Japanese ship names follow different conventions from those typical in the West. Merchant ship names often contain the word ''maru'' at the end (meaning ''circle''), while warships are never named after people, but rather after objects such as mountains, islands, weather phenomena, or animals.
Merchant ships
The word is often attached to Japanese ship names. The first ship known to follow this practice was the ''Nippon Maru'', flagship of ''
daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...
''
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
, otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...
's 16th century fleet.
Several theories purport to explain this practice:
*The most common is that ships were thought of as floating
castles
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified ...
, and the word referred to the defensive "circles" or ''maru'' that protected the castle.
*The suffix ''-maru'' is often applied to words representing something beloved, and sailors applied this suffix to their ships.
*The term ''maru'' is used in divination and represents perfection or completeness, or the ship as "a small world of its own".
*The myth of '' Hakudo Maru'', a celestial being that came to earth and taught humans how to build ships. It is said that the name ''maru'' is attached to a ship to secure celestial protection for itself as it travels.
*For the past few centuries, only non-warships bore the ''-maru'' ending. Its use was intended as a good hope naming convention that would allow a ship to leave port, travel the world, and return safely to home port: hence the complete circle or "round trip" arriving back at its origin unhurt.
*"
Hinomaru
The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner bearing a crimson-red circle at its center. This flag is officially called the , but is more commonly known in Japan as the . It embodies the country's sobriquet: the Land of the Rising S ...
", or "sun-disc", is a name often applied to the national flag of Japan.
Today many commercial and private ships are still named using this convention.
Warships
Early conventions
When 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 surrend ...
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
for approval. During the early years ships were often donated by the Shogunate or
Japanese clans
This is a list of Japanese clans. The old clans ('' Gōzoku'') mentioned in the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki lost their political power before the Heian Period, during which new aristocracies and families, '' Kuge'', emerged in their place. After the ...
and the original clan names were kept.
In 1891 the procedure was changed due to changes in the government structure. Two ship names were submitted by the Minister of the Navy to the
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main c ...
who then presented the choices to the Emperor. The Emperor could either pick one of the suggested names or one of his own devising.
Ships captured during the
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the ...
kept their original names but with Japanese pronunciation. For example, the Chinese battleship ''Chen Yuan'' became ''Chin'en'' in Japanese service.
In 1876 the Minister of the Navy was given the authority to choose the names of
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
s without imperial approval. In 1902 the authority to name destroyers was delegated to the Minister of the Navy as well.
In 1895 a proposal was made by the Minister of the Navy in an attempt to establish some standard. He proposed that battleships and cruisers be named for provinces or shrines dedicated to protecting Japan, that names of other warships be selected from the names for Japan or provinces.
Ships captured during the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
were renamed with Japanese names. Some of these vessels were given names related to where they were captured or some other aspect of the war, such as the month of capture. Some Russian ships were given Japanese names that were phonetically similar to their original Russian names (example: ''Angara'' became ''Anegawa'').
In 1921 the Minister of the Navy was given authority to name all ships except battleships, battlecruisers, and cruisers. In any event the Navy had to report the new name to the Emperor immediately.
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
class cruiser (and over 7,500 tons displacement): mountains
* Second class cruiser (and over 3,500 tons displacement — less than 7,500 tons displacement): put the initial ''Ni'' (に)
* Third class cruiser (less than 3,500 tons displacement): put the initial ''Ha'' (は)
*Other ship names: They were named voluntarily by Naval Minister.
However, second class and third class cruisers ended up with river names because it became complicated.
It passed through some changes afterwards, the broad categories of names are given here, with examples, however, if the name is the succession to a ship's name, it is excluded from following contents.
* Aircraft carriers — special names (Many of them are an inheritance from the warship name in the
Bakumatsu
was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji governm ...
and the
Meiji period
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
).Shizuo Fukui (1996), p. 45. In fact, names related to flying animals, actual or mythological, were used.
**Fleet aircraft carrier; put the initial ''Ryū'' (龍, dragon), ''Tsuru (Kaku)'' (鶴, crane) or ''Ōtori (Hō)'' (鳳, phoenix) before/after her name
*** ''Hōshō'' (鳳翔) Flying phoenix
*** ''Ryūjō'' (龍驤) Dragon horse
*** ''Hiryū'' (飛龍) Flying dragon
*** ''Sōryū'' (蒼龍) Blue (or green) dragon
*** ''Shōkaku'' (翔鶴) Flying crane
*** ''Zuikaku'' (瑞鶴) Auspicious crane
*** ''Taihō'' (大鳳) Great phoenix
**Converted warship; put the initial ''Ōtori (Hō)'' (鳳, phoenix) after her name
*** ''Zuihō'' (瑞鳳) Fortunate phoenix
*** ''Chitose'' (千歳) and ''Chiyoda'' (千代田) did not change their name by a vote by the crews.
**Converted merchant ship; put the initial ''Taka (Yō)'' (鷹, falcon/hawk) after her name
*** (隼鷹) Peregrine falcon
**And after 4 June 1943 — added provinces and mountains
*** ''Amagi'' (天城)
Mount Amagi
is a range of volcanic mountains in central Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, forming the border between Izu City and Higashi-Izu Town. It is also referred to as the .
