Shimane Maru-class escort carrier

Shimane Maru on 28 July 1945
Class overview
Name: Shimane Maru
Builders: Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation
Operators:  Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by: Shinyo
Succeeded by: None
Built: 19441945
In commission: 1945
Planned: 4
Completed: 1
Cancelled: 2
Lost: 2
General characteristics
Type:Escort carrier
Tonnage:10,002 gross register tons (GRT)
Displacement:11,989 tonnes (11,800 long tons) (standard)
Length:160.5 m (527 ft) (o/a)
Beam:20 m (66 ft)
Draught:9.1 m (29 ft 10 in) (mean)
Installed power:8,600 shp (6,400 kW)
2 boilers
Propulsion:1 shaft
1 Steam turbine
Speed:18.5 knots (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph)
Range:10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) @ 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Sensors and
processing systems:
Type 3, Mark 1, Model 3 radar
Armament:2 × 1 - 120 mm (4.7 in) guns
9 × 3, 25 × 1 - 25 mm (1 in) AA guns
Aircraft carried:12

The Shimane Maru class was a class of two auxiliary escort carriers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Four additional conversions were reportedly considered but not carried out. Although both ships were launched, only one was completed, and neither entered active service before being destroyed.

Design and description

The concept of the class was similar to British merchant aircraft carrier. The class consisted of two oil tankers of 10,002 gross register tons (GRT) that were modified by the Navy to provide minimal anti-submarine air cover for convoys going from Southeast Asia to the Japanese homeland. The conversion consisted of fitting a full-length flight deck, a small hangar, and a single elevator. An island and catapults were not installed. The only other change was the rerouting of the boiler uptakes to the aft starboard side where they discharged in a typical downward-facing funnel.

The ships had a length of 160.5 meters (526 ft 7 in) overall and 150 meters (492 ft 2 in) between perpendiculars. They had a beam of 20 meters (65 ft 7 in) at the waterline and a mean draft of 9.1 meters (29 ft 10 in). They displaced 11,989 metric tons (11,800 long tons) at standard load.[1]

The Shimane Maru-class ships were fitted with one geared steam turbine set with a total of 8,600 shaft horsepower (6,400 kW). It drove one propeller shaft using steam provided by two boilers. The ships had a designed speed of 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph) and a range of 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[2]

The flight deck was 154.99 meters (508 ft 6 in) long and had a maximum width of 23.01 meters (75 ft 6 in).[2] The hangar, built on top of the well deck, was served by a single elevator from the flight deck. It had a capacity of a dozen aircraft.[1]

Ships

Ship Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Fate
Shimane Maru (しまね丸) Kawasaki Heavy Industries Shipyard, Kobe 8 June 1944 17 December 1944 28 February 1945 Sunk 24 July 1945 by British aircraft
Ōtakisan Maru (大瀧山丸) Kawasaki Heavy Industries Shipyard, Kobe 18 September 1944 14 January 1945 Never Scrapped, 1948

Photo

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Chesneau, p. 186
  2. 2.0 2.1 Jentschura, Jung and Mickel, p. 62
  3. http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~un3k-mn/kusyu-oogusi.htm

Bibliography

External links