Japanese battleship Hyūga

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"This was Hyuga" by Standish Backus (watercolour, 1946) depicts her on the bottom at Niro Bay.
Career Japanese Navy Ensign
Ordered: 1912
Laid down: May 16, 1915
Launched: January 27, 1917
Commissioned: April 30, 1918
Fate: Sunk
Struck: July 28, 1945
General Characteristics
Displacement: 38,872 tons (39,496 t)
Length: 219.62 m
Beam: 33.8 m
Draught: 9.14 m (mean)
Propulsion: 80,640 hp (60.13 MW)
Speed: 25 knots (46 km/h)
Range:
Complement: 1,463
Armament:
(as built)
12 × 14 in / 45 cal,
16 × 5.5 in / 50 cal,
8 × 5 in/40 cal,
20 × 25 mm
Aircraft: 22

Hyūga (日向), named for Hyūga Province in Kyūshū, was an Ise class battleship laid down by Mitsubishi on 6 May 1915, launched on 27 January 1917 and completed on 30 April 1918. She was initially designed as the fourth ship of Fusō class but was heavily redesigned to fix shortcomings.

To partially compensate for the loss of carrier strength at Midway she was converted to a hybrid battleship/carrier at the Sasebo Navy Yard between 1 May and 1 October 1943. Her 5th and 6th 14 inch (356 mm) turret and barbette were removed and a hangar surmounted by a flight deck was added. Anti-aircraft weapons were also added to better fight off aerial attack. Her complement of 14 Yokosuka D4Y dive-bombers and 8 Aichi E16A seaplanes were catapult-launched but landed either on conventional carriers or land bases. They could also be hoisted back on board by using cranes. Because productions of aircraft was severely depleted by then, she never carried the full complement.

She participated in the Battle off Cape Engaño in October 1944. Hyūga, commanded by Rear Admiral Kusagawa Kiyoshi, was attacked by American carrier aircraft at Nasake-jima, south of Kure, on 28 July 1945 and her crew ran the ship aground in shallow waters. She was removed from the Navy List on 20 November 1945. Between 2 July 1946 and 4 July 1947 she was raised and broken up by the Kure Dry-dock of Harima Zosen Yard.

[edit] Pop Culture References


Ise-class battleship

Ise | Hyūga

List of ships of the Japanese Navy
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