The Amagi mountains have several peaks, the tallest of whi ...
Nara prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayam ...
— Osaka Prefecture
*Battleships, including those converted into aircraft carriers —
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
Nagato province
, often called , was a province of Japan. It was at the extreme western end of Honshū, in the area that is today Yamaguchi Prefecture. Nagato bordered on Iwami and Suō Provinces.
History
Although the ancient capital of the province was Shimono ...
Yamato Province
was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, th ...
(also an alternate name for Japan and its people)
** ''Kaga'' (加賀)
Kaga Province
was a province of Japan in the area that is today the south and western portion of Ishikawa Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Kaga bordered on Echizen, Etchū, Hida, and Noto Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its abb ...
Fusang
Fusang () refers to various entities, most frequently a mythical tree or location east of China, described in ancient Chinese literature.
In the ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'' and several contemporary texts, the term refers to a mythological ...
Mount Kongō
is a mountain in the Kawachi region of Osaka Prefecture, Kansai, Japan. It is near Mount Yamato Katsuragi.
The mountain has lent its name to a series of naval ships and ship classes: the Imperial Japanese Navy's 1877 ironclad ''Kongō''; ...
Mount Kirishima
are a 1700 meter high active volcano group in Kagoshima Prefecture and Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. Numerous eruptions have been recorded since 742. Very strong eruptions happened in 788, 1716 and The Great Snow of 1717, 1717. Augite-h ...
Mount Akagi
is a mountain in Gunma Prefecture, Japan.
The broad, low dominantly andesitic stratovolcano rises above the northern end of the Kanto Plain. It contains an elliptical, 3 x 4 km summit caldera with post-caldera lava domes arranged along ...
Tōhoku region
The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata.
Tōhoku reta ...
*
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...
s, including those converted into heavy cruisers — river names
** ''Tone'' (利根)
Tone River
The is a river in the Kantō region of Japan. It is in length (the second longest in Japan after the Shinano) and has a drainage area of (the largest in Japan). It is nicknamed Bandō Tarō (); ''Bandō'' is an obsolete alias of the Kantō ...
Chikuma River
The , known as the in its upper reaches, is the longest and widest river in Japan and the third largest by basin area (behind the Tone River and Ishikari River). It is located in northeastern Honshu, rising in the Japanese Alps and flowing g ...
Karafuto prefecture
Karafuto Prefecture ( ja, 樺太庁, ''Karafuto-chō''; russian: Префектура Карафуто, Prefektura Karafuto), commonly known as South Sakhalin, was a prefecture of Japan located in Sakhalin from 1907 to 1949.
Karafuto became ter ...
Katori Shrine
The is a Shintō shrine in the city of Katori in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Shimōsa Province, and is the head shrine of the approximately 400 Katori shrines around the country (located primarily in the Kantō ...
* Destroyers
**Until 27 August 1912 — weather, wind, tide, current, wave, moon, season, other natural phenomenon, plants
**And after 28 August 1912
***First class destroyers (and over 1,000 tons displacement) — weather, wind, tide, current, wave, moon, season, other natural phenomenon
**** (雷) Thunder
**** ''Yukikaze'' (雪風) Snowy wind
**** ''Michishio'' (満潮) High tide
**** ''Oyashio'' (親潮)
Oyashio Current
, also known as Oya Siwo, Okhotsk or the Kurile current, is a cold subarctic ocean current that flows south and circulates counterclockwise in the western North Pacific Ocean. The waters of the Oyashio Current originate in the Arctic Ocean an ...
**** ''Sazanami'' (漣) Ripples on the water surface
**** (高波) High wave
**** ''Mikazuki'' (三日月) Crescent moon
**** (夕雲) Evening cloud
**** ''Mutsuki'' (睦月) January in lunar calendar
**** (若葉) Young leaves
**** (夕暮) Twilight
**** (響) Echo
***Second class destroyers (and over 600 tons displacement — less than 1,000 tons displacement) — plants
**** ''Nara'' (楢)
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
Abies firma
''Abies firma'', the momi fir, is a species of fir native to central and southern Japan, growing at low to moderate altitudes of 50–1600 m.
