Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga
Kaga was built in 1921 as a Tosa-class battleship. She was converted to an aircraft carrier under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. Kaga’s aircraft first supported Japanese troops in China during the Shanghai Incident of 1932. She took part in the Pearl Harbor raid in December 1941 and the invasion of Rabaul in January 1942. In June 1942, Kaga and three other IJN carriers were attacked by American aircraft from Midway and the carriers Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown. Dive bombers from Enterprise severely damaged Kaga; when it became obvious she could not be saved, she was scuttled by Japanese destroyers.
About Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga in brief
Kaga was built in 1921 as a Tosa-class battleship. She was converted to an aircraft carrier under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. Kaga’s aircraft first supported Japanese troops in China during the Shanghai Incident of 1932 and participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War in the late 1930s. She took part in the Pearl Harbor raid in December 1941 and the invasion of Rabaul in January 1942. In June 1942, Kaga and three other IJN carriers were attacked by American aircraft from Midway and the carriers Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown. Dive bombers from Enterprise severely damaged Kaga; when it became obvious she could not be saved, she was scuttled by Japanese destroyers to prevent her from falling into enemy hands. In 1999, debris from Kaga including a large section of her hull was located on the ocean floor northwest of Midway Island. In 2019, RV Petrel discovered her wreck on the Ocean floor. She is the only carrier ever to be designed with three superimposed flight decks, the only carriers ever toBe designed so. It is believed that the Japanese copied the British model, but there is no evidence that it was a case of convergent evolution by the Japanese. The utility of her middle flight deck was so short that only some of the lightly loaded aircraft could use it, even in an era when aircraft were much lighter and smaller than they were during World War II. At any rate, during the 1930s, the growth in aircraft performance and weight meant that even the lightest aircraft could not use the middle deck, which was only about 15 meters long and started in the bottom of the bridge, and her lower flight deck of approximately 55 meters long.
The ship figured prominently in the development of the IJE’s carrier striking force doctrine, which grouped carriers together to give greater mass and concentration to their air power. The loss of Kaga at Midway, was a crucial setback for Japan, and contributed significantly to Japan’s ultimate defeat. She had a length of 238. 5 meters overall, a beam of 31. 67 meters and a draft at full load of 7. 92 meters. She displaced 26,900 long tons at standard load, and 33,693 long tons at full Load, nearly 6,000 long tons at full load. Her complement totaled 1,340 crewmembers. She was officially commissioned on 31 March 1928, but this signified only the beginning of sea trials. She joined the Combined Fleet on 30 November 1929 as the IjN’s third carrier to enter service, after Hōshō and Akagi. Kaga was completed with a length of 238.5 meters overall and a beam of 31.67 meters and aDraft at full load of 7.92 meters. She was originally intended to be one of two Tosa class battleships, and was launched on 17 November 1921 at the Kawasaki Heavy Industries shipyard in Kobe. The formal decision to convert Kaga to aircraft carrier was issued 13 December 1923.
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This page is based on the article Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 08, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
