Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryū
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the Japanese carrier; for the videogame and manga character, see Strider Hiryu.
 |
|
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 8 July 1936, Yokosuka |
| Launched: | 15 November 1937 |
| Commissioned: | 5 July 1939 |
| Fate: | Sunk by air attack in the Battle of Midway on 5 June 1942 |
| Struck: | 25 September 1942 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 19,500 tons (full load), 15,900 tons (standard) |
| Length: | 728 ft 5 in (222 m) |
| Beam: | 70 ft (21 m) |
| Draught: | 24 ft 5 in (7.44 m) |
| Propulsion: | Geared steam turbines, 152,000 hp (113 MW), 4 screws |
| Speed: | 34.5 knots (63.9 km/h) |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 1,250 |
| Armament: | Twelve 5-inch (127mm) guns Twenty-six 25mm AA guns Fifteen 13.2mm machine guns |
| Aircraft: | 73 |
Hiryū (Japanese: 飛龍, meaning "flying dragon") was a Sōryū-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor that started the Pacific War and she was sunk on June 5, 1942 by air attack in the Battle of Midway.
The ship was built within the specifications of the Washington Naval Treaty that was in place at the time, which placed limits on its tonnage and armament. As a result, the Hiryū was relatively small as a purpose-built aircraft carrier as compared to her contemporaries during World War II, carrying around 70 aircraft.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Early Operations
In 1941, commanded by Captain Kaku Tomeo, Hiryū was assigned to Carrier Division 2. On 7 December 1941 she was with the Strike Force in the attack on Pearl Harbor. She launched one wave of planes against the island of Oahu: ten Kates targeted Arizona, California, eight Kates targeted West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Helena and six Zeros attacked US air bases at Wheeler Field and Barbers Point.
From 21 December to 23 December she launched air strikes against Wake Island. In January 1942 she supported the invasion of Ambon in the Moluccas. On 19 February 1942, together with her sister ship Sōryū she launched an air strike against Darwin, Australia.
In March 1942 she took part in the battle of the Java Sea, attacking Allied shipping at Tjilatjep and Christmas Island and sinking the Dutch freighter Poelau Bras. In April 1942 she took part in the Indian Ocean raid, striking Royal Navy bases at Colombo and Trincomalee Ceylon and helping to sink the cruisers Cornwall, Dorsetshire, the aircraft carrier Hermes, and her escort destroyer Vampire.
On 19 April 1942 she pursued the US carriers Hornet and Enterprise after they launched the Doolittle Raid, but failed to catch them.
[edit] Midway
In May 1942, Hiryu sailed on her final mission. Her aircraft complement consisted of 21 Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighters, 21 Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers, and 21 Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers. [1] On 4 June 1942 she took part in the battle of Midway. At 4:30 AM she launched a strike against Midway Island, destroying planes and damaging installations. After Kaga, Sōryū and Akagi were disabled by air attack at about 10:25 AM, Hiryū was the only operational carrier left to the Japanese. She launched two waves of planes at 10:50 and 12:45 against Yorktown, heavily damaging the American carrier (she was sunk later by I-168).
Japanese search planes had located the remaining American aircraft carriers, and all surviving aircraft from the Carrier Striking Force had landed on Hiryū and were refueled and armed; but while preparing to launch a third strike against them, Hiryū was attacked at 5:03 PM by thirteen SBD Dauntless dive bombers from Enterprise. She was hit by four 1000-lb (453.6kg) bombs, three on the forward flight deck and one amidships beside the bridge. The explosions started fires among the aircraft on the hangar deck.
Although Hiryu's propulsion wasn't affected, the fires could not be brought under control. At 9:23 PM her engines stopped, and at 1:58 AM a major explosion rocked the ship. The order to abandon ship was given shortly afterwards and the survivors were taken off by the destroyers Kazagumo and Makigumo. Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi and Captain Kaku remained on board as Hiryū was scuttled at 5:10 AM by torpedoes from Makigumo. She sank at 9:12 AM, taking 35 men down with her (another 350 or so had been killed by the bombs, fires and explosions). Thirty-five were rescued by the US Navy and taken prisoner. Admiral Yamaguchi's insistence on going down with his carrier robbed the Japanese of one of their most experienced and brilliant carrier admirals, while Admiral Fletcher, who abandoned the doomed Yorktown in the same battle, later became one of the primary architects of Allied victory in the Pacific.
[edit] External links
| Sōryū-class aircraft carrier |
|
Sōryū | Hiryū |
| List of ships of the Japanese Navy |
