Aircraft Carrier Hiryu

Hiryu (飛龍, "Flying Dragon") was a fleet aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the second ship built in the Second Fleet Replenishment Program of 1934. Although closely related to Soryu, Hiryu incorporated significant design improvements — most notably a larger hull, higher freeboard, and a relocated island superstructure on the port side, mirroring Akagi — which made her handling characteristics noticeably different from her sister. For these reasons, she is often classified as the sole member of the Hiryu class rather than a Soryu-class vessel.

Hiryu was laid down on 8 July 1936 at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, launched on 16 November 1937, and commissioned on 5 July 1939. She displaced 17,600 metric tons standard and reached a top speed of 34.5 knots, making her one of the fastest carriers in the world at the time. Her air group typically comprised around 57–64 aircraft, including A6M Zero fighters, D3A Val dive bombers, and B5N Kate torpedo bombers.

Hiryu participated in many early-war operations as part of the First Air Fleet (Kido Butai), including the attack on Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941), the second attack on Wake Island (December 1941), the bombing of Darwin (February 1942), strikes against the Dutch East Indies, and the Indian Ocean Raid against British forces in Ceylon (April 1942). By the time of Midway, her crew was among the most seasoned in the IJN.

At the Battle of Midway (4 June 1942), Hiryu was assigned to Rear Admiral Yamaguchi Tamon's Second Carrier Division alongside Soryu. When American aircraft from USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown devastated Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu in a span of minutes, Hiryu alone remained operational. Yamaguchi immediately launched two counterattack waves — first 18 D3A dive bombers, then 10 B5N torpedo bombers — that located and repeatedly hit USS Yorktown, ultimately forcing her crew to abandon ship. However, late in the afternoon of 4 June, 24 SBD Dauntless dive bombers from Enterprise found Hiryu, hitting her with four bombs and igniting catastrophic fires among her loaded aircraft. Attempts to save her through the night proved futile. In the early hours of 5 June, after the crew abandoned ship, the destroyer Makigumo fired a scuttling torpedo at about 05:10 (scuttling position approximately 31°38′N 178°51′W). Hiryu stayed afloat for several more hours and finally sank at around 09:12. Rear Admiral Yamaguchi and the ship's captain, Kaku Tomeo, chose to remain aboard and perished with the ship.

The loss of Hiryu completed the destruction of all four fleet carriers in the Kido Butai at Midway. Together with Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu, the four ships and their irreplaceable air groups represented the core striking power of the IJN's offensive capability. Midway proved the decisive turning point of the Pacific War.