Japanese seaplane tenders/Oilers 1919-1922: Notoro*, Shiretoko, Erimo, Sata, Tsurumi*, Shiriya, Irō 1922-45. IJN Notoro and Tusurumi were rare case of seaplane carriers, born oilers, and returned back to oilers, the first in 1942, the second in 1931. But during their service for the IJN as seaplane carriers they brought a lot of experience in this … Read more
Escort Aircraft Carrier (Launched 1934 as SS Scharnhorst, converted 1942) Shin’yō (“Divine Hawk”) was an escort carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). She had been originally converted from the German ocean liner Scharnhorst (launched 1934) trapped in Kure when war broke out in 1939. The captain knew that any attempt to return to Germany … Read more
Escort Aircraft Carrier (Launched 1939 as Argentina maru, converted 1943) IJN Kaiyō (海鷹, or Sea Hawk) was an escort carrier operated of the Imperial Japanese Navy, converted in wartime from the ocean liner Argentina Maru (launched in 1939 at Mitsubishi). She was purchased on 9 December 1942 for conversion into an escort carrier, commissioned on … Read more
