Nautical Research Journal
1945, coming from a nation that was only just catching up with the industrial revolution, were an evolutionary dead end, but were still some of the most unique, ingenious and sometimes bizarre ship designs ever attempted. T eir fi rst carrier, Hosho, was the fi rst aircraſt carrier to enter service that was built as such, not converted from another ship.
T is book gives a very worthwhile coverage of every Japanese be
carrier, certainly in more depth than can found in Wikipedia, and copious background
information. It is particularly strong on their technical details and design history. It is illustrated with colour plans as well as photographs that will delight the modeler. T ere is an erudite section on the political background to these vessels, particularly the Washington Treaty, in which the United States and Great Britain imposed greater limits on the building of
carnage. T e battle of Midway could have gone either way: as it happened a squadron of SBD dive-bombers caught four Japanese carriers just as their aircraſt were being refuelled—though poor stowage of fuel and poorly- designed damage control contributed to their loss. T e Imperial Japanese Navy never recovered from the loss of skilled aviators as well as capital ships.
T ere is a thorough glossary, giving defi nitions of the various tonnage measurements. T ere are sections on the gun armament and even the type of radar used on the carriers, and a section on all the types of aeroplane operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. (It omits the Kayaba version of the Kellett autogyro, though admittedly these were operated from Army ships).
Japanese warships
than they did on themselves, which contributed to the alienation of the Japanese Empire from the West. It also, along with the lesser industrial capacity of Japan, led to design compromises which sometimes contributed to the loss of the ships. Nevertheless, many students of naval history believe that the Japanese had some bad luck. Pearl Harbor was a successful execution of precisely the role for which the carrier strike doctrine had been intended, but the American carriers were at sea and so escaped the
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T e only aspect of the book which could have been improved is that the main sections on the individual ships only cover the design and technical matters. Possibly this is the author’s main interest. Akagi and Kaga are lumped together, which is confusing as although their careers were closely paralleled, they were separate classes. T e operational history and fates of all the vessels are described together in one section that feels like an aſt erthought, with the photographs in that section not all aligned with the
Interested in Ship History? 93
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