan), May 1994
*''The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.25 Japanese seaplane tenders'', (Japan), March 1979
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akitsushima
1941 ships
Friendly fire incidents of World War II
Seaplane tenders of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Shipwrecks of the Philippines
Underwater diving sites in the Philippines
Maritime incidents in April 1942
Maritime incidents in September 1944
Ships built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries