Copywriting | Eight Hi
Editor| Baxi
USS Shinano
It was a supercarrier built by the Japanese army at a cost of 280 billion yuan during World War II, and it is a veritable maritime mobile fortress. Before it was built, it was defined as the most powerful aircraft carrier in history. Once placed high hopes on by the Japanese army, it was the aircraft carrier Shinano. Why did the Shinano, which was supposed to play a role in turning the tide of the war, become the biggest laughing stock in the history of the Japanese Navy and even in the history of the world warships?
USS Shooting Fish
On November 28, 1944, the U.S. submarine U.S. Submarine U.S. Waterfish was sent on a search and rescue mission near Tokyo Bay. The reconnaissancers suddenly saw a huge black shadow appear in front of them, a huge Japanese aircraft carrier stood in front of them, and the US military seized the opportunity to fire 6 torpedoes in a row. How did the largest aircraft carrier in history become the laughing stock of the world's people after dinner? Let's move on.
The defeat at the Battle of Midway in Japan began to build the Shinano
In 1942, the Japanese suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Midway and suffered heavy losses. The four aircraft carriers Kaga, Canglong, Chicheng and Feilong sank to the bottom of the sea under the strong onslaught of the battle group led by the legendary American aircraft carrier Enterprise. With the successive defeats of the Japanese Combined Fleet in the Pacific War, the Japanese maritime fleet was almost completely destroyed. In order to cope with this emergency and give the Navy a better combat platform, the Japanese government immediately decided to launch a super battleship construction plan. The first is the Yamato, the world's most powerful battleship. Since the Japanese government had hollowed out its home when it was building the Yamato, and the naval defeat in the war, it had to shelve the Yamato that was being built and go back to repairing the entire combined fleet. At this time, the defeated Japanese Navy issued an order that the new super battleship must be completed in 1944. Because the Japanese army did not even have a main aircraft carrier after passing through the Mariana Sea, it was necessary to build the Shinano no matter what. To this end, the Japanese military department also issued an ultimatum to the Yokosuka Shipyard, which was responsible for the construction of the Shinano, and if the Shinano could not be completed in 1944, it would all be sentenced to death for treason.
Dragon aircraft carrier
Akasara Aircraft Carrier
Kaga aircraft carrier
The aircraft carrier Wyvern
To build the tofu slag Shinano aircraft carrier for the shipyard
Such a short construction period is difficult to achieve even in the case of sufficient resources. Not to mention the current shortage of funds, the scarcity of parts and a series of software and hardware equipment are not perfect, and it is simply impossible to complete the task within the specified time. But there is no way, if the aircraft carrier cannot be delivered on time, everyone will have to die, so the workers of the entire shipyard can only face the difficulties. And the Japanese government regarded the construction of the Shinano as the country's top priority, and the shipyard could only renovate the unfinished Yamato. It was in this context that the Shinano began to be built, and in order to achieve this task, the shipyard staff rushed to work day and night, precisely because of the excessive pursuit of speed and neglect of hull quality. Many of the tests of the Shinano aircraft carrier were not completed, and even the most deadly seals were quickly completed without testing, which also laid the hidden danger for the tragedy of the Shinano.
shipyard
The aircraft carrier Shinano was completed
After completion, the standard displacement of the Shinano is 62,000 tons, and the full load displacement will reach a terrifying 72,000 tons. With a hull length of 266.6 meters, a width of 38.9 meters and a height of 18.92 meters, the ship looks like a small island from a distance. The maximum capacity can reach 120 aircraft, equipped with 12 main boilers, 4 steam turbines, and the maximum horsepower is 153,000 horses. Eight 127 mm high-level guns and 145 25-mm anti-aircraft guns were added. Not only that, shinano also added 17,000 tons of steel to the hull, turning the shinano into a maritime mobile fortress. As the largest aircraft carrier in World War II, the Usshino aircraft carrier seems to have become the last straw for the Japanese Navy, so the question arises, even if the Shinano is no matter how powerful, can it carry the offensive banner of the Japanese Navy alone?
Shinano
U.S. forces bomb Japanese soil
At this time, the US military planned to bomb Tokyo, and a large number of B29 bombers gathered on Saipan in the Pacific Ocean and began bombing Japanese territory. In November 1944, the U.S. military began bombing the Yokosuka Shipyard in Tokyo Bay, and although the Shinano was so strong that it was difficult to sink it by aerial bombardment, it could not avoid being damaged. Therefore, on November 27, 1944, the Japanese Navy issued an order to sail the Shinano to the Kure Port Shipyard to avoid American attacks. What more than 2,500 officers and men on board Shinano did not expect was that Shinano's first voyage to sea also became its last.
