Shipbucket

Wonderful drawings of a great ship. I wonder why the flight deck stopped so far short of the bow.

A couple other carriers had similar traits initially, but they were corrected in subsequent refits. Guess that's what made Furious unique.

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

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I think this scan illustrates it well. Being built on battle cruiser hulls limited the width somewhat.

That's nice pic, that black space on both sides of elevator... what they are ?

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Nobody expects the Imperial Inquisition!

They be funnels Rhade.

Funnels ? ... from engine room ?

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Nobody expects the Imperial Inquisition!

Yeah if you look at the drawings on the port and starboard side there are grills at the stern that where used when flying was taking place.

Hmm... I notice grills at the stern but I was thinking that those on deck was from hangar ventilation or something.

Well, everyday something new. Thx Bombhead.

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Nobody expects the Imperial Inquisition!

I wonder if the Akagi had such restrictions in flight-deck width, being built from a battlecruiser hull.

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R.I.P. Admiral Furashita.
May you sail to glory forever. *salutes*

Its due to design differences. In the USN, the use of arresting gear allowed a higher aircraft recovery rate. An aircraft would land, the barrrier would be lowered and the aircraft would taxi forward to either be lowered on the elevator or be pushed toward the bow. Aircraft had to be pushed toward the bow because they could be recovered faster than the elevator could cycle. This method allowed the practical use of a large airgroup.

The RN did not use arresting gear early on. They let the landing aircraft roll to a stop on the flight deck. The raised forward section of the flight deck of these ships was due to the need to have a ramp or incline that would help bring an aircraft to a halt, if necessary. After the aircraft stopped, it was taken to the elevator and struck below. Only then was the next aircraft allowed to land. Needless to say, this required a considerable amount of time. It also made the use of large airgroups impractical.

Due to the long recovery times, the RN had a need to launch fighters and recover strike aircraft at the same time. That's why their early carriers have the lower launching ramp/deck. The need to provide sufficient clearance for the launching fighter on the lower deck required that the upper flight deck stop early in the fighters take-off run. Also, the fine lines of the battlecruiser bow wouldn't allow the flight deck to run all the way to the bow (probably about as far as the bow 4-inch mount in the 1943 drawing) without causing considerable trimming by the bow.