Japanese aircraft carrier Junyō

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Career
Junyō, moored at Sasebo, Japan, on 26 September 1945
Laid down:	20 March 1939 as Kashiwara Maru
Launched:	26 June 1941
Commissioned:	3 May 1942
Fate:	Scrapped in 1947
Struck:	30 November 1945
General Characteristics
Displacement:	26,949 tons
Length:	719 ft 7 in (219.33 m)
Beam:	87 ft 7 in (26.70 m)
Draught:	26 ft 9 in (8.15 m)
Propulsion:
Speed:	25 knots (46 km/h)
Range:
Complement:	1,224
Armament:	Twelve 5 inch (130 mm) guns Up to seventy-six 25 mm anti-aircraft guns 6 × 28 5 inch (130 mm) AA rockets (from 1944)
Aircraft:	53

Junyō (Japanese: 隼鷹 junyō meaning "peregrine falcon") was a Hiyō-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was laid down at Nagasaki as the passenger liner Kashiwara Maru but purchased by the Japanese Navy in 1940 and converted to an aircraft carrier.

She fought in the Pacific campaign of World War II, starting the war with an aircraft complement of 21 Mitsubishi A5M4 fighters and 17 Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bombers. In May 1942, she was assigned to support the invasion of the Aleutian Islands, a diversion from the attack on Midway. On 3 June 1942, along with Ryūjō, she launched airstrikes against Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island. On 5 June she launched further strikes and was attacked by United States bombers but was not damaged.

Following the loss of four Japanese fleet carriers in the battle of Midway, Junyō was one of only four large carriers in the Japanese Navy (the others were Zuikaku, Shōkaku, and Hiyō ). This made Junyō an important ship, and great efforts were made to use her as a fleet carrier, even though she had a lower speed and smaller air group than the purpose-built fleet carriers, Shōkaku and Zuikaku.

Captain Okada Tametsugu assumed command on 20 July 1942. In late October 1942, during the Guadalcanal Campaign, Junyō took part in the battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. On 26 October 1942 her planes attacked the carrier USS Enterprise, the battleship USS South Dakota and the light cruiser USS San Juan, scoring hits on the latter two.

In mid-November 1942, she played a covering role in the three-day-long Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. In Spring 1943, her planes were sent to Rabaul, with those of other Japanese carriers, for land-based attacks on the Allied forces gathering at Guadalcanal. In June 1943, Junyō helped protect an important convoy sent to reinforce the Japanese garrison on Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands.

On 5 November 1943 off Bungo Suido, Junyō was hit by a torpedo from USS Halibut. Four crew were killed and the steering damaged. Junyō was docked at Kure for repairs.

In May 1944, with Captain Shibuya Kiyomi in command, Junyō was assigned to Operation A-Go, a sortie to repulse the expected Allied invasion of the Mariana, Palau or Caroline Islands. In the resulting battle of the Philippine Sea on 20 June 1944 Junyō was hit by two bombs at about 17:30. Her smokestack and mast were destroyed and her deck damaged. Her air operations were stopped, but she was able to withdraw without further damage, unlike her sister ship Hiyō, sunk by torpedoes. However, most of her planes were lost in the battle.

After repairs at Kure, she was assigned to the Philippines but without planes she was unable to take part in the battle of Leyte Gulf, being relegated to transport duties.

On 3 November 1944 she was attacked by the submarine USS Pintado near Makung but her escort destroyer Akikaze deliberately intercepted the torpedoes and sank with no survivors.

On 9 December 1944, Junyō was carrying 200 survivors of Musashi and was accompanied by the battleship Haruna and the destroyers Suzutsuki, Fuyutsuki, and Maki. The task force was attacked at midnight by the American submarines Sea Devil, Plaice and Redfish. Junyō was hit by three torpedoes, killing 19 men. Several compartments were flooded, giving her a 10°–12° list to starboard, but she was able to make way on one engine. Maki was also damaged by a torpedo. By 04:00 the Japanese task force entered shallow waters where the American submarines could not follow.

Junyō was drydocked at Kure, but repairs were abandoned in March 1945. The lack of materials, fuel and carrier planes meant that there was no need for fleet carriers. Junyō remained moored at Sasebo until the end of the war.

She was scrapped in 1947.

[edit] Trivia

The Junyō had a bell, which was recovered by the U.S. Navy. According to the plaque below the bell, it was recovered near Saipan where it was "silenced by an aerial Bomb." The bell was given to Fordham University by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz in 1944, "As a Memorial to Our Dear Young Dead of World War II." It was blessed by Cardinal Spellman, and "Was first rung at Fordham by the President of the United States, the Honorable Harry S. Truman on May 11, 1946, the Charter Centenary of the University."

[edit] Hayataka

Junyō is sometimes referred to in World War II American sources as Hayataka. This mistake probably derives from a misreading of the characters in the ship's name (隼鷹 junyō, meaning "peregrine falcon", can also be read as hayataka), passed to American interrogators by a Japanese prisoner of war after the battle of Midway.