Hiryuu is so underrated, it is like nobody knows that she was the ship that sunk the USS Arizona and the USS Yorktown. In total she sunk 3-4 ships and assisted other ships on sinking even more.
She did sink the USS Arizona, but did not sink the Yorktown. She heavily damaged the Yorktown, but she was well in her way to port when a IJN sub sunk her. Personally, I think Zuikaku is the best Japanese carrier
@@metaknight115 In my opinion the Zuikaku is the best too. I simply forgot that the USS Yorktown was sunk by the I-168, but the Hiryuu crippled her before she was sunk.
Yorktown was sunk by the Submarine "I-168", though it notice that the sub would have probably never catch her if not for the damage from Hiryu's airstrikes
@@centurymemes1208 As i said above, I personally like the Zuikaku the most of all, but Hiryuu did quite a good job for a ship that didn't survive that long.
@@angelamagnus6615 agree... Also Battle of midway only accumulation from they early failure and lack of secret military code secure method The conclution is atomic bom and the fallen of Okinawa
@@StarGate960 the Japanese made up for the failure at midway by winning a solid victory at Santa cruz. at the end of 1942, Japan had more operational carriers than USA. It is only the battle of gaudacalnal that lead to the decline of Japan and the rise in us superiority(tactical, strategical).
@@Xycomm It looks ugly but it serves as a tactical advantage since carriers were high priority targets at the sea. Hell, that's the reason why Japan did a surprise attack on pearl harbor; to crippled the US fleet and most notably sink their aircraft carriers.
Jesus that is some list and lots of research. Still even with all of that Japan would only have enough fuel to sortie that fleet for one or two defensive actions. The Aichi B7A will only be used on the IJN _Taihō_ and IJN _Shinano_ since those carrier's are able to operate the advange carrier plane. This will mean Nakajima B6N will be used for the rest of the fleet Carrier's and smaller ones as the primary Torpedo Bomber. Although historically the plane wasn't used on the escort Carrier's. The latest model of the Yokosuka D4Y will be used on all carrier's except the escort Carrier's and even Light ones since size problems go figure. So the super Japanese Aircraft carrying fleet will still have the Val's and Kate's in service unless they equip all the ships with the proper wrestling gear.
You forgot they need pilots. Most Japanese pilots flying after 1942 were woefully undertrained in comparison to the U.S. pilots they were facing. The Japanese did not have an adequate pilot training program throughout the war and could never replace their losses. Additionally, the Japanese were still fielding the same types of aircraft they had started the war 3 years later where the U.S. had completely replaced theirs with faster, more capable aircraft.
The most saddest story for a sailor on a Japanese carrier would definitely be one on the Shinano, was sunk 10 days after it was launched for sea trials
@@pedrocruz1003 ,Shokaku Is Hiryu/Soryu Class, she is more larger, so that make sense that the Japanese Upgrade their carrier instead of Make it smaller
Some peculiarities of Japanese escort carriers. The maru's were owned and sailed by the IJA. Most of the IJN escort carriers were not equipped with arrestor cables so couldn't recover aircraft.
actually that years was the best years for carriers since they can be fully their self. a combatant carrier unlike modern day carrier where most of them just doing patroll
A string of defeats against USA after the Battle of Midway. The Imperial Japanese Navy could no longer sustain the fight after losing much of their fleet and being unable to recuperate. The shortage of resources and the loss of their trained pilots sealed their fate.
I didn’t think the Katsuragi was ever finished or entered service? She was only about 80% complete when she was abandoned and parked in the harbor for lack of resources.
Zuikaku was the best carrier. It sunk three US carriers and heavily damaged two others (most famously Enterprise). It also survived the longest. This is quite an achievement considering that four Japanese carriers (Akagi, Soryu, Hiryu etc) sunk rather early in Midway.
@@metaknight115 HMS Hermes, a Royal Navy carrier (Indian ocean raid). Not a us carrier. Mistake in first comment. Edit: Some of her aircraft made kamikaze attacks and helped sink the light carrier USS Princeton. This was during battle of Cape Engaño.
