Japanese aircraft carrier Shōhō
 Shōhō, 20 December 1941 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Japan | |
| Name | Shōhō |
| Namesake | Japanese: 祥鳳, "Auspicious Phoenix', or "Happy Phoenix" |
| Builder | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal |
| Laid down | 3 December 1934 |
| Launched | 1 June 1935 |
| Commissioned | 30 November 1941 |
| Fate | Sunk by air attack during the Battle of the Coral Sea, 7 May 1942 |
| General characteristics (as converted) | |
| Class and type | Zuihō-class aircraft carrier |
| Displacement | 11,443 t (11,262 long tons) (standard) |
| Length | 205.5 m (674 ft 2 in) |
| Beam | 18.2 m (59 ft 8 in) |
| Draft | 6.6 m (21 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion | 2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines |
| Speed | 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
| Range | 7,800 nmi (14,400 km; 9,000 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Complement | 785 |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 30 |
| Aviation facilities | 2 × Aircraft elevators |
Shōhō, was a small aircraft carrier used by the Japanese Navy during World War II. An aircraft carrier is a big ship that carries airplanes so they can take off and land at sea. Shōhō was not originally built as a carrier; it started out in the late 1930s as a support ship for submarines called Tsurugizaki, which means “Sword Cape.” Before the war in the Pacific began, the Japanese changed the ship into an aircraft carrier and gave it the new name Shōhō.
The ship was finished in early 1942 and soon joined Japan’s attack on New Guinea in a mission called Operation MO, which aimed to capture a place called Port Moresby. On May 7, during its first battle in the Coral Sea, American airplanes attacked and sank Shōhō. This made Shōhō the very first Japanese aircraft carrier to be sunk during World War II.
Meaning of name, Shōhō: It means “auspicious Phoenix” or “happy Phoenix” in Japanese.
References
[change | change source]- Brown, David (1977). WWII Fact Files: Aircraft Carriers. New York: Arco Publishing. ISBN 0-668-04164-1.
- Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter; Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
- Lengerer, Hans (2023). The Aircraft Carriers of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army: Technical and Operational History. Vol. II. Katowice, Poland: Model Hobby. ISBN 978-83-60041-71-0.
- Lundstrom, John B. (2005). The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-471-X.
- Peattie, Mark (2001). Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909–1941. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-432-6.
- Stille, Mark (2009). The Coral Sea 1942: The First Carrier Battle. Campaign. Vol. 214. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-106-1.
- Tully, Anthony P. (1999). "IJN Shoho: Tabular Record of Movement". Kido Butai. Combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 11 December 2011.