Ise (ship, 1917)
 Drawing of the Ise in the last construction stage
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The Ise ( Japanese 伊 勢 ) was a battleship of the Japanese Navy . The name is that of a former province on the soil of today's Mie prefecture . She was the lead ship of the Ise class of the same name . It was followed by the Hyūga, launched on January 27, 1917 , as the only sister ship . To date, they were the most powerful warships of the Japanese Empire and, according to the pure data, even superior to the contemporary American Pennsylvania class .
history
After her commissioning in 1917, the Ise was assigned to the 1st fleet. In the following years she carried out several patrols , so in 1920 and 1922 off the Siberian coast, in 1922 and 1926 off the Chinese coast, and was used as a transporter for food and medical aid in September 1923 after the great Kanto earthquake . It received several minor modifications in the following period, such as catapults for seaplanes, a curved smoke hood for the chimney, and the maximum possible angle of elevation of the main artillery was increased from 20 ° to 30 ° in 1921. In the wake of tensions with China, it was used several times off the Chinese coast in 1931 and 1932. It was extensively modernized for the first time between 1935 and 1937.
Use in the Pacific War
The Ise was only deployed three times before it was completely rebuilt in September 1942 , initially in two unsuccessful interception missions against the American attack on Minami-Torishima (March 1942) and the Halsey-Doolittle attack by the US carrier fleet against Japan (April 1942), whereby a Soviet freighter was brought in. Then the battleship ran out for the Battle of Midway in June 1942. The Ise belonged to the main unit under Admiral Yamamoto, which had no enemy contact, while the first aircraft carrier group under Vice Admiral Nagumo was destroyed. Between February 1943 and August 1943 it was converted into a hybrid aircraft carrier in the aftermath of the Battle of Midway.
(For the technical details of the conversion, see the main article → Ise class )
Battle of Cape Engaño
The Ise fought in the last great battle in which it took part, the sea and air battle in the Gulf of Leyte in October 1944 in Admiral Ozawa's bait fleet off Cape Engaño , without the aircraft that should actually be its greatest asset. The two hybrid aircraft carriers operated independently of the carrier fleet for a short time in order to also advance on the American landing fleet, but were pulled back to the aircraft carriers after air raids.
The Ise received a bomb hit on the port catapult, with about 40-50 crew members injured and killed. The torpedo bulges were also damaged by close hits. But there was no serious danger to the ship. The Ise first returned to Kure via Amami-O-Shima for repairs (followed by the expansion of the catapults to improve the field of fire of the remaining gun turrets) and was then ordered again to defend the Philippines via Sasebo. Subsequently, it served to protect the connection line from Japan to Singapore and then returned to Kure on February 20, 1945 because of the constantly deteriorating situation.
Destruction in Kure
In March 1945, the first attack by American carrier aircraft on the Japanese warships stationed in Kure took place, and the Ise was also damaged by bombs. She was then as a floating anti-aircraft platform near the coast at 34 ° 11 '59 " N , 132 ° 31' 44" O anchored, provided with a camouflage paint and finally on 28 July 1945 by American aircraft of Task Force 38 sunk at its mooring .
The Ise received in these attacks between the 24th and 28th July, several direct hits by aerial bombs of 227 kg, 454 kg, 907 kg, some with delay detonators were fitted. Some of these bombs hit particularly weak spots and caused severe damage.
A 454 kg bomb hit the starboard side, level with tower A, the top of the former position of a 14 cm gun, continued its way almost seven meters into the ship's interior and when it exploded it blew up the front part of the torpedo bulge and the Belt armor plate , below the waterline, on an area of 4.5 x 3 meters, to the outside, so that there was a severe water ingress. A 227 kg bomb fell just past the ship's side and penetrated the top of the torpedo bulge on the starboard side, level with the engine room . The explosion tore open the torpedo bulge and the ingress of water immediately flooded the starboard engine room and the magazines of towers “C” and “D”. The ship was initially listed heavily to starboard. A 907 kg bomb missed the ship, but continued on its way under water and detonated below the belt armor, on the lower edge of the torpedo bulge, level with the bridge superstructure on port side. Almost 20 meters of the bulge was torn off, and severe water inrushes caused the ship's bow to sink to the bottom of the harbor. The ship was then abandoned by the surviving crew members during July 28th.
The stern was destroyed by numerous bomb hits above the waterline, so that progressive flooding from the area amidships finally filled the entire ship with water and caused it to sink to the bottom, as the destroyed departments in the stern could no longer provide buoyancy . The age of the ship is given as one of the reasons that contributed to the final sinking, as some of the bulkheads are said to have already leaked.
Since the Ise lay aground in shallow water, it could be broken up years after the war. There are color films made by the Americans of the wreck immediately after the war, which clearly show the details, the camouflage and the construction of the flight deck.
Representation in model making
Due to the fact that the Ise was a very unusual construction as a so-called “hybrid carrier”, the ship is still known today and is offered in replicas in the form of model kits as well as finished models. Large-scale plastic kits from Japanese manufacturers exist u. a. for many years in the 1: 500 and 1: 800 scales, but the most popular is probably a representation in the standard 1: 700 scale as a waterline model, which the manufacturer recently revised. Painted metal prefabricated models of the Ise as a flight deck battleship are also available in the common collector's scale 1: 1250 waterline u. a. made by well-known Japanese and German suppliers.
Evidence and references
Individual evidence
- ↑ REPORTS OF THE US NAVAL TECHNICAL MISSION TO JAPAN 1945-1946, S-06-1, Reports of Damage to Japanese Warships-Article 1, pp. 32,33,34 and 70.
- ↑ On this last action of the US carrier fleet in World War II: SE Morison , History of the US Naval Operations in WW II, Vol.14, Victory in the Pacific, Boston 1960/1975; L. Sowinski , The Pacific War, London 1981. The official reports: US Navy at War 1941-45, Official Reports Fleet Adm. King to the Minister of the Navy, last report 1945, p. 188ff., And Rear Adm. Carney , The Last Days of the Japanese Fleet, printed in: Battle Stations, New York 1946, pp. 351ff. As Japanese source: Maru Special Japanese Naval Operations WW II Volume 109, Final Air Attacks on Japan 1945 (Tokyo 1986) with pictures. The actions were photographed from the attacking aircraft, a good part of the footage of the air raids on the Ise in 1944 and 1945 is published in good quality by John R. Burning Jr. , Ship Strike Pacific, St. Paul 2005 (with the final Sinking of the battleship as title photo).
literature
Only Japanese sources specific to the Ise or the battleships of the Japanese Navy:
- Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels (first series in 56 volumes), Volume 12: Ise (Tokyo 1977) and second series Volume 113: History of the Fuso and Ise classes (Tokyo 1986)
- Gakken Pictorial Series, Volume 26, Ise class (Tokyo 2000)
- Gakken (publ.), Battleships of Japan (Tokyo 2004)
- Kaijinsha (publ.), The Imperial Japanese Navy (in 14 volumes), Volume 1 (Battleships 1) (Tokyo 1989/1994)
- Fukui Shizuo , Japanese Naval Vessels Illustrated, 1869–1945 (in three volumes), Volume 1, Battleships and Battlecruisers (Tokyo 1974)
- Todaka Kazushige , Japanese Naval Warship (so far in 6 volumes) Volume 2, Battleships and Battle Cruisers, Kure Maritime Museum (Kure 2005)
- Ishiwata Kohji , Japanese Battleships, Ships of the World Band 391 (Tokyo 1988)
- Model Art No.6, Drawings of IJN Vessels Volume 1, Battleships and Destroyers (Tokyo 1989)
