Japanese aircraft carrier Shōkaku
Shōkaku was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the lead ship of her class. Along with her sister ship Zuikaku, she took part in several key naval battles during the Pacific War, including the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands before being torpedoed and sunk by a U. S. submarine at the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The Shōkaku-class carriers were part of the same program that included the Yamato-class battleships. No longer restricted by the provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty, which expired in December 1936, the Imperial Japanese Navy was free to incorporate all those features they deemed most desirable in an aircraft carrier, namely high speed, a long radius of action, heavy protection and a large aircraft capacity. Shōkaku was laid down at Yokosuka Dockyard on 12 December 1937, launched on 1 June 1939, commissioned on 8 August 1941. With an efficient modern design, a displacement of about 32,000 long tons, a top speed of 34 kn, Shōkaku could carry 70–80 aircraft.
Her enhanced protection compared favorably to that of contemporary Allied aircraft carriers and enabled Shōkaku to survive serious damage during the battles of the Coral Sea and Santa Cruz. In appearance, Shōkaku resembled an enlarged Hiryū, though with a 35.3 m longer overall length, 4.6 m wider beam and a larger island. As in Hiryū, the forecastle was raised to the level of the upper hangar deck to improve seakeeping, she had a wider, more rounded and flared bow which kept the flight deck dry in most sea conditions. The carrier's forefoot was of the newly developed bulbous type, sometimes referred to informally as a Taylor pear, which served to reduce the hull's underwater drag within a given range of speeds, improving both the ship's speed and endurance. Unlike the larger bulbous forefoots fitted to the battleships Yamato and Musashi, however, Shōkaku's did not protrude beyond the ship's stem. Shōkaku was 10,000 tons heavier than Sōryū due to the extra armor incorporated into the ship's design.
Vertical protection consisted of 215 mm on the main armor deck over the machinery and aviation fuel tanks while horizontal protection consisted of 215 mm along the waterline belt abreast the machinery spaces reducing to 150 mm outboard of the magazinesUnlike British carriers, whose aviation fuel was stored in separate cylinders or coffer-dams surrounded by seawater, all pre-war Japanese carriers had their aviation fuel tanks built integral with the ship's hull and Shōkaku was no exception. The dangers this posed, did not become evident until wartime experience demonstrated these were prone to cracking and leaking as the shocks and stresses of hits or near-misses to the carrier's hull were transferred to and absorbed by the fuel tanks. Following the debacle at Midway in mid-1942, the empty air spaces around Shōkaku's aviation fuel tanks pumped full of inert carbon dioxide, were instead filled with concrete in an attempt to protect them from possible damage, but this did little to prevent volatile fumes spreading to the hangar decks in the event damage did occur demonstrated when Cavalla torpedoed and sank her.
Shōkaku stowed 150,000 gallons of AvGas for operational use. The geared turbines installed on Shōkaku were the same as those on Sōryū, maximum power increasing by 8,000 shp to 160,000 shp. In spite of all the additional armor, greater displacement and a 2.1 m increase in draught, Shōkaku was able to attain a speed of just over 34.2 kn during trials. Maximum fuel bunkerage was 4100 tons. Two same-sized downward-curving funnels on the ship's starboard side, just abaft the island, vented exhaust gases horizontally from the boilers and were sufficiently angled to keep the flight deck free of smoke in most wind conditions. Shōkaku's 242 m long wood-planked flight deck ended short of the ship's bow and, just short of the stern, it was supported by two pillars aft. The flight deck and both hangars were serviced by three elevators, the largest being the forward one at 13 m by 16 m, the middle and the rear elevators measured 13 m by 12 m. All three were capable of transferring aircraft weighing up to 5,000 kg and raising or lowering them took 15–20 seconds.
Shōkaku's nine Type 4 electrically operated arrester wires followed the same standard arrangement as that on Hiryū, three forward and six aft. They were capable of stopping a 6,000 kg aircraft at speeds of 60–78 knots. A third crash barrier was added and a light collapsible wind-break screen was installed just forward of the island; the upper hangar had an approximate height of 15.7 feet. Together they had an approximate total area of 75,347 square feet. Hangar space was not increased in comparison to Sōryū and both Shōkaku and Zuikaku could each carry just nine more aircraft than Sōryū, giving them a normal operating capacity of seventy-two plus room for twelve in reserve. Unlike on Sōryū, the reserve aircraft did not need to be kept in a state of disassembly, thereby shortening the time required to make them operational. After experimenting with port-side islands on two previous carriers and Hiryū, the IJN opted to build both Shōkaku and her sister ship Zuikaku with starboard-side
USS Maryland (BB-46)
USS Maryland known as "Old Mary" or "Fighting Mary" to her crewmates, was a Colorado-class battleship. She was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the seventh state, she was commissioned in 1921, serving as the flagship of the fleet, cruised to Australia, New Zealand, Brazil. She is most notable for her service in World War II, she was present on Battleship Row during the Attack on Pearl Harbor, was damaged by Japanese bombs. Returning to duty in 1942, she saw service in the Pacific War, first supporting the rest of the fleet at the Battle of Midway, patrolling the Fiji Islands to guard against Japanese incursion. Next, she went on the offensive, commencing shore bombardments in the Battle of Tarawa and in the Battle of Kwajalein. During the Battle of Saipan she took torpedo damage to her bow, necessitating refits, she participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf where she was hit by a kamikaze. She took another kamikaze hit at the Battle of Okinawa, was under repair at the end of World War II.
