First laid as a seaplane carrier in the Kure naval shipyard, it supported the reconnaissance seaplanes Kawanishi E7K Type 94 "Alf" and the Nakajima E8N Type 95 "Dave". It is also speculated that the Chitose Type A carried micro-submarines , as its sister ship, the Chiyoda, was designed for this. The Chitose has been used in various operations. So she took part in the Battle of Midway , but without having a combat mission. It was badly damaged on January 4, 1942 off Davao in the Philippines and covered the Japanese landing operations on the East Indies and Gilbert Islands in January 1942. In August 1942 it was damaged in the eastern Solomon Islands. As a seaplane carrier, the ship had up to 24 aircraft and four catapults.
Chitose after conversion as a light aircraft carrier (1944)
When the Japanese became aware of the importance of carrier-based aircraft, the Chitose was converted into a light aircraft carrier with 30 aircraft in the Sasebo naval shipyard . The conversion began on January 26, 1943, and on November 1, 1943, the Chitose was put back into service and assigned to Carrier Group 3 on January 1, 1944.
Downfall
Both the Chitose and her sister ship Chiyoda were sunk by a mixture of aerial bombing, shell fire and torpedoes launched by destroyers during the sea and air battles in the Leyte Gulf . According to the plan for Operation Sho-ichi go , both carriers of their aircraft were discarded and successfully used as bait to lure the American fleet away from the landing points in the Philippines. The Chitose was sunk by torpedo strikes during the first air strike by aircraft of the aircraft carrier USS Essex of Task Force 38 off Cape Engaño . The light cruiser Isuzu and the destroyer Shimotsuki were able to recover 501 survivors.
Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Ikeuchi is the family name, Masamichi the first name.
