Shimane Maru class escort aircraft carrier

"Shimane Maru" was a class of auxiliary escort aircraft carriers of the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II.

The class consisted of two tankers that were very minimally converted by the Army to provide minimal air cover for troop convoys. Conversion consisted of fitting a full length flight deck, small hangar, and a single elevator. An island and catapults were not installed. The only other change was the rerouting of the boiler uptakes, run aft to the stern, where they discharged to starboard.

Four additional conversions were reportedly considered but not carried out. The ships were to have been operated under Army command, carrying Army aircraft. Although both ships were launched, neither entered active service before being destroyed.

hips in class

* - Laid down by Kawasaki on 8 June 1944, and launched on 17 December 1944. She was completed on 28 February 1945, but was wrecked by British aircraft on 24 July 1945. Her hulk was also mined, then scrapped at Naniwa in 1948.

* - Laid down by Kawasaki on 18 September 1944, and launched on 14 January 1945. Her construction was 70% completed when she drifted onto a mine on 25 August 1945 and sank. Her hulk was scrapped at Kobe in 1948.

References

* [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/ijn_cv.htm#shim-cl "Shimane Maru" Aircraft Carrier from Hazegray.Org]
* [http://www.voodoo.cz/ww2car/ships/japan/shimanemaru.html "Shimane Maru" Aircraft Carrier from Voodoo.cz]
* [http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0223.htm "Shimane-Maru" type merchant carriers from Nifty.com]