Japanese aircraft carrier Soryu
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| Missing image Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Soryu.jpg Soryu in January 1938 | |
| Career | 
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|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | November 20, 1934 |
| Launched: | December 23, 1935 |
| Commissioned: | December 29, 1937 |
| Fate: | Sunk by air attack at the battle of Midway, June 4 1942 |
| Struck: | 10 August 1942 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 15,900 tons (standard), 19,500 tons (full load) |
| Length: | 728 ft 5 in (222 m) |
| Beam: | 70 ft (21 m) |
| Draught: | 24 ft 5 in (7.44 m) |
| Propulsion: | Geared steam turbines, 4 screws, 152,000 hp (113 MW) |
| Speed: | 34.5 knots (63.9 km/h) |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 1,250 |
| Armament: | Twelve 5 inch (100 mm) guns Twenty-six 25 mm guns Fifteen 13.2 mm machine guns |
| Aircraft: | 73 |
Soryu (Japanese: 蒼龍 sōryū, meaning "blue (or green) dragon") was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor and was sunk at the battle of Midway.
Soryu was built at Kaigun Kosho, Kure, Japan and commissioned on December 29, 1937.
At the outbreak of the Pacific War, commanded by Captain Yanagimito Ryusaku, Soryu was one of six carriers making up the Striking Force that attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. She launched two waves of air strikes against the US Naval base. Her first wave targeted Nevada, Tennessee, and West Virginia with armour-piercing bombs and Utah, Helena, California, and Raleigh with torpedoes, as well as attacked grounded aircraft at Barbers Point. Her second wave targeted California, Raleigh, Kaneohe and Navy Yard installations.
From 21 December to 23 December 1941 Soryu launched air strikes against Wake Island.
In January 1942 she supported the invasion of the Palau Islands and the Battle of Ambon. On 19 February 1942 Soryu launched air strikes against Darwin, Australia. In March 1942 she took part in the Battle of the Java Sea, helping sink the US tanker Pecos.
In April 1942 Soryu took part in the Indian Ocean raid, launching air strikes against the Royal Navy base at Ceylon on 5 April 1942, and helping to sink the Royal Navy cruisers Cornwall and Dorsetshire. On 9 April she helped sink the British carrier Hermes and the escorting Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire.
On on 19 April 1942 she pursued the American carriers Hornet and Enterprise after they launched the Doolittle Raid, but without success.
In June 1942 Soryu was one of six carriers with Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's First Carrier Striking Force in the battle of Midway. On 4 June 1942 launched one wave of planes against the American base on Midway Island. At 10:25 while preparing to launch a second strike against an American carrier group, she was attacked by thirteen dive bombers from the American carriers Yorktown, Enterprise and Hornet. Soryu received three direct hits on her elevator, starting fires and exploding the armed and fueled planes on the hangar deck. At 10:40 she stopped and her crew were taken off by the destroyers Isokaze and Hamakaze. Soryu sank at 19:13 with the loss of 718 crew, including Captain Ryusaku, who had chosen to remain on board.
External links
- Tabular record of movement (http://www.combinedfleet.com/soryu.htm) from combinedfleet.com (http://www.combinedfleet.com/)
- US Navy photos of Soryu (http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/japan/japsh-s/soryu.htm)
- WW2DB: Soryu (http://ww2db.com/ship_spec.php?ship_id=11)de:HIJMS Soryu