Shinano Aircraft Carrier Summary

This is a 3D printed sculpt of the Shinano aircraft carrier by EBard Models.

The Shinano was the largest carrier built up to that time. Laid down in May 1940 as the third of the Yamato-class battleships, Shinano's partially complete hull was ordered to be converted to an aircraft carrier following Japan's disastrous losses at the Battle of Midway. The advanced state of her construction prevented her conversion into a fleet carrier, so the IJN decided to convert her into a carrier that supported other carriers.

As a result extreme secrecy, Shinano was the only major warship built in the 20th century that was never officially photographed during its construction. The ship is only known to have been photographed twice.

Shinano incorporated some new ideas: she was designed to load and fuel her aircraft on deck where it was safer for the ship after experiences in the Battles of Midway and the Coral Sea had demonstrated that the existing doctrine of fueling and arming their aircraft below decks was a real danger to the carriers if they were attacked while doing so. 

Construction was expedited after the defeat at the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944. The builder was unable to increase the number of workers on Shinano and could not meet the new deadline. The pressure to finish as quickly as possible led to poor workmanship and short cuts in testing, which is thought to have contributed to her demise.

She was ordered to sail from the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal to Kure Naval Base while not completely finished for final fitting out. She was attacked en route by USS Archerfish, who managed 4 torpedo hits to the starboard side.

The Captain and crew judged the damage to be manageable given the ship's armor strength, which led to lax initial efforts to save the ship. The Captain doubted the sub's torpedoes could inflict serious damage, since he knew that American torpedoes were less potent than Japanese torpedoes. He ordered the carrier to maintain its maximum speed even after the last torpedo hit. This pushed more water through the holes in the hull resulting in extensive flooding. Within a few minutes the ship was listing 10 degrees to starboard and eventually sunk, losing 1435 crew members. The Captain and the navigator choose to go down with the ship just 10 days after commissioning in late November 1944. Shinano remains the largest warship ever sunk by a submarine.

The 1,080 survivors were isolated on a small island until January 1945 to suppress the news of the carrier's loss.

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