People always think that, without giving it much thought or research. Nagumo pulled off two damaging raids with not many losses. But that was by attacking a target who he was not at war with, and who was completely on a peacetime footing. By the mid point of the second wave, the US Military was spinning up it's defenses. Most of Nagumo's losses were from the back half of the 2nd raid, as the US AA Defenses finally were manned and started coming online. While on paper the Japanese Navy was qualitatively better at that moment, they were not the best at everything. American Anti=Aircraft systems were the best out of any combatants in early WW2. Their Fire Control Directors were quite effective and they put up quite a lot of massed firepower. Based on reports from his pilots Nagumo (or more likely Genda) figured the skies were getting a bit too hot. Especially without knowing where the American Carriers were. The chances of the third raid suffering catastrophic losses from the increasing strength of the defenses was too high by their calculations. And they did not want to risk an air attack from an unknown direction by the American Carriers. Remember a squadron of Enterprises Dive Bombers encountered a group of Japanese planes while on their way to Pearl and shot two down. (The Zeros weren't expecting the rear twin 30's). So Nagumo knew that the Carriers were out there close enough to be worried about, but they could be anywhere within a 1000 mile radius of Hawaii. Midway gives the clearest example of the differences between Japanese and American AA capabilities in the early war. Nagumo's first wave strike on Midway island suffered a 23% aircraft loss. Either planes shot down, or planes that made it back to the carriers so badly damaged that they had to be tossed overboard. And almost all of it was from ground based AA fire. The obsolete Brewster Buffalo's didn't shoot anybody down. The handful of wildcats might have bagged a few. But not many. The pilots described the AA fire around the island as terrifying walls of fire and steel. They had never encountered anything like it. The incredible volume and accuracy of AA fire at Midway is why Nagumo's strike leader called for a second strike, and why Nagumo ordered the reserve planes rearmed for a land attack. (And this 23% loss rate would have a huge impact later in the Battle. For Wave 1 Akagi and Kaga had sent their Dive Bombers. Hiryu and Soryu had sent their Torpedo Planes/Level Bombers. Soryu and Hiryus Torpedo Planes got completely savaged by the American AA. (Everyone always talks about the Bad Day American Torpedo planes had at Midway. The Japanese didn't fare much better.) Which meant Admiral Yamaguchi only had a bare handful of 9 Torpedo Planes left later in the day when he was the only one left to counterattack the Americans. And those 9 took off almost 2 hours after the Dive Bombers because they were so badly shot up they needed repairs badly before they could fly.)The Japanese loss rates to AA fire when attacking the Yorktown later in the battle were even more savage. Contrast that with the Japanese Defenses. For all the planes the Americans lost at Midway, only 2 planes were shot down by Anti Aircraft Fire. I believe Kaga hit one. The second wasn't shot down until the day after the main battle, when the Americans were attacking the damaged cruisers Mikuma and Mogami. All the American losses were air to air kills by Zeros. For pretty much the entirety of the war American pilots had almost no fear of Japanese AA fire. The chances of it hitting anything was so low. Even at the last major sea battle, when they sent the Yamato out to die for Operation Ten-Go. She was loaded with every AA gun they could find enough room for. She sported Japan's best Gun Directors. She and her escorts shot down 10 of the 400+ planes attacking her. One other thing that modern armchair historians often fail to think through is how the Japanese Carriers worked, and how that would have effected a Third Wave. It wasn't send the first wave of everything out, wait for it to get back, rearm refuel and repair send it all out for the second rinse and repeat. Each Japanese Carrier could only spot half their planes for launch at a time. It took ~45 minutes to spot each group. So for the first wave, it was half the planes of each of the 6 Carriers. As soon as they were launched and on their way they began spotting the second wave. Which they had been arming as the first was being spotted and launched. Wave 2 would have launched ~45-60 minutes after wave one. But any third wave would have required landing the first wave. Cycling them down into the hangers to rearm, repair and refuel, then bringing them back up (assuming they didn't have to keep the deck clear for the returning first wave first (see Midway). So to launch a third wave would have needed 1 1/2 to 2 hours after the First Wave returned to the Carriers. That's a lot of time when your enemy is now alert, he may be getting some ships out to sea, and you know he has Carriers out there already at sea and probably within flight range which are undoubtedly looking for you. Yamamoto yelled at Nagumo for not launching a third strike, not targeting the fuel tanks and not finding and attacking US Carriers. What history often gets wrong is Nagumo was correct and Yamamoto was often a childish asshole who liked to lead from behind and second guess. As soon as Nagumo knew that the Carriers were not in port at Pearl, and that they were somewhere within range of sending planes to Pearl it was time to get the hell out of Dodge. They had had an amazingly successful Raid. But getting caught between Land based aircraft from Hawaii and the American Carriers somewhere behind him would have been an act of idiocy. While not a great master strategist nor one talented at on the fly battlefield improvisation, Nagumo was not an idiot. Even if history so often paints him as such. Edit I stand corrected. The Japanese shot down 3 American planes at Midway. The third or rather the first was shot down 2 days before the battle in the middle of the night. 2 Radar Equipped PBY's were jury rigged to carry Torpedo's. They were sent out at night to find the approaching slow moving Invasion Force (Admiral Ogawa's?) of Troop Transports and supplies. They attacked a large cargo vessel (an oiler) One torpedo hit and detonated setting the ship on fire. This was the only successful American Torpedo attack of Midway. The only one to enter the water, hit the target and in a miraculous event, actually detonate. The other PBY was hit by AA fire and did not make it back to base. (Given how well that trick worked you do have to wonder why it would be 2-3 years before it became a regular use for PBY's?)