After service in Operation Magic Carpet, she was decommissioned in 1947, sold for scrap in 1959. She received seven battle stars for World War II service. Maryland was one of four dreadnought battleships of the Colorado class to be constructed, her keel was laid down on 24 April 1917, by Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 20 March 1920, sponsored by Mrs. E. Brook Lee, daughter-in-law of U. S. Senator from Maryland Blair Lee. F. Preston in command, she was the third ship named for the state of Maryland, the first Maryland was a sloop commissioned in 1799 and the second Maryland was an armored cruiser commissioned in 1905. Maryland had an overall length of 624 feet, she had a mean draft of 30.5 feet. She displaced 32,000 long tons, her armor was 18 inches at its maximum thickness. Her designed, her crew complement consisted of 1,022 men. Maryland's main battery consisted of eight 16-inch /45 caliber Mark 1 guns in four double turrets that were capable of firing 2,110 pounds armor-piercing Mark 3 shells upgraded to 2,240 pounds Mark 5.
Her secondary battery consisted of twelve 5-inch /51 cailber guns as well as four 3-inch /23 caliber guns. She was armed with a pair of 21-inch submerged torpedo tubes, she was outfitted with a new type of seaplane catapult and the first 16-inch guns mounted on a U. S. ship. Following her commissioning, Maryland undertook an East Coast shakedown cruise. Shortly thereafter, Maryland was made flagship of Admiral Hilary P. Jones. Maryland found herself in great demand for special occasions, she appeared at Annapolis, for the 1922 United States Naval Academy graduation and at Boston, for the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill and the Fourth of July. From 18 August to 25 September, she paid her first visit to a foreign port transporting Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes to Rio de Janeiro for Brazil's Centennial Exposition; the next year, after fleet exercises off the Panama Canal Zone, Maryland transited the canal in the latter part of June to join the battle fleet stationed on the west coast.
She continued to be a flagship until 1923. She made another voyage to a foreign port in 1925, this time to New Zealand. Several years in 1928, she transported President-elect Herbert Hoover on the Pacific leg of his tour of Latin America, she was overhauled in 1928–1929, the eight 3-inch anti-aircraft guns were replaced by eight 5-inch/25 cal guns. Throughout these years and the 1930s, she served as a mainstay of fleet readiness through tireless training operations, she conducted numerous patrols in the 1930s. In 1940, Maryland and the other battleships of the battle force changed their bases of operations to Pearl Harbor, she was present at Battleship Row along Ford Island during the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941. On the morning of 7 December, Maryland was moored along Ford Island, with Oklahoma to port, connected by lines and a gangway. To her fore was California, while Tennessee and West Virginia were astern. Further aft were Arizona; the seven battleships, in what is now known as "Battleship Row," had returned from maneuvers.
Many of Maryland's crew were preparing for shore leave at 09:00 or eating breakfast when the Japanese attack began. As the first Japanese aircraft appeared and explosions rocked the outboard battleships, Maryland's bugler blew general quarters. Seaman Leslie Short—addressing Christmas cards near his machine gun—brought the first of his ship's guns into play, shooting down one of two torpedo bombers that had just released against Oklahoma. Inboard of Oklahoma, thus protected from the initial torpedo attack, Maryland managed to bring all her antiaircraft batteries into action; the devastating initial attack sank Oklahoma, she capsized with many of her surviving men climbing aboard Maryland to assist her with anti-aircraft defenses. Maryland was struck by two armor-piercing bombs; the first struck the forecastle awning and made a hole about 12 ft by 20 ft. The second exploded after entering the hull at the 22 ft water level at Frame 10; the latter hit caused flooding and increased the draft forward by 5 ft. Maryland continued to fire and, after the attack, sent firefighting parties to assist her compatriots attempting to rescue survivors from the capsized Oklahoma.
