Photos WW2 Japanese Forces

[NebrHogger]

Japan had the first dedicated aircraft carrier = Hosho, 1922. Shown here before deck structures were relocated.

Hosho undergoing sea trials, Dec. 1922.

Shown here during the invasion of China ca. 1937. Hosho in foreground - Akagi can be seen behind. By this time all structures had been relocated from the main deck per IJN protocol.

Type 10 biplane - first type carried by Hosho.

B4Y Biplane used for recon and anti-submarine patrols - even at Midway.

The deck wasn't strong enough for later torpedo bombers, so Hosho was used in a training mode until late in the war when it was laid up in Kure.

Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[BravoZulu]

Japan had the first dedicated aircraft carrier = Hosho, 1922. Shown here before deck structures were relocated.

HMS Furious enters the chat in 1918

 

[uktabber]

THESE PICTURES should be in Aircraft Carrier thread!!! GREAT PICS, Thanks for posting

 

[F.L.]

Captured Ki-84 (S17) & Beech SNB on USS Long Island (CVE-1) (1945)

 

[BravoZulu]

Kamikaze pilots, Chōshi airfield, 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

Type 95 tanks in dug in firing positions, Eniwetok Atoll 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

Troops marching in formation, Yasakuni Shrine, Tokyo, April 1945.

 

[NebrHogger]

Kaiten suicide torpedoes.

Pilot shouting something - possibly "Banzai!"

Pilots heroically waving swords while departing for a mission.

Test launch from a light cruiser.

Schematic - not sure which type is shown.

Illustration of two kaiten secured to a transporting submarine.

A number of the approx. 300 kaiten built that never saw service.

The kaiten concepts most notable success - an American tanker filled with aviation fuel sunk near Ulithi. The transporting submarine reported it as an American carrier sunk.

It was not a successful concept by any means. Many trainees died learning to operate the craft. One of the types was accessible to the pilot only by crawling into a belly hatch which was bolted shut behind him. I tend to claustrophobia, and the idea creeps me out!

Kaiten were powered by a 2 cylinder engine that ran on kerosene or diesel and oxygen. A few used hydrogen peroxide and hydrazine hydrate - a lethal combination!

Kaiten - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[BravoZulu]

Japanese officers on Attu Island, Alaska, circa 1943

 

[colin traveller]

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[colin traveller]

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[TheKiwi]

Japan had the first dedicated aircraft carrier = Hosho, 1922. Shown here before deck structures were relocated.

HMS Furious enters the chat in 1918

HMS Furious was first built as a Battlecruiser before being rebuilt as a carrier. Hosho was built as a carrier from the keel up.

 

[colin traveller]

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[RisingStar]

Japanese civilians training with bamboo spears to be used against the Americans/Allies in a predicted invasion of Japan, aka Operation Downfall (1945)

 

[BravoZulu]

Lead ship of her class of battleship, Yamato is hit by a bomb (note on photo) near her forward 460mm (18.1") gun turret, during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, 24 October 1944.