Japanese aircraft carrier Kaiyo

300px Kaiyo
Career (Japan)
Name:	Kaiyo
Launched:	9 December 1938
Commissioned:	23 November 1943
Decommissioned:	20 November 1945
Fate:	Scrapped, 1 September 1946
General characteristics
Type:	Escort carrier
Displacement:	13,600 t (13,400 long tons) (standard) 16,483 t (16,223 long tons) (loaded)
Length:	166.6 m (546 ft 7 in)
Beam:	21.9 m (71 ft 10 in)
Draft:	8 m (26 ft 3 in)
Installed power:	52,100 shp (38,900 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × Kampon geared steam turbines 2 × shafts
Speed:	23.8 kn (44.1 km/h; 27.4 mph)
Complement:	829
Sensors and processing systems:	Type 21 radar
Armament:	8 × 127 mm (5.0 in) dual purpose guns 24 × 25 mm (0.98 in) anti-aircraft guns
Aircraft carried:	24

Kaiyo (海鷹) was a escort carrier operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. The ship was launched on 9 December 1938 as the ocean liner Argentina Maru. After the defeat at Midway, the Japanese Navy was in need of new carriers, and it was decided to convert the liner Argentina Maru into a carrier, starting 10 December 1942. Her diesel engines were replaced by destroyer-type turbines. After the conversion was completed on 23 November 1943, she was renamed Kaiyo. During the war, the ship was mainly used as an aircraft transport. On 10 February 1944, the American submarine USS Permit made a night attack on Kaiyo; unfortunately for Permit's crew, however, the torpedoes missed. On 19 March 1945, while moored at Kure naval base, Kaiyo was hit by an American air raid which caused flooding. On 18 July, Kaiyo hit a mine which caused moderate damage. On 24 July, in the allied attacks on Kure, the ship was hit by British aircraft from HMS Victorious, this time causing severe flooding and the crew decided to ground the ship in Beppu Bay to prevent sinking. Low-level air strikes by Okinawa-based B-25J Mitchell medium bombers of the USAAF's 38th Bomb Group on 9 August further damaged the carrier, despite extensive use of camouflage netting and foilage. After the war, Kaiyo was refloated and scrapped from 1946-1948.

References

• Endgame: The Final Strikes on Japan 10th July to 15th August, 1945