Japanese aircraft carrier Junyō

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Junyō moored at Sasebo, Japan on 26 September 1945.
Career (Japan)
Name: Junyō
Namesake: Junyō (Japanese: 隼鷹 jun'yō meaning "peregrine falcon")
Laid down: 20 March 1939 as Kashiwara Maru
Launched: 26 June 1941
Commissioned: 3 May 1942
Struck: 30 November 1945
Fate: Scrapped in 1947
General characteristics
Class and type: Hiyō-class aircraft carrier
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)
Speed: 25 knots (46 km/h)
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 carried: 53

The Junyō (Japanese: 隼鷹 jun'yō 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.

Contents

[edit] World War II Service

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 diversionary thrust in support of 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 was slower and had a 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 the submarine 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] The Junyō's ship bell

Junyō's ship's bell was recovered by the U.S. Navy near Saipan, having been separated from the ship by a bomb impact. 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," according to the associated memorial plaque. It was blessed by Cardinal Spellman, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, and "[w]as 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] Commanding Officers

Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Shizue Ishii - 1 October 1941 - 3 May 1942

Capt. Shizue Ishii - 3 May 1942 - 20 July 1942

Capt. Tametsugu Okada - 20 July 1942 - 12 February 1943

Capt. Mitsuru Nagai - 12 February 1943 - 25 December 1943

Capt. Kiyomi Shibuya - 25 December 1943 - 19 December 1944

Sasebo Dockyard - 19 December 1944 - 12 May 1945

Capt. Tomiyoshi Maehara - 12 May 1945 - 15 August 1945

[edit] Hayataka

Junyō is sometimes referred to in World War II American sources as Hayataka. This mistake derives from kun-yomi reading of the Kanji characters in the ship's name (隼鷹 can also be read as hayataka), instead of on-yomi, passed to American interrogators by a Japanese prisoner of war after the Battle of Midway.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Hiyō-class aircraft carrier

Hiyō • Junyō