The ''Shimane Maru'' class was a pair of auxiliary
escort carriers built for 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 ...
(IJN) 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 opposing ...
.
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 tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...
s of that were modified by the Navy to provide minimal
anti-submarine air cover for
convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
s going from
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
to the Japanese homeland. The conversion consisted of fitting a full-length flight deck, a small
hangar
A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
, and a single elevator. An
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
and
catapults
A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of store ...
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
A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening.
Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construct ...
.
The ships had a length of
overall
Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers".
Overalls were ...
and
between perpendiculars
Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...
. They had a
beam of at the
waterline
The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...
and a mean
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
of . They
displaced at
standard load
The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
.
[
The ''Shimane Maru''-class ships were fitted with a single geared steam turbine set with a total of . It drove one propeller shaft using steam provided by two boilers. The ships had a designed speed of and a range of at .][
The ]flight deck
The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopte ...
was long and had a maximum width of .[Jentschura, Jung and Mickel, p. 62] The hangar, built on top of the well deck
In traditional nautical use, well decks were decks lower than decks fore and aft, usually at the main deck level, so that breaks appear in the main deck profile, as opposed to a flush deck profile. The term goes back to the days of sail. Late-20 ...
, was served by a single elevator from the flight deck. It had a capacity of a dozen aircraft.[Chesneau, p. 186]
Ships
* She was completed on 28 February 1945, but was sunk 24 July 1945 by British aircraft at Shido Bay, Kagawa Prefecture
Photo
Image:ShimaneMaru-1946.jpg, ''Shimane Maru'' in postwar
Image:RyuhoMaru.jpg, 3rd sister ''Ryūhō Maru'' (ex.-''Daiju Maru'') in postwar
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
* The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No. 38, ''Japanese aircraft carriers II'', Ushio Shobō (Japan)
External links
{{WWII Japanese ships
Escort aircraft carrier classes
Ships built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries