This thread will collect my drawings of japanese escort carriers that served with either Imperial Japanese Navy or Imperial Japanese Army during WWII.
They will be:
-IJA Yamashio Maru (done)
-IJN Shimane Maru (done)
-IJN Shinyo (done)
-IJN Taiho, Chuyo and Unyo
IJA Yamashio Maru:
Built for the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) to provide cover for his troop transports was commissioned on 27 january 1945, but sunk just 21 days after by US aircrafts before she could be used as a carrier; armament after conversion consisted in 25mm anti-aircraft machine guns and a depth charge projector on the forecastle, the airwing was formed by 8 Kokusai ki-76
She was a converted tanker and her unfinished sisters Chigusa Maru and Zuiun Maru will eventually serve in their first intended role after the war.
![[ img ]](http://www.shipbucket.com/Real%20Designs/Japan/CVE%20Yamashio%20Maru%201945.png)
IJN Shimane Maru:
Built for the IJN Shimane Maru was another converted tanker, modifications where keep to minimum, a flight deck with a small hangar was fitted and the other serious work consisted of rerouting the funnel to the starboard side, so because the tanks where not affected by the conversion Shimane Maru could still be used as a tanker other than a carrier; the airwing was to be composed of Yokosuka K5Y1, nicknamed Aka-Tombo, or red dragonfly, for its bright orange paintjob.
Her career was short and she never operated aircrafts, completed on 28 February 1945 she was sunk on 24 July 1945 by British aircraft and dismantled in 1948; of her three intended sisters only Daiju Maru was completed (and renamed Ryuho Maru) as a tanker after the war, Taisha Maru construction was canceled, while Otakisan Maru sunk after hitting a mine before beign commissioned.
![[ img ]](http://www.shipbucket.com/Real%20Designs/Japan/CVE%20Shimane%20Maru%201945.png)
IJN Shinyo (as of 1943):
originally built as the german ocean liner SS Scharnhorst she was converted into an escort carrier after the Battle of Midway and eventually commissioned with the IJN in november 1943, Shinyo was armed with four twin 5-inch guns and 30 25mm machine guns in ten triple mounts, the hull was bulged to improve stability and the airwing as built consisted in Nakajima B5N "kates" and Mitsubishi A6M "Zeroes/Zekes"; except for the replacement of the original high-pressure bilers with conventional water-cooled ones Shinyo retained the Scharnhorst machinery and the 22knots top speed.
![[ img ]](http://www.shipbucket.com/Real%20Designs/Japan/CVE%20Shinyo%201943.png)
IJN Shinyo (as of 1944):
in july 1944 she recieved 20 extra 25mm machine gun mounts reaching a total of 50 barrels, her airwing was reduced to only 14 B5N "Kates"; she was sunk in november 17th 1944, torpedoed by USS Spadefish, her aviation-gas tanks exploded turning the carrier into a blazing inferno, 1.000 to 1.130 of the 1.200 men of the crew perished int he sinking.
![[ img ]](http://www.shipbucket.com/Real%20Designs/Japan/CVE%20Shinyo%201944.png)
![[ img ]](http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/4780/japankokusaiki76.png)
