Chūyō

**Chūyō**
Ship data
flag	Japan
other ship names	Nitta Maru (1939-1942)
Ship type	Passenger ship ; escort aircraft carrier
class	Taiyō class
Shipyard	Mitsubishi , Nagasaki
Keel laying	May 9, 1938
Launch	May 20, 1939
Commissioning	March 23, 1940 ; after renovation: ; November 25, 1942
Whereabouts	Sunk on December 4, 1943
Ship dimensions and crew
length	180.40 m ( Lüa ) 173.70 m ( KWL )
width	22.50 m
Draft	Max. 7.74 m
displacement	17,830 tn.l. ; Maximum: 19,500 tn.l.
crew	850 men
Machine system
machine	4 × Kampon water tube boilers; 2 × Kampon steam turbine
Machine ; performance	25,200 PS (18,535 kW)
Top ; speed	21 kn (39 km / h)
propeller	2
Armament
	8 × Flak 12.7 cm L / 40 Type 89 ; 30 × Flak 2.5 cm L / 60 type 96 ; 27 planes;
Armor
	Side armor: 25 mm;

The Chūyō ( Japanese 冲鷹 'Rising Falcon' ) was an escort aircraft carrier that was used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II .

She belonged with the Taiyō and the Un'yō to the Taiyō class , which consisted of passenger ships converted to escort carriers, here the Nitta Maru .

Construction and remodeling

Nitta Maru

The Nitta Maru ( 新田丸 ) was a passenger ship of the Nippon Yūsen shipping company , laid down in May 1938 in the Mitsubishi shipyard in Nagasaki , where she was launched in May 1939 and put into service in March 1940. In February 1941 it was confiscated for transporting military equipment and personnel. She carried out several such trips, including the transport of American prisoners of war from Wake to Japan , in which five Americans are said to have been keeled and beheaded .

After the Battle of Midway it was decided to convert it into an escort aircraft carrier. The conversion was carried out in the Kure naval shipyard between August 20 and November 25, 1942. Her new name was Chūyō .

Its flight deck measured 150 m × 23 m with two elevators. She had no launch catapults or landing gear.

As with all Japanese escort carriers, only planes could take off on the Chūyō , but due to the very short flight deck, there was no possibility of landing. Like all Japanese escort carriers, the ship was only used to transport aircraft, material transport and for pilot training.

Mission history

The Chūyō was mainly used for flight training and aircraft transport. She often sailed in association with her sister ships Taiyō and Un'yō .

On December 4, the Chūyō and the Un'yō drove from Truk to Yokosuka , prisoners aboard the submarine Sculpin , when the Chūyō near Hachijo was hit by a torpedo that had been shot down by the submarine Sailfish . Over the next few hours, the submarine attacked the damaged carrier two more times. After four or five torpedo hits, the Chūyō sank very quickly. There were around 1250 dead, including 20 of the 21 prisoners of war on board.

List of military commanders

No.	Surname	Beginning of the term of office	Term expires	Remarks
1.	Sea Captain Shizue Ishii ( 石井芸江 )	November 25, 1942	February 1, 1943	entrusted with building instruction since August 20, 1942
2.	Sea Captain Yoshirō Katō ( 加藤与四郎 )	February 1, 1943	September 27, 1943
3.	Sea captain Tomesaburō Ōkura ( 大倉留三郎 )	September 27, 1943	December 4, 1943

literature

Dr. Bak József et al. (1984): Hadihajók. Típuskönyv. Zrínyi Katonai Kiadó. ISBN 963-326-326-3

Web links

Footnotes

↑ http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/wake-list.html
^ Ingo Bauernfeind: Escort aircraft carrier - USA, England, Japan 1939-1945 . Motorbuchverlag Verlag, Stuttgart 2013. 98–100.

[1] ttp://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/wake-list.html

[2] Ingo Bauernfeind: Escort aircraft carrier - USA, England, Japan 1939-1945 . Motorbuchverlag Verlag, Stuttgart 2013. 98–100.