shinano (aircraft carrier)

信濃

Shinano was an Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier during World War II.

Originally laid down as the third Yamato-class battleship, after the losses suffered at the Battle of Midway her half-completed hull was converted into an aircraft carrier. Construction was expedited after further losses during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and Shinano was launched on October, 8th 1944 at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal. She was commissioned on November 19th, and dispatched nine days later to Kure Naval Base to complete her fitting out. En-route Shinano was torpedoed by American submarine USS Archerfish, and because much of her water-tight fixtures and damages-control equipment was not operational, she flooded and sank on November 29th, 1944. Shinano remains the largest warship to be sunk by a submarine.

See also