The
USS Vestal
USS Vestal was a repair ship in service with the United States Navy from 1913 to 1946. Before her conversion to a repair ship, she had served as a collier since 1909. Vestal served in both World Wars, she was damaged during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and received two battle stars for her World War II service. The history of USS Vestal began when Erie was authorized on 17 April 1904. Y. Launched on 19 May 1908, Vestal was placed in service as a fleet collier, with a civilian crew, at her builders' yard on 4 October 1909. Vestal served the fleet as a collier, operating along the Atlantic coast and in the West Indies from the autumn of 1909 to the summer of 1910. After a voyage to Europe to coal ships of the Atlantic Fleet in those waters, the ship returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard and was taken out of service at the Boston Navy Yard on 25 October 1912; the ship underwent nearly a year's worth of yard work and was commissioned as a fleet repair ship in 1913 under the command of Commander Edward L. Beach, Sr. USN.
After fitting out, Vestal departed her conversion yard on 26 October for Hampton Roads, where she conducted her shakedown between 29 October to 10 November. After touching at Key West, for coal on 14 November, Vestal moved on to Pensacola, her base for operations as a repair ship for the Atlantic Fleet, she was attached to the Atlantic fleet and served along the east coast and in the West Indies until spring of 1914 when she was dispatched along with other ships for the occupation of the Mexican port of Vera Cruz. The auxiliary vessel provided repair services at Vera Cruz from 2 May to 20 September before she sailed for Boston, escorting the cruiser Salem to the navy yard there for overhaul; as of December 1914, Commander U. T. Holmes was the commanding officer and Lieutenant Commander L. J. Connelly performed as executive officer, Lieutenants E. G. Oberlin and F. M. Perkins serving as staff officers. Vestal operated off the Virginia Capes and in Guantanamo Bay, before she returned to the Boston Navy Yard on 10 June 1915, after calls at New York City and Newport, Rhode Island She took on stores and provisions at Boston and underwent repairs there before she rejoined the fleet at Narragansett Bay on 19 May 1916.
Following the U. S. entry into World War I, Vestal was deployed to Queenstown where she provided services for ships of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla. She stayed there for the duration of the war and beyond returning in 1919. For the next six years Vestal served the Scouting Battle Fleet. During the navy-wide assignment of alphanumeric hull numbers on 17 July 1920, Vestal was classified as a repair ship, AR-4. In 1925 she underwent modification. Soon thereafter, on 25 September, the submarine USS S-51 was rammed and sunk by SS City of Rome and Vestal was called to help recover the submarine. Vestal conducted her salvage operations from October to early December 1925 and again from 27 April to 5 July 1926. During the latter period, the submarine was raised from her watery grave. Following the completion of recovery, Vestal was transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1927; the Pacific Fleet was shifted to a new base at Pearl Harbor following Fleet Problem XXI in the spring of 1940. Vestal made the move and served there until the outbreak of war following the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
After returning to the west coast for an overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, Vestal steamed back to Pearl Harbor, resuming her vital, but unsung, duties. On 6 December 1941, she was moored alongside USS Arizona, at berth F 7, off Ford Island, to provide services to the battleship during her scheduled period of tender upkeep between 6 and 12 December. One day she would go into service yet again; the next day the ordered routine of a peacetime Sunday in port was shattered shortly before 08:00 as Japanese carrier-based aircraft swept down upon Pearl Harbor. At 07:55, Vestal went to general quarters, manning every gun from the 5-inch broadside battery to the.30 cal. Lewis machine guns on the bridge wings. At about 08:05, her 3-inch gun commenced firing. At about the same time, two bombs — intended for the more valuable battleship inboard on Battleship Row — hit the repair ship. One struck the port side, penetrated three decks, passed through a crew's space, exploded in a stores hold, starting fires that necessitated flooding the forward magazines.
The second hit the starboard side, passed through the carpenter shop and the shipfitter shop, left an irregular hole about five feet in diameter in the bottom of the ship. Maintaining anti-aircraft fire became secondary to the ship's fight for survival; the 3-inch gun jammed after three rounds, the crew was working to clear the jam when an explosion blew Vestal's gunners overboard. At about 08:10, a bomb penetrated Arizona's deck near the starboard side of number 2 turret and exploded in the powder magazine below; the resultant explosion touched off adjacent main battery magazines. As if in a volcanic eruption, the forward part of the battleship exploded, the concussion from the explosion cleared Vestal's deck. Among the men blown off Vestal was Commander Cassin Young; the captain swam back to the ship and countermanded an abandon ship order that someone had given, coolly saying, "Lads, we're getting this ship underway." The engineer officer had anticipated just such an order and had the "black gang" hard at work getting up steam.