''Abies firma'' is a medium-sized to large evergreen coniferous tree growing to tall and in trunk di ...
**** ''Sanae'' (早苗) Rice sprouts
**Between 12 October 1921 — 31 July 1928 under the
Eight-eight fleet
The was a Japanese naval strategy formulated for the development of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the first quarter of the 20th century, which stipulated that the navy should include eight first-class battleships and eight armoured cruisers or ba ...
programme
***First class destroyers ( ''Kamikaze'' class, ''Mutsuki'' class and ''Fubuki'' class) — Odd numbers from 1 to 27, consecutive numbers and after 28
**** Destroyer No. 1 (第1駆逐艦), renamed ''Kamikaze'' on 1 August 1928
**** Destroyer No. 46 (第46号駆逐艦), renamed ''Shikinami'' on 6 August 1928
***Second class destroyers ( ''Wakatake'' class) — Even numbers from '2' to '26'
**** Destroyer No. 18 (第18駆逐艦), renamed ''Karukaya'' on 1 August 1928
**And after 4 June 1943
*** Type 'A' destroyers — rain, tide
****''Akisame'' (秋雨) Autumn rain
****''Takashio'' (高潮) High tide
*** Type 'B' destroyers — wind, moon, cloud, season
****''Yamazuki'' (山月) Moon over a mountain
****''Yukigumo'' (雪雲) Snow cloud
****''Hae'' (南風) South wind of dialect word in Okinawa Prefecture, standard Japanese is ''Minamikaze''
****''Hayaharu'' (早春) Early spring
*** Type 'D' destroyers — plants
**** ''Matsu'' (松) Pine tree
**** (梨)
Pyrus pyrifolia
''Pyrus pyrifolia'' is a species of pear tree native to East Asia. The tree's edible fruit is known by many names, including: Asian pear, Japanese pear, Chinese pear, Korean pear, Taiwanese pear, apple pear, zodiac pear, three-halves pear, pa ...
****''Wakakusa'' (若草) Spring grass
*
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
s
**Until 15 January 1924
***First class torpedo boats (and over 120 tons displacement) — birds
**** ''Hayabusa'' (隼) Peregrine falcon
***Second class and third class torpedo boats (less than 120 tons displacement) — consecutive number from '1'
**** ''Torpedo boat No. 21'' (第21号水雷艇)
**And after 30 May 1931 — birds
*** ''Chidori'' (千鳥) Plover
*** ''Kiji'' (雉) Pheasant
* Submarines
**Until 31 October 1924 — consecutive number from '1'
*** ''Submarine No. 1'' (第1潜水艦)
*** ''Submarine No. 44'' (第44号潜水艦)
**And after 1 November 1924
***First class submarines (and over 1,000 tons displacement) — 'I' (伊) and consecutive number from '1', 'I' is first letter in the
Iroha
The is a Japanese poem. Originally the poem was attributed to the founder of the Shingon Esoteric sect of Buddhism in Japan, Kūkai, but more modern research has found the date of composition to be later in the Heian period (794–1179). Th ...
**** ''I-1'' (伊号第1潜水艦) ''I-Gō Dai-1 sensuikan''
**** ''I-51'' (伊号第51潜水艦) ''I-Gō Dai-51 sensuikan''
***Second class submarines (and over 500 tons displacement — less than 1,000 tons displacement) — 'Ro' (呂) and consecutive number from '1', 'Ro' is second letter in the Iroha
**** ''Ro-1'' (呂号第1潜水艦) ''Ro-Gō Dai-1 sensuikan''
**** ''Ro-51'' (呂号第51潜水艦) ''Ro-Gō Dai-51 sensuikan''
***Third class submarines (less than 500 tons displacement) — 'Ha' (波) and consecutive number from '1', 'Ha' is third letter in the Iroha, third class submarines were unified to second class submarines on 30 May 1931
**** ''Ha-1'' (波号第1潜水艦) ''Ha-Gō Dai-1 sensuikan''
**** ''Ha-9'' (波号第9潜水艦) ''Ha-Gō Dai-9 sensuikan''
*
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-ste ...
s — places of scenic beauty and historic interest
** ''Ataka'' (安宅) ''Ataka-no-Seki'' is a barrier station in
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...
Shumshu
russian: Шумшу ja, 占守島
, image_name = Shumshu.jpg
, image_caption = A Landsat 7 image of Shumshu Island. The northern tip of Paramushir Island is at left. The First Kuril Strait lies across the upper portion of the image.
