The Japanese Aircraft Carrier Shinano

On 4 May 1940 the third Yamato-class battleship was laid down at the Navy Shipyard in Yokosuka. It was to be named Shinano, after a province on the Honshu island, in Nagato prefecture. That was also the name of the longest river in Japan (320 km). Admiral Yamamoto was born at its banks. Due to material supply difficulties, in December 1940 the construction was suspended. In 1942, after Japanese defeat at Midway (four aircraft carriers were lost) it was decided to continue the construction of the ship as an aircraft carrier, in order to partially make up for losses suffered in this class of ships. The rebuilding scheme was designed by Vice Admirals Keji Fukuda and Seichi Izamura. The hull was almost complete, so there were no interferences in the size and displacement. In place of the barbettes of the main artillery and part of armor aviation fuel tanks of capacity of 720,000 liters were installed. The tanks were armored with steel plates and layer of concrete. In the hull magazines of ammunition and spare parts for aircraft were built. Apart from participation in combat operations Shinano was to serve as logistic center for smaller carriers. On the deck a single-store hangar, 153,4 m long and 33,8 m wide was built. The hangar had two elevators, one on the bow and stern each. The hangar could house up to 120 aircraft. The carrier air group consisted of up to 50 aircraft, the remaining aircraft were intended as replacement for other carriers. The hangar was divided by fire curtains. The rear part was intended for the carrier air group, and the remaining two-thirds were intended for overhauls and storage of remaining aircraft. The ventilation devices and their outlets were, for the first time on a carrier, armored with 37-mm plates.

84 pages
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Insert – 1 double sheet b2 with the scheme1:350, 1:150, 1:100
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