Introduction to falcon

Kashiwabara Maru and Izumo Maru have a designed tonnage of 27,500 tons, a speed of 24 to 25 knots and about 890 passengers. Compared with the dilapidated "South American immigrant ship" of Japanese mail ship or Toyo steamboat, the biggest feature of these two ships is that the grade of interior decoration and the comfort of riding have been greatly improved, and they are truly international standard mail ships. The Japanese proudly call it "an unprecedented large passenger ship in China".

During this period, Japan has fallen into the quagmire of the war of aggression against China, and everything in the military sector should take "obeying the needs of war" as the most fundamental premise. The construction of these two mail ships is no exception. When designing the hull, the Japanese military took 60% of the investment as a condition, and considered the ability to be converted into an aircraft carrier in wartime. The watertight compartments in the hull are arranged according to the standards of warships. Some large cabin panels are thick and have large space, which can be used as hangars, ammunition depots and aviation fuel depots of aircraft carriers after being removed. During the renovation, the upper cabin can be removed and installed on the flight deck. The flue can also be tilted to the right, which is convenient for the installation of ship island buildings. On March 20th, 1939, Shui Yuan Maru started construction at Mitsubishi Shipyard in Nagasaki. In the same year165438+1October 30th, Izumo started construction at Kawasaki Shipyard in Kobe.

With the full-scale outbreak of the war of aggression against China, the Tokyo Olympic Games was cancelled, and the 12 Olympic Games was decided to be held in Helsinki, Finland (it was not held in the end due to the Soviet invasion of Finland and the outbreak of World War II). 1940, the Japanese army announced the requisition of these two mail boats and converted them into aircraft carriers at the berth. 194 1 June, two ships were launched one after another. Xiu Yuan Maru was renamed Falcon and Izumo Maru was renamed Eagle. Because the construction started nine months late, there were not so many special equipment for passenger ships to be dismantled, but the eagle was launched two days earlier. The modified Falcon and Eagle have a displacement of 24100/28,300 tons and a speed of 25.5 knots, and can carry 53 fighters. As a passenger ship, it is not as good as a regular aircraft carrier in terms of protection and speed.

The eagle class was modified in 1942 with a speed of 25 knots. After the completion, it was incorporated into the same air force, and the speed could not keep up with the main aircraft carriers of the first, second and fifth air forces. However, due to the loss of the main carrier of the Japanese navy in the naval battle of midway, Eagle Strike II became the main carrier in the middle and late period of the war and appeared on the battlefield many times.

1June, 942, "Falcon Eagle" and "Dragon Boat" were incorporated into the Northern Army to participate in the Aleutian Islands Raiders. After the four aircraft carriers of Nanyun Mobile Force were destroyed, Yamamoto had planned to send these two aircraft carriers to the south for support, but he gave up because of the short time. The two ships continued to carry out the original plan, bombing Dutch ports and nearby American bases, and supporting the northern fleet to occupy Artu and Kiska Island.

1942, 10 In June, two ships were incorporated into the forward troops commanded by Lieutenant General Shinjuku Kondo to participate in the naval battle in Santa Cruz Islands. 65438122 October, the main engine of Eagle broke down and was protected by two destroyers and returned to the base. In the subsequent air and sea battles, Falcon's carrier aircraft sank the American aircraft carrier Hornet. This naval battle was also the last tactical victory of the Japanese navy in the carrier war, but it lost more carrier-based aircraft than the US military, and unlike the US military, Japan could not afford such heavy losses.

The following year, Japan contracted its defense lines and reorganized its fleet to prepare for war.

1 In June, 944, two eagle-class ships were incorporated into the 2nd Air Force of1Mobile Fleet to participate in the Mariana naval battle. Because the pilot's skills were poor, the Japanese army was defeated again, and the Eagle was sunk on the afternoon of the 20th. Falcon was hit by a torpedo on its way back and returned to Japan for maintenance, so it did not participate in the Battle of Leyte Bay until the war broke out. 1944.