The Ships of Battlegroup: Japan Hiryu (CV)

Displacement	17,300 tons	Belt Armor	2.2 inches
Overall Length	746 feet	Deck Armor	Nil
Beam	88.5 feet	Aircraft Complement	73
Speed	34.3 knots	Main Guns	12 × 5″

Laid down on July 8, 1936, launched on November 16, 1937 and commissioned on July 5, 1939, Hiryu is often treated as the modified sister ship to Soryu but she was beamier and 2,000 tons heavier. The name "Hiryu" means "Flying Dragon". An unusual feature was, as with the earlier Akagi, the location of the ship’s "island." Hiryu was supposed to operate in conjunction with her carrier division partner, Soryu and it was felt that air traffic control would be enhanced if the aircraft upon take off would marshal in opposite directions. So Soryu’s island was constructed on the "standard" side of the flight deck, that is, to starboard. She would travel on the portside of the formation with Hiryu and upon take off her aircraft would circle to port. This put Hiryu’s island to the portside of the flight deck and her air group circling to starboard. This was an interesting concept, but wartime experience showed it to be an unnecessary complication. Another notable feature was starboard funnels that were below flight deck level and vented downward.

Japan started World War II in the Pacific with the best-trained aircrews and some of the best carrier aircraft in the world. Their problem was that as the veterans fell, there were no experienced aircrew to replace them and Japanese industry proved unable to produce reliable new aircraft models in the quantities to fight a total war. Hiryu participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor, assisted in the second (successful) attack on Wake Island and made devastating raids across the Pacific and in the Indian Ocean (where her aircraft joined in the sinking of the Hermes ).

Her career was cut short by the Battle of Midway. As the four Japanese aircraft carriers were recovering a strike on Midway Island, the initial American carrier strike smashed the Akagi, Kaga and Soryu as their planes were being rearmed and all three carriers later sank. Hiryu survived and launched two strikes, which seriously damaged the Yorktown (CV-5), which was later sunk by a Japanese submarine. In the late afternoon, dive bombers from Enterprise scored four direct hits on Hiryu , which burned uncontrollably. The still burning hulk was sunk by Japanese destroyer torpedoes the next day, June 5, 1942.

For contemporary foreign aircraft carriers, see: Ark Royal and Enterprise .

Where did we get all these fascinating historical tidbits and factoids? See the Bibliography for the culprits.