Pictured is the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano
In the Pacific theater of World War 2, all sides of the war have a number of battleships in the limelight, or made great achievements, or have their own unique experience, one of the most concerned of which is probably the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano, which set a record for the shortest-lived aircraft carrier in human history, from the first voyage to be sunk only 17 hours, its sinking also shows that in the face of the United States, the Japanese combined fleet can no longer return to the sky, the collapse of Japan is only a matter of time.
The picture shows a model of the Usshino aircraft carrier
Before the start of the Pacific War, Japan had the most powerful naval strength in the Pacific at that time, and even caused tragic losses to the US Pacific Fleet in the Pearl Harbor Operation, but in the later battles such as the Battle of Midway and the Battle of Mariana, the Japanese Combined Fleet suffered a heavy blow, a large number of aircraft carriers were sunk, and basically lost the ability to resist the attack of the US army. At that time, Japan happened to have a hull that could be converted into an aircraft carrier, and it was the Third Yamato-class battleship Shinano that began construction in 1940 and was later stopped due to lack of resources.
The picture shows the aircraft carrier Shinano
In September 1942, the construction of the Shinano, which was planned to be converted into an aircraft carrier, was resumed, and was expected to be completed in February 1945, but in the subsequent naval battles, a large number of warships of the Japanese Combined Fleet were damaged, the shipyard chose to give priority to the repair of the damaged warships, the construction of the Shinano was interrupted for several months, and in 1944 the Japanese Combined Fleet was defeated in the Battle of Mariana, and the aircraft carrier strength was extremely lacking, so a strict order was issued that the Shinano must be completed within 1944. Under pressure, Japanese shipyards rushed to work day and night, and ignored a large number of secondary construction processes and tests, which eventually became an important reason for the short life of the Shinano aircraft carrier.
On November 19, 1944, Shinano announced that it was launched, but at this time it only had basic navigation capabilities and required a lot of outfitting to operate normally, so on November 27, Shinano left the Yokosuka Shipyard and went to Kure Port Shipyard to avoid U.S. bombing and outfitting, and the ship's captain, Abu Toshio Daisa, immediately set off with the aircraft carrier and more than 2,500 sailors, and soon after Shinano left the harbor, he encountered the U.S. Navy submarine U.S. Navy. The submarine was waiting to rescue the American pilot who might have been shot down, and then its radar malfunctioned and was forced to float to the surface for repairs, and just after the repair, the captain, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph, saw the figure of the Shinano from the periscope, and the Shinano also found the American submarine, but Toshio Abe had no intention of fighting, and ordered the aircraft carrier and the formation to advance at full speed in an attempt to shake off the American submarine.
The picture shows an oil painting of the Shinano number
However, shortly after the full-speed voyage, the shinano engine spindle failed, resulting in a decrease in speed, followed by the U.S. submarine in the early morning of November 28 to catch up with the Shinano, the water fish immediately fired 6 torpedoes at the Shinano, 4 of which hit, exploded a 10-meter-wide opening in the Shinano's body, but Abu Toshio believed that the four torpedoes would not pose a threat to the huge aircraft carrier, so he ordered the aircraft carrier to continue sailing, delaying the damage pipe time, and finally at 10:48 a.m. on November 28, The carrier Shinano sank, killing 1,435 sailors.
Why was this huge aircraft carrier sunk by just 4 torpedoes? In fact, the reason is very simple, that is, at that time, the aircraft carrier was not completed at all, many cabin doors could not be closed, or even no doors at all, resulting in the inability to prevent the infiltration of seawater through the watertight cabin, and the Shinano had not yet installed a large water pump, and could only rely on a small number of manual water pumps to pump water outwards, and the sailors responsible for piloting the aircraft carrier at that time were not well trained, and it was impossible to organize effective damage pipes.