Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano
Shinano (信濃) was an aircraft carrier built by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II, the largest such 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 loss of four of its original six fleet carriers at the Battle of Midway in mid-1942. 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.
Shinano underway during her sea trials in Tokyo Bay
Toshio Abe
Archerfish on the surface, June 1945
The Yamato-class battleships were two battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Yamato and Musashi, laid down leading up to World War II and completed as designed. A third hull, laid down in 1940, was converted to an aircraft carrier, Shinano, during construction.
Yamato undergoing trials in 1941
Musashi, August 1942, taken from the bow
The bridge of Musashi
Yamato and Musashi anchored in the waters off of the Truk Islands in 1943