Japanese Aircraft Carriers, 1920-1945

Japanese Aircraft Carriers offers a detailed technical history of 29 Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) carriers, from pioneering designs like Hosho to the improvised builds of wartime necessity. Richly illustrated and grounded in policy and operational context, this essential reference fills a long-standing gap in English-language coverage of IJN carrier development.

The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was an early proponent of naval air power and commissioned the world’s first purpose-designed aircraft carrier, the Hosho, in 1922. Following Hosho was a series of one-off designs of widely different sizes, some converted from capital ships, some designed from scratch, but no two of them alike until the Shokaku class completed just before the outbreak of the Pacific War. As with much Japanese warship design in the 1930s, these ships often exhibited highly original thinking, with some unique experiments like placing the island on the port side in a couple of ships. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese carrier forces dominated the naval war but the catastrophic losses at Midway in June 1942 forced the IJN into many makeshift measures to rebuild carrier numbers, including converting both naval auxiliaries and merchant ships, and producing an austere design of fleet carrier intended for series production.

Japanese Aircraft Carriers covers the technical characteristics of 29 ships, featuring a chapter for each ship and illustrated with over 200 photos, plans, line drawings, and color camouflage schemes. The book also includes an introduction to naval aviation policy and a summary of the carrier actions in the Pacific War, with appendices on weaponry, radar, camouflage schemes and naval aircraft.

While Japanese aircraft carriers played a significant role in naval history, they often lack in-depth English-language coverage; this book addresses this gap by providing a comprehensive and accessible analysis in a concise format.