, image_size ...
is one of the
Kuril Islands
The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...
Submarine tender
A submarine tender is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines.
Development
Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally do not have the ability to carry large amounts of food, fuel, torpedoes, and ...
Minelayer
A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing control ...
s
**as warship (fitted imperial seal on bow) — Island, islands, ancient battlefield
*** ''Itsukushima'' (厳島) ancient battlefield of the
Battle of Miyajima
The 1555 was the only battle to be fought on the sacred island of Miyajima; the entire island is considered to be a Shinto shrine, and no birth or death is allowed on the island. Extensive purification rituals took place after the battle, to clea ...
Yaeyama Islands
The Yaeyama Islands (八重山列島 ''Yaeyama-rettō'', also 八重山諸島 ''Yaeyama-shotō'', Yaeyama: ''Yaima'', Yonaguni: ''Daama'', Okinawan: ''Yeema'', Northern Ryukyuan: ''Yapema'') are an archipelago in the southwest of Okinawa P ...
**as mine boat and cable layer — cape, point, island, islet
*** ''Sokuten'' (測天) Sokuten Island is one of the island of the Penghu
*** ''Shirakami'' (白神) Cape Shirakami
**as auxiliary minelayer — numbered name
*** ''Auxiliary minelayer No. 1'' (第1号敷設特務艇)
* Netlayers
**as warship (fitted imperial seal on bow)
***Until 3 June 1943 — put the initial Taka (鷹, hawk) after her name
**** ''Shirataka'' (白鷹) White hawk
***And after 4 June 1943 — birds
**** ''Asadori'' (朝鳥) Birds in morning
**as net laying boat — birds
*** ''Tsubame'' (燕)
Barn swallow
The barn swallow (''Hirundo rustica'') is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it appears to have the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometres globally. ...
*
Auxiliary ship
An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense.
Auxil ...
s
**Collier, oiler, icebreaker, freighter, repair ship, self-propelled target ship, munition ship — cape, point, strait, channel, bay, port
*** ''Wakamiya'' (若宮) Cape Wakamiya; her first classification was transport ship. Cape Wakamiya (Wakamiya-zaki) is in Wakamiya Island,
Oki Islands
The is an archipelago in the Sea of Japan, the islands of which are administratively part of Oki District, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. The islands have a total area of . Only four of the around 180 islands are permanently inhabited. Much of the ...
Akashi Strait
The is a strait between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Awaji. The strait connects Seto Inland Sea and Osaka Bay. The width of the Akashi Strait is approximately 4 kilometers, and maximum depth is about 110 meters. The fastest tidal curren ...
is water between the
Akashi Akashi may refer to:
People
*Akashi (surname)
Places
*Akashi, Hyōgo
*Akashi Station, a Japanese railroad station on the Sanyō Main Line
*Akashi Strait
*Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, crossing the former
*Akashi Castle
*Akashi Domain
* Akashi, the name ...
Bōsō Peninsula
The is a peninsula that encompasses the entirety of Chiba Prefecture on Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. It forms the eastern edge of Tokyo Bay, separating it from the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula covers ...
*** ''Hayasui'' (速吸) Hayasui-no-Seto is former name of the
Hōyo Strait
The is the strait at the narrowest part of the Bungo Channel in 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 ...
Kōshū Kaidō
The was one of the five routes of the Edo period. It was built to connect Edo (modern-day Tokyo) with Kai Province in modern-day Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The route continues from there to connect with the Nakasendō's Shimosuwa-shuku in ...
Ōme Kaidō
is one of the main roads leading westwards out of Tokyo. It begins in Shinjuku, passes through Ōme, and ends in Kōfu, Yamanashi.''Hayase'' (早瀬) Hayase-no-Seto is water between the Kurahashi Island and Higashi-Nōmi Island
*** ''Hitonose'' (飛渡瀬) Hitonose is isthmus between the
Etajima
, also called , ''Nomijima'', ''Nomi Island'', or is an island in Hiroshima Bay located in southwestern Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The mess with island name originates from the ancient (and possibly legendary) strait at now town .
Geography
Th ...
and Nōmi Island
**And over 600-ton Salvage ship and tugboat, and after 22 January 1937 — associated name of the naval base (anchorage name, place name, island)
*** ''Tategami'' (立神) ''Tategami anchorage'' in the Sasebo Naval Base
*** ''Hashima'' (波島) Hashima Island is small island in the Yokosuka Naval Base
**Other miscellaneous ships — numbered name
Post–World War II
Prior to the end of World War II Japanese ship names were rendered in
kanji
are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...