So modern und inoativ die Kaiserliche Japanische Marine bei der Seeschlacht von Tuschima 1904-1905 war, so altbacken war sie wärend des 2 Weltkriegs,so können sich die Zeiten ändern,der erste großer Fehler war nicht zu warten bis die 2 Super Schlachtschiffe Yamato und Mushachi fertig gestellt waren(01/42) der zweite und wichtigste auf die 3. Welle in Perl Habor zu Verzichten ,und auf dem Rückweg von Perl, die Midway Inseln zu besetzen.
100% Correct answer: The planned third Yamato Class Battleship, that would have followed the Yamato and Musashi was cancelled in place for the "Shinano" class aircraft carrier. For example they didnt call the Panther tank a Panzer IV class because it was on a panzer chassis it's a whole new tank in general
After 4:11, they were ships operated by the IJA, and the concept was similar to modern amphibious assault ships. However, they ware used as a de facto anti-submarine aircraft carrier. Of these, the Kumano Maru transported demobilized soldiers after the WW2.
Can someone answer this question? Why did the Japanese Navy paint these giant red "meatballs (as they were called) " (of course I know they are rising suns) on the decks of their carriers during World War 2? Didn't they know that the U.S. Navy's most effective weapon was the dive bomber would use these as targets? The Douglas Dauntless, which was considered "obsolete" in 1942, took our 4 carriers at Midway by slamming bombs through carrier flight decks. Although the U.S. was terrible at first at inflicting airborne torpedo damage (the Japanese were great at this), why did they make it easy for the U.S. by painting red targets on their flight decks? It makes no sense.
The SBD (Scout Bomber Douglas) Dauntless, also known as "Slow But Deadly", was hardly obsolete by 1942. Rugged, manuverable, great handling and excellent dive characteristics, could carry a substantial bomb load. It was well used in the Pacific until mid-1944, when it was replaced by the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver (which had poor handling characteristics compared to the Dauntless, but was quicker). The Dauntless sunk more enemy shipping in the Pacific than any other Allied bomber, and actually had a superior win-loss ratio against all enemy aircraft by the time it was replaced, which is rare for a bomber. You Might be thinking of the Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers that had torpedos that failed 90% of the time, which were already obsolete by the time of Pearl Harbor, and of which only 6 of 40+ returned to carrier at Midway. They were removed from service following that battle. As for the big meatballs, i'm not sure if any pilot ever specifically mentioned aiming for them, but it has been brought up in historical documentaries. They may have used them as targets...Dauntless pilots sure lit those carriers up at Midway.
Japan could’ve won the pacific if they used all their ships in one big group instead of splitting and spreading them all out they went into battle of midway with only around 35-50% of their strength and got crippled when they lost their best fighters and sailors all in one day. Sometimes numbers win over experience it’s a battle of resources if you have expendables. Kido butai and ijn was good at what they did
Crazydiamond Requiem not in 1942. The US was pumping out quite a few subs and destroyers and escort carriers but they were more for defensive purposes at this time of the war. Plus the US has to supply ships for both the Pacific and Atlantic.
Japan never had a chance. The turning point in the war when things started going against them, wasn't Midway, but Pearl Harbor. Even they knew they couldn't win a war against America. The hope was that the US wouldn't want to go to war and instead sue for peace or some sort of truce. When that didn't happen, they knew it was just a matter of time. All Midway did was lessen the war maybe a couple of years, but with our atomic bombs, even that's speculative.
Mark16:15 think you’re missing key points. 1. Japan did have a chance at “sue for peace”. I think this is what most consider a “win” for the IJN. 2. The loss didn’t happen at Pearl. The loss was indeed Midway. 3. The opportunity for the IJN to sue for peace was after a Midway victory. 4. The IJN eliminated US battleships at Pearl. The IJN had 11 battleships at time of Midway. The US had 0. This is where the IJN blew it. Had they used their battleships properly there is no way the US could have won at Midway. The IJN’s vessel strength was ridiculous. 11 battleships plus Yamato. They could have had several battleships up front with destroyer escorts and even subs leading the way. Battleships would shell Midway. Carriers are trailing behind. Planes can catch up to battleships and provide CAP. 21 cruisers for IJN and only 8 for US 64 destroyers vs 15 in favor of IJN. The IJN could have had 3 more carriers at Midway also. Zuikaku, Ryujo, and Junyo. Would have added over 150 planes. The mixture of planes would or should have been different too. More fighters vs bombers. Vessel vs vessel combat was necessary. Even at the beginning. Night fighting should have been used by the IJN.
