Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

Light Carrier Ryūjō pictured under construction at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal No5 Drydock on October 20th 1931.

Light Fleet Carrier Ryūjō pictured on sea trials off Yokohama on April 12th 1933.

Light Fleet Carrier Ryūjō pictured under construction at Shioiri Dock Yokohama on April 23rd 1931.

Light Carrier Ryūhō pictured at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on June 19th 1933.

Light Fleet Carrier Ryūhō pictured on full power trials off Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on April 17th 1933.

Light Fleet Carrier Ryūhō pictured off Etajima on October 9th 1945....Ryūhō was attacked by Task Force 58 aircraft on March 19th 1945 near Kure, suffering hits by three 500 lb bombs and two 5.5-inch rockets. The damage was severe: the flight deck bulged upward between the two elevators, the No. 1 boiler was punctured by a bomb fragment, the stern settled two meters into the water, and a raging fire broke out. Twenty crewmen were killed and thirty were wounded. Upon returning to Kure on April 1st, Ryūhō was considered to be a total loss. Moored as an abandoned hulk off of Etajima, she was attacked by American aircraft again on July 24th and July 28th. She was struck from the navy list on November 30th 1945 and scrapped in 1946...

Light Fleet Carrier Ryūhō pictured being dismantled in drydock No 3 at Kure Naval Arsenal on April 2nd 1946.

Light Carrier Ryūjō pictured off Tateyama on sea trials on April 12th 1933..Small and lightly built in an attempt to exploit a loophole in the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, she proved to be top-heavy and only marginally stable and was back in the Shipyard for modifications to address those issues within a year of completion. With her stability improved, Ryūjō returned to service and was employed in operations during the Second Sino-Japanese War. During World War II, she provided air support for operations in the Philippines, Malaya, and the Dutch East Indies, where her aircraft participated in the Second Battle of the Java Sea. During the Indian Ocean raid in April 1942, the Carrier attacked British merchant shipping with her guns and aircraft. Ryūjō next participated in the Battle of the Aleutian Islands in June. She was sunk by American Carrier aircraft at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on August 24th 1942.

Light Fleet Carrier Ryūjō pictured off Cape Sata on sea trials post her reconstruction refit on September 6th 1934. She was sunk by American Carrier aircraft at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on August 24th 1942.

Light Carrier Ryūjō pictured at Yokosuka on June 19th 1933...She was sunk during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on August 24th 1942.