; after the end of the war this tradition was abandoned in favor of
hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''.
It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contrast ...
to separate the perception of the
Maritime Self-Defense Force
, abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...
s from the old navy.
*
Helicopter destroyer
A helicopter carrier is a type of aircraft carrier whose primary purpose is to operate helicopters, and has a large flight deck that occupies a substantial part of the deck, which can extend the full length of the ship like of the Royal Navy ...
s and
Helicopter carrier
A helicopter carrier is a type of aircraft carrier whose primary purpose is to operate helicopters, and has a large flight deck that occupies a substantial part of the deck, which can extend the full length of the ship like of the Royal Navy ...
s (DDH) — traditional provinces and mountains
*
Guided missile destroyer
A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers who have a prim ...
Amphibious transport dock
An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently opera ...
s and
Troopship
A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...
s (LST) — peninsulas
Translated names
The English translations of the Japanese warships provide names; the literal translation of the characters does not necessarily represent how the name is perceived to the Japanese. For example, ''Akagi'' is probably perceived as "red castle" by Japanese about as often as
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
is perceived as the "city of brotherly love" by Americans.
There is a tendency for translations of Japanese names to be somewhat fanciful. For example, ''Shōkaku'' is often translated as "crane flying in heaven", but "flying crane" or "soaring crane" is a more accurate translation. Another fanciful translation is "land of divine mulberry trees" for ''Fusō'' — ''fuso'' was a Chinese name for a mythical tree supposed to grow to the east, hence an old poetic word for Japan.
In
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 opposing ...
, the composition of the Japanese Navy was a military secret. US Naval Intelligence built up knowledge of enemy ships through photographic reconnaissance, interrogation of prisoners, and signal interception. Inevitably there were mistakes and misinterpretations; some of these have been repeated in post-war accounts that rely on US Navy documents. For example, a prisoner of war after the
battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under ...
reported the existence of an aircraft carrier named ''Hayataka''. This was a misreading of the characters 隼鷹 in
kun-yomi
are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequen ...
, while they in this case are properly read in
on-yomi
are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequent ...
as ''Jun'yō''. Accordingly, many US documents refer to the carrier as ''Hayataka'' or its class as the ''Hayataka'' class. In another example, when Joseph F. Enright claimed the sinking of the Japanese Aircraft Carrier '' Shinano'', US naval intelligence was originally only willing to credit him with sinking a cruiser; this was in part because they believed the name "Shinano" (derived from intercepted Japanese transmissions) referred to the
Shinano River
The , known as the in its upper reaches, is the longest and widest river in Japan and the third largest by basin area (behind the Tone River and Ishikari River). It is located in northeastern Honshu, rising in the Japanese Alps and flowing ...
(thereby denoting a cruiser), when in fact the name referred to the Shinano province of Japan. (''Shinano'' had begun construction as a and was thus named for a province, before being converted into an aircraft carrier following the
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under ...
*Monthly Ships of the World, (Japan)
**No. 441, ''Special issue Vol. 32, "Japanese cruisers"'', September 1991
**No. 453, ''Special issue Vol. 34, "History of Japanese destroyers"'', July 1992
**No. 469, ''Special issue Vol. 37, "History of Japanese submarines"'', August 1993
**No. 507, ''Special issue Vol. 45, "Escort Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy"'', February 1996
**No. 522, ''Special issue Vol. 47, "Auxiliary Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy"'', March 1997
*Daiji Katagiri, , Kōjinsha (Japan), June 1988,
*Masahide Asai, , Tōkyō Suikōsha (fringe organization of the Ministry of the Navy), December 1928
*Motoyoshi Hori, , Hara Shobō (Japan), June 1987,
*Shizuo Fukui, ''Stories of the Japanese aircraft carriers'', Kojinsha, Japan, 1996, .
*'' 1/700 Water Line Series Guide book of Imperial Japanese Navy ships'', Shizuoka Plastic Model Manufacturers Association ( Aoshima Bunka Kyozai/
Tamiya Corporation
is a Japanese manufacturer of plastic model kits, radio-controlled cars, battery and solar powered educational models, sailboat models, acrylic and enamel model paints, and various modeling tools and supplies. The company was founded by Yoshio ...
National Archives of Japan
The preserve Japanese government documents and historical records and make them available to the public. Although Japan's reverence for its unique history and art is well documented and illustrated by collections of art and documents, there is a ...
Naming conventions
A naming convention is a convention (generally agreed scheme) for naming things. Conventions differ in their intents, which may include to:
* Allow useful information to be deduced from the names based on regularities. For instance, in Manhatta ...