Aircraft Carriers: Unryū Class

[Brian James]

The damaged Unryū Class Carrier Katsuragi pictured at Mitsugo Island near Kure on October 8th 1945...She was the last of three of her Class and was completed on October 15th 1944 at Kure Naval Arsenal..she never embarked her complement of aircraft and spent the war in Japanese waters. She was badly damaged in a July 1945 airstrike by American Carrier aircraft at Kure Naval Base. Repaired after the end of the war, Katsuragi was then used as a repatriation transport for a number of months, bringing Japanese soldiers and civilians back to Japan from overseas locations. She was scrapped in Japan beginning in late 1946.

[Brian James]

Unryū Class Carrier Amagi pictured at Mitsugo Island near Kure on October 8th 1945..She was completed late in the war, she never embarked her complement of aircraft and spent the war in Japanese waters. The ship capsized in July 1945 after being hit multiple times during airstrikes by American Carrier aircraft while moored at Kure Naval Base. Amagi was refloated in 1946 and scrapped later that year.

[Brian James]

Unryū Class Fleet Carrier Kasagi pictured near Sasebo on November 2nd 1945...Kasagi was laid down on April 14th 1943 and launched on October 19th 1944. Construction stopped on April 1st 1945 when she was 84% complete. Kasagi was scrapped between September 1st 1946–December 31st 1947.

[Brian James]

Unryū Class Fleet Carrier Kasagi pictured at Sasebo on October 19th 1945.

[designeraccd]

Three not so well known shots of AMAGI postwar. DFO

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, Fleet Carrier Unryū pictured as she departs Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on July 16th 1944...She was commissioned in mid-1944, but fuel and aircrew shortages limited her use to Japanese waters. The impending American invasion of Luzon caused the IJN to order her to transport aircraft and supplies to the Philippines in December. She was torpedoed and sunk by Balao Class Submarine USS Redfish in the East China Sea during the voyage on December 19th 1944, Redfish fired four torpedoes, one of which hit directly under the carrier's bridge on the starboard side at 16:35. The hit stopped the vessel dead in the water as it severed the main steam line, flooded two boiler rooms, started several fires and gave the ship a 3-degree list. Just as the Carrier began to get underway, another torpedo struck at 16:50 on the starboard side abreast the forward elevator and the highly volatile forward aviation gasoline tanks. The resulting explosion caused the warheads of the Ohka kamikaze planes stored on the lower hangar deck to detonate and essentially blew the bow off the ship. The ship listed to 30 degrees very quickly and the order to abandon ship was given. With a 90-degree list, the ship sank bow-first to the bed of the East China Sea in just seven minutes. Casualties were very heavy with 1,238 officers, crewmen and passengers losing their lives. Only 145 men survived to be rescued by Shigure, which returned to Sasebo, Nagasaki on December 22nd.

[Brian James]

The uncompleted hull of Unryū Class Carrier Aso pictured at Kure Naval Arsenal being prepared for dismantling on December 20th 1946, she was only 60% complete. Construction stopped on November 9th 1944, damaged by air raids in July 1945. Scuttled, July 1945. Salvaged and scrapped between December 21st 1946 – April 26th 1947.