B29 bomber
Shinano was launched for the first time
The Shinano departed under the escort of three destroyers, Hamakaze, Isokaze, and Snowwind. Not long after its voyage, shinano spotted an American submarine lurking nearby. The submarine is the U.S. military's U.S. submarine, the largest number of submarines produced during World War II, with a total of 131 searches. With a nuclear capacity of 60 people, a total of 95 meters, and a displacement of 2375 tons, this submarine was the main submarine type used by the US military in maritime operations at that time. When Shinano's captain Abu discovered the U.S. submarine, he believed that the U.S. military had learned of their plans, and that the submarine had been sent by the U.S. military to spy on intelligence, so as to obtain the location of the Shinano and then call the bomber to attack. Captain Abu thought for a moment, then immediately gave the order to move at full speed towards the Wugang Shipyard. The WaterFish saw that the Japanese aircraft carrier was within reach, and increased horsepower followed close behind. However, both sides have misjudged, which is not the case.
Snow Wind Destroyer
The Shinano broke the spindle during its journey
In fact, the submarine of the Water Fish was operating in the waters of Tokyo Bay solely to search for the American pilots on the damaged B29 bomber, so it is a complete coincidence that the Water Fish met the Shinano. It is reasonable to say that the Shinano traveled at a speed of 27 knots, and the Shooting Water Fish was completely unable to catch up with the speed of only 18 knots. Just as the Sakai was about to abandon its pursuit, an accident occurred, and the Shinano's rough workmanship was eventually overwhelmed, and a spindle suddenly failed during the exercise, causing the speed of the voyage to be directly reduced to 15 knots. The radar of the Izumi submarine suddenly showed that the Shinano had slowed down, as if it were waiting for itself, so the Izumi fish chased forward at full speed to find out.
The Water Fish fired 6 torpedoes at Shinano
Finally, it caught up with Shinano in the early hours of November 28. I thought that the WaterFish was boldly pursued, and there were other US fleets nearby to support it, but the radar showed that there were no U.S. warships within a few hundred nautical miles around, so that the Waterfish was panicked, but at this moment, the Waterfish was not the most panicked but Shinano. Seeing that the Water Fish was catching up, Shinano's captain Abu also thought that the Shinano had entered the encirclement of The US submarines, so he ordered a turn in panic. Shinano's turn was so bad that the entire hull was exposed to the Attack Range of the Sakai. The shooting water fish was confused at once, isn't it obvious to send it to the door to let it fight? Regardless of what medicine the Japanese aircraft carrier hulu sold, the Water Fish seized this great opportunity and immediately adopted the attack mode and fired 6 torpedoes in a row. Four of the six torpedoes hit the Shinano, and the Shinano hull was directly blasted out of a 10-meter-long opening, and the sea rushed into the cabin in an instant. The Submarine Sheshuiyu, unaware of the situation, left the site immediately after firing the torpedo, without even having time to see how much damage the torpedo had caused.
Ships that enter the water
The 280 billion Shinano sank to the bottom of the sea in 17 hours
It is reasonable to say that an aircraft carrier of Shinano's class was harmless from a few torpedoes. Both Shinano Abu and The Shooting Fish think that even if the cabin is flooded, it is only necessary to close the corresponding watertight hatch door, and then open the drainage system to pump the water out. But don't forget the conditions under which the Shinano was completed, and the rough work made the watertight cabin and drainage system a decoration, and there was no way to stop the seawater from pouring into the cabin. After being hit, shinano continued to drain the carrier at full speed in order to leave the danger zone as soon as possible. However, when the soldiers closed the watertight cabin door, they found that the closed hatch still had a gap of three centimeters, and the slow drainage was really a drop in the bucket for the influx of sea water. The Shinano was severely inclined due to the severe inlet of water, and eventually the power chamber was also poured into the seawater, so many boilers could not operate, resulting in no power. Six hours after being hit by a torpedo, shinano, which had only been on its first voyage for a total of 17 hours, sank completely to the bottom of the sea at 10 a.m. on the 28th. Of the more than 2,500 people on board, 1,400 were buried on the seabed, including Captain Abu.
shipwreck
Japan has thus become the laughing stock of the world
Japan has since set an embarrassing world record of building the world's largest and shortest-lived aircraft carrier to date. As the world's largest aircraft carrier at that time, the aircraft carrier Shinano lasted for 4 years and cost 280 billion yen, which can be described as the aircraft carrier of the century built by all of Japan's financial and material resources, but it was sunk by 4 torpedoes in 17 hours of sailing, which became a joke in the world. Why is the Shinano, known as a sea-moving fortress, so vulnerable? On the one hand, the aircraft carrier completed in order to rush the work has no appearance, the details and facilities are not perfect, and the tofu slag project that is pieced together from the east and west cannot play a great role in naval warfare even if it is not hit by the torpedo of the US submarine Shooting Water Fish. On the other hand, the overall officers and men of the Shinano were uneven in their war literacy, and when they encountered enemy attacks, they were chaotic and did not cooperate with each other to resist the enemy and resist the water. Instead, they blindly fled for their lives at a critical moment, eventually causing the behemoth to sink to the bottom of the sea. The sinking of the Shinano also heralded the defeat of the japanese war. Justice may be late, but it will never be absent.