You cannot blame the Japanese for losing so many ships against the US. To me they already tried their best against a highly competent and technologically advanced opponent. This was not the corrupt Russian fleet they were up against in Tushima.
All the other ships after Shinyo are technically Imperial Japanese Army not IJN. Ships like the Akitsu Maru could launch but could not land planes so they were used more as transports for troops and equipment.
Chai Wei Jun I know for sure one survived the entire war and was used as a transport ship for a few year after the war ended, do you know which one that was.
They launched 27 carriers total, I think maybe 6 of them survived the war, but were mauled in port by Yank carrier born fighter bombers, they were left unseaworthy due to constant air attack, lack of fuel, trained pilots, parts and even steel to get them operational.
Well Japan in past and now is completely different in the past they have a lot of aircraft carriers but now they just have heli carriers and Japan is still under pressure from U.S.A So sad bro 😭😭
@@dani.zambomagno yeah towards the end they got shot down more than they got replaced. also the Americans had managed to capture a virtually intact Zero, allowing them to figure out its weaknesses.. including of the non-existent armour protection for vitals parts eg tfuel systems and the cockpit
Ray Mowery interesting fact: m.economictimes.com/events/navy-marks-battle-of-midways-70th-anniversary/battle-of-midway-japanese-messages-were-written-using-45000-five-digit-numbers/slideshow/13844708.cms The Japanese outnumbered US in fleet by 4-1 during battle of Midway. And they were much more experienced, especially the aviators.
@@angelamagnus6615 I was 5 years old at the time. My father ran the projector at one of our 3 movie houses in hard coal eastern Pennsylvania, and took me with him every Saturday to the double-cowboy movie matinee. I was too young to appreciate what was going on, but now sometimes awake at night, realizing that most of those Japanese pilots still in the air, and had nowhere to land with their carriers gone. Enemies then, allies now. World turned upside down!
Ray Mowery ,,119” more like 80~90 Aircraft Carrier from 1942 to 1945 August, the rest are finished after the war. The Japanese can reached 1/2 or 1/3 with Naval Air Power against US Navy. Also the Japanese built 30 Aircraft Carrier and other 6 Carrier are not finished.
@@yoseipilot the USA built 45 bogue class, 50 more Casablanca class Escort carriers, 9 independence class light carriers, (the Trainers IX 64 and IX 81,) 17 fleet carriers essex class and tinconderoga sub-class Oh and actually the US started with 8 CVs and 1 CVE (uss long Island CVE 1, all her 8 sisters where sold to brittain) And fun Story, ever heard of 'USS Robin'? You wont find her in Wikipedia or somethink because she actually is HMS Victorious
Question, why the IJN Houshou, the first Aicraft Carrier to be commissioned, and the Mother-of-all Aircraft Carriers around the world was scrapped instead of being kept as a museum ship.
If it's not for the brits, even their legendary hero Mikasa won't be preserved. Shes basically rotting when a foreigner noticed how much of a waste she would be before the Japanese government realized they should keep her.
And Powerful than US Combined fleet of Carriers. China would be doomed in 2020 if these Japanese Carriers exist as modern Aircraft Carriers nowadays-2020.
@@bernardarquiza3332 Japan has 2 'helicoper destroyers' (we dont talk about the 3rd which is Just what the name says) ready to be converted to aircraft carriers, with F35s as Main air wing
Japan is not a small country. It is considered a large country with huge population (80 million). It just lacks crucial raw materials like metal and oil as well as picking a fight with continental size opponent like US.
I just kept thinking sunk, sunk, sunk, sunk... Then I saw one and I said sunk by a nuke test, sunk, sunk, sunk. Did any capital ships survive? Are there any museums?
@@shoukatsukai Thanks. That is a shame some how. Despite the motivations and politics the IJN was human history. I'm always moved by being near functioning historic war machines.
Japan began the Pacific war with 10 carriers (6 fleet carriers) while US only has 3 (the other 3 are in Atlantic). You can see why the Japanese think they have a chance... Correction: I believe US has nine carriers (5 fleet carriers).
Japan knew they would not win a long term war. Their hope was to win a decisive battle and force the Americans to come to peace terms. Japan only had 1 fleet carrier building in 1942 while the US had over a dozen Essex class carriers in their shipyards (these carriers were superior to any other carrier in the world once they came out). The best Japan could have hoped for if they lost no carriers at Midway was parity if not a partial disadvantage (since American CV airgroups were larger than Japanese airgroups per carrier)
