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| Hiryū (CV) | |
|---|---|
| Ship name | Hiryū |
| Caption | Fleet aircraft carrier Hiryū underway, 1939 |
| Ship class | Sōryū-class aircraft carrier |
| Displacement | 17,330 long tons (standard) |
| Length | 227.5 m |
| Beam | 22.0 m |
| Draft | 7.7 m |
| Propulsion | 4 shafts, steam turbines |
| Speed | 34.0 kn |
| Complement | ~1,300 |
| Aircraft carried | ~72 |
| Armament | 8 × 127 mm, 16 × 25 mm AA (initial) |
| Builder | Kure Naval Arsenal |
| Laid down | 1935 |
| Launched | 1937 |
| Commissioned | 1939 |
| Fate | Sunk June 1942 |
Hiryū (CV) was the fourth Japanese fleet carrier active during the Second World War, serving with the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet and participating in early Pacific campaigns. Designed as part of Japan's carrier-centric doctrine, she operated alongside contemporaries in pivotal battles and was the last Japanese carrier to be sunk at the pivotal Battle of Midway. Hiryū influenced carrier development, naval aviation tactics, and postwar remembrance across Japan, the United States, and allied navies.
Hiryū was a member of the Sōryū-class aircraft carrier lineage, developed as an evolution of Akagi and Kaga lessons and influenced by United States Navy carrier design trends embodied by Yorktown-class aircraft carrier evaluations and interwar naval treaties such as the Washington Naval Treaty and London Naval Treaty. Her flush-deck arrangement and island placement reflected compromises between Imperial Japanese Navy doctrine and technological constraints encountered at Kure Naval Arsenal and Yokosuka Naval Arsenal. Displacement figures were comparable to contemporary carriers like USS Saratoga (CV-3) and HMS Ark Royal (91). Hiryū's machinery comprised high-pressure boilers and geared turbines, paralleling engineering practices at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and modeled against propulsion experiments from Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation.
Her air group was organized under Japanese Naval Aviation standards, deploying types including the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, Aichi D3A "Val", and Nakajima B5N "Kate", comparable to Grumman F4F Wildcat and Douglas SBD Dauntless in Allied inventories. Anti-aircraft armament evolved during her service in response to lessons from actions such as the Guadalcanal Campaign and carrier battles where light AA configurations, including Type 96 25 mm AA gun mounts, proved inadequate against massed air attack.
Hiryū was laid down at Kure Naval Arsenal in 1935, launched in 1937, and commissioned into the Combined Fleet in 1939 following sea trials and aircraft compatibility tests with units from 1st Air Fleet and Carrier Division 2. Her building program paralleled the simultaneous construction of sister ships and other capital units like Yamato and reflected industrial mobilization at firms such as Nippon Kaiji Kyokai and IHI Corporation. Early commissioning activities included shakedown cruises, carrier flight deck procedures refined with pilots from Air Group 12 and coordination exercises with cruiser escorts like Mogami and destroyer screens influenced by tactics of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and staff from Combined Fleet headquarters.
During the opening phase of the Pacific War Hiryū took part in operations associated with Operation Z (Pearl Harbor attack) planning and subsequent campaigns across the Dutch East Indies and the Philippine campaign (1941–1942), operating with carriers such as Sōryū, Akagi, and Kaga under Task Force arrangements. She contributed air strikes during the capture of Guam and Wake Island operations and provided cover for invasions of Malaya and the Dutch East Indies alongside fleet units like Battleship Nagato and cruisers from Cruiser Division 5.
Hiryū's air groups supported operations during the Battle of Coral Sea and subsequent carriers' shifts in doctrine after contested engagements with USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Yorktown (CV-5). Her pilots, trained in carrier strike tactics at bases such as Kasumigaura Airfield and Yokosuka Air Station, scored successes against Allied air forces but also suffered attrition that mirrored wider personnel strains within Japanese Naval Aviation.
At the Battle of Midway in June 1942, Hiryū operated as part of the Carrier Striking Force under coordination by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's plan, working with carriers including Akagi, Kaga, and Sōryū. After initial American strikes severely damaged the other carriers, Hiryū launched counterstrikes using Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers and Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters against USS Yorktown (CV-5) and task force elements led by Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher and Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. Hiryū achieved temporary success by contributing to the damage and eventual loss of Yorktown, but subsequent carrier-based dive-bomber attacks from USS Enterprise (CV-6) and USS Hornet (CV-8) led to uncontrollable fires aboard Hiryū. With flooding and fire beyond repair, and after efforts by destroyers including Arashi attempted defense coordination, the carrier was abandoned and scuttled on orders from senior officers, becoming a casualty alongside the loss of Akagi, Kaga, and Sōryū—a strategic turning point that favored United States Pacific Fleet operations.
Hiryū's loss at Midway is widely cited in naval studies at institutions like Naval War College and referenced in analyses by historians such as Samuel Eliot Morison and Jonathan Parshall. Wreck discovery efforts and underwater archaeology projects involving multinational teams including researchers from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Smithsonian Institution, and Japanese agencies have informed preservation debates similar to those surrounding USS Arizona (BB-39) and other war graves. Memorials in locales such as Kure, Hiroshima and remembrance ceremonies by veteran associations from Japan Self-Defense Forces and former Imperial Japanese Navy personnel echo commemorations held by counterparts linked to United States Navy veterans and organizations like the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Hiryū's operational record influenced subsequent carrier design changes in Imperial Japanese Navy planning and postwar carrier concepts examined by navies including Royal Navy, United States Navy, and researchers at universities such as University of Tokyo and Stanford University. The carrier appears in numerous cultural works addressing Midway and the Pacific War, referenced in books, documentaries, and exhibits at institutions like the National Museum of the Pacific War.
Category:Imperial Japanese Navy ships