The e
Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku
Zuikaku was a Shōkaku-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Her complement of aircraft took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor that formally brought the United States into the Pacific War, she fought in several of the most important naval battles of the war, before being sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. One of six carriers to participate in the Pearl Harbor attack, Zuikaku was the last of the six to be sunk in the war. In 1941, under the command of Captain Yokokawa Ichibei, her sister ship Shōkaku comprised Carrier Division 5. On 26 November 1941, she left Hitokappu Bay for the attack on Pearl Harbor as part of the Kido Butai, her aircraft complement consisted of 15 Mitsubishi A6M fighters, 27 Aichi D3A dive bombers, 27 Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers. On 7 December, she launched two waves of aircraft against American military installations on the island of Oahu. In the first wave, 25 dive bombers attacked Wheeler Army Airfield and five fighters attacked the airbase at Kaneohe.
In the second wave, 27 torpedo bombers, armed with bombs, attacked the airbase at Hickam Field and 17 dive bombers targeted the battleships USS California and Maryland on Battleship Row at Pearl Harbor. California sank, while Maryland escaped Pearl Harbor with moderate damage. Zuikaku's aircraft attacked the Australian bases at Rabaul on 20 January 1942 and Lae in New Guinea on 21 January. In April 1942, she took part in the Indian Ocean raid, striking the British naval bases at Colombo and Trincomalee on Ceylon, sinking the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and the heavy cruisers HMS Cornwall and Dorsetshire with the help of Shōkaku. In May 1942, she was assigned along with Shōkaku to support Operation Mo, the invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea. Alerted by intercepted and decrypted Japanese naval messages, the Americans dispatched the carriers USS Yorktown and Lexington to stop this operation. On 8 May 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea, the main carrier forces located one another and launched maximum-effort raids, which passed each other in the air.
Hidden by a rain squall, Zuikaku escaped detection, but Shōkaku was hit three times by bombs and was unable to launch or recover her aircraft. In return and dive bombers from both ships hit Lexington, scuttled by torpedoes from an escorting destroyer. Zuikaku sustained severe losses in aircraft and aircrew; this required her to return to Japan with her sister ship for resupply and aircrew training, neither carrier was able to take part in the Battle of Midway in June 1942. In August 1942, commanded by Captain Tameteru Notomo, Zuikaku was dispatched as part of Carrier Division One along with the repaired Shōkaku and the light carrier Zuihō to oppose the American offensive in the Solomon Islands. On 24 August 1942, in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, her aircraft damaged the carrier USS Enterprise, she was based at Truk for the next few months. On 26 October 1942, in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, her aircraft again damaged the repaired Enterprise, crippled USS Hornet. However, Shōkaku and Zuihō were both damaged by American air attacks, Zuikaku had to recover their surviving aircraft in addition to her own.
Of the 110 aircraft launched by the three Japanese carriers, only 67 returned to Zuikaku. She returned to the home islands via Truk for training and aircraft ferrying duties. In February 1943, she covered the evacuation of Japanese ground forces from Guadalcanal. In May, she was assigned to a mission to counterattack the American offensive in the Aleutian Islands, but this operation was cancelled after the Allied victory on Attu on 29 May 1943. In 1943, under the command of Captain Kikuchi Tomozo, she was again based at Truk and operated against U. S. forces in the Marshall Islands. In 1944, she was based at Singapore. In June, she was assigned to Operation A-Go, an attempt to repulse the Allied invasion of the Mariana Islands. On 19 June, in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Taihō and Shōkaku were both sunk by American submarines, leaving Zuikaku, the only survivor of Carrier Division One, to recover the Division's few remaining aircraft. On 20 June, a bomb hit started a fire in the hangar, but Zuikaku's experienced damage control teams managed to get it under control, she was able to escape under her own power.
After this battle, Zuikaku was the only survivor of the six fleet carriers that had launched the attack on Pearl Harbor. In October 1944, she was the flagship of Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's decoy Northern Force in Operation Shō-Gō 1, the Japanese counterattack to the Allied landings on Leyte. On 24 October, as part of Third Carrier Division, she launched aircraft along with the light carriers Zuihō, Chiyoda in an ineffective strike against the U. S. Third Fleet. Several of these aircraft were shot down, the majority of the surviving aircraft did not return to the carriers, instead landing at Japanese land bases on Luzon. However, some of her aircraft helped sink the light carrier USS Princeton; the next day, during the Battle of Cape Engaño, she launched her few remaining aircraft for combat air patrol, search, or to join the aircraft on Luzon. She came under heavy air attack and was hit by seven torpedoes and nine bombs. With Zuikaku listing to port, Ozawa shifted his flag to the light cruiser Ōyodo.
The
USS Arizona Memorial
The USS Arizona Memorial, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed on USS Arizona during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and commemorates the events of that day. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the island of Oahu led to the United States' direct involvement in World War II; the memorial, built in 1962, has been visited by more than two million people annually. Accessible only by boat, it straddles the sunken hull of the battleship without touching it. Historical information about the attack, shuttle boats to and from the memorial, general visitor services are available at the associated USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center, which opened in 1980 and is operated by the National Park Service; the battleship's sunken remains were declared a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1989. The USS Arizona Memorial is one of several sites in Hawaii that are part of the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. During and following the end of World War II, Arizona's wrecked superstructure was removed and efforts began to erect a memorial at the remaining submerged hull.
Robert Ripley, of Ripley's Believe It or Not! fame, visited Pearl Harbor in 1942. Six years in 1948, he did a radio broadcast from Pearl Harbor in which he stated "I am sure that all my listeners will join with me in tribute to the heroes of Pearl Harbor." Following that broadcast, with the help of his longtime friend Doug Storer, he got in contact with the Department of the Navy. He wrote letters to Rear Admiral J. J. Manning of the Bureau of Yards and Docks regarding his desire for a permanent memorial. While Ripley's original idea for a memorial was disregarded due to the cost, the Navy continued with the idea of creating a memorial; the Pacific War Memorial Commission was created in 1949 to build a permanent memorial in Hawaii. Admiral Arthur W. Radford, commander of the Pacific Fleet, attached a flag pole to the main mast of Arizona in 1950, began a tradition of hoisting and lowering the flag. In that same year a temporary memorial was built above the remaining portion of the deckhouse. Radford requested funds for a national memorial in 1951 and 1952, but was denied because of budget constraints during the Korean War.
The Navy placed the first permanent memorial, a 10-foot -tall basalt stone and plaque, over the mid-ship deckhouse on December 7, 1955. President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved the creation of a National Memorial in 1958. Enabling legislation required the memorial, budgeted at US$500,000, be financed. Principal contributions to the memorial included: $50,000 Territory of Hawaiʻi initial contribution in 1958 $95,000 raised following a 1958 This Is Your Life television segment featuring Rear Admiral Samuel G. Fuqua, Medal of Honor recipient and the senior surviving officer from USS Arizona $64,000 from a March 25, 1961 benefit concert by Elvis Presley $40,000 from the sale of plastic models of Arizona, in a partnership between the Fleet Reserve Association and Revell Model Company $150,000 from federal funds in legislation initiated by Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye in 1961During planning stages, the memorial's purpose was the subject of competing visions; some were eager to keep it a tribute to the sailors of Arizona, while others expected a dedication to all who died in the Pacific theater.
In the end, the legislation authorizing and funding the memorial declared that Arizona would "be maintained in honor and commemoration of the members of the Armed Forces of the United States who gave their lives to their country during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941." The national memorial was designed by Honolulu architect Alfred Preis, detained at Sand Island at the start of the war as an enemy of the country, because of his Austrian birth. The United States Navy specified the memorial be in the form of a bridge floating above the ship and accommodating 200 people; the 184-foot-long structure has two peaks at each end connected by a sag in the center of the structure. It represents the height of American pride before the war, the nation's sudden depression after the attack and the rise of American power to new heights after the war. Critics called the design a "squashed milk carton"; the architecture of the USS Arizona Memorial is explained by Preis as, "Wherein the structure sags in the center but stands strong and vigorous at the ends, expresses initial defeat and ultimate victory...
The overall effect is one of serenity. Overtones of sadness have been omitted, to permit the individual to contemplate his own personal responses... his innermost feelings." The national memorial has three main parts: entry, assembly room, shrine. The central assembly room features seven large open windows on either wall and ceiling, to commemorate the date of the attack. Rumor says the 21 windows symbolically represents a 21-gun salute or 21 Marines standing at eternal parade rest over the tomb of the fallen, but guides at the site will confirm this was not the architect's intention; the memorial has an opening in the floor overlooking the sunken decks. It is from this opening that visitors can pay their respects by tossing flowers in honor of the fallen sailors. In the past, leis were tossed in the water, but because string from leis poses a hazard to sea life, leis now are placed on guardrails in front of the names of the fallen. One of Arizona's three 19,585-pound anchors is displayed at the visitor center's entrance.
One of the two ship's bells is in the visitor center. The shrine at the far end
