History of Kaga
Kaga is a heavy aircraft carrier in imperial Japan of the 1920s and 1940s. Converted from a scrap ship in accordance with the Treaty on the Reduction of the Navy (1922) of the 2nd Corps of the battleship Tos. As part of the 1st (aircraft carrier) division of the Navy in the 1930s and 40s. took part in the Chinese conflict (the occupation of Shanghai) and the fighting of the first period of the Pacific War (attack on the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy and the Far Eastern British Fleet and offensive operation on Midway). During the fighting in the summer of 1942, he was damaged by five air bombs, left by the team as a result of fires and destroyed by a torpedo guards attack.
After the imperial government of Japan signed the International Treaty on the Limitation of the Navy (1922), the Ministry of the Navy decided to complete the construction of a high-speed cruising ship.
Amagi-Akagi pair as heavy aircraft carriers. Due to severe damage to the second tuned Amagi cruiser, in order to complete the creation of a pair of heavy aircraft carriers, it was decided to replace it with an intact Kaga battleship hull. Under the influence of the layout of the first-generation British fleet aircraft, the three-level organization of the flight of the landing deck and bow landing sites became a characteristic feature of aircraft carriers of the first generation of imperial Japan of the 1920s.
The main goal of re-equipping the Kaga-Akagi heavy carrier pair was the need to quickly get the second generation of smooth-deck aircraft carriers in the Navy, capable of operating high-speed monoplanes coming into service of the aviation of the 1930s and incorporating a heavy aircraft carrier, approximately equal in design to the latest AB project “Lexington”. In addition to lengthening the aft and mounting a single flight deck, the restructuring included a partial replacement of the power plant and redesign of the smoke exhaust system to improve driving performance. The artillery scheme was completely revised with the dismantling of turret gun mounts and the installation of the sponsored air defense group and the rapid-fire MZA model of the 1930s.
Due to the large amount of work required on the battleship’s hull, the Kaga aircraft carrier was transferred to the ship’s reserve at the end of 1933 and in the summer of 1934 was the first to launch two-year modernization. The ship was introduced to the dock of the Navy shipbuilding plant (Sasebo district) until the fall of 1936.
After replacing the internal pair of Kawasaki-Curtis licensed turbines (model 1896) with turbo-gear units of the GUK Naval Forces project of the 1920s. GEM power increase amounted to 35 thousand hp, which, however, was offset by an increase in the length and mass of the advanced battleship. The ship began to meet the requirements for second-generation aircraft carriers, but the speed (about 28 knots) remained the lowest among aircraft carriers in Imperial Japan, which raised concerns about limiting the combat mobility of aircraft carrier formations.
The ship was handed over to the Navy in the summer of 1936 and transferred to the 1st ACE of the 1st Fleet, becoming the largest aircraft carrier in Imperial Japan until Sinano AB. In the winter of 1938-39 the ship underwent another small modernization, with an increase in the area of hangars and a flight deck, improvements to the superstructure and aerofinisher.
With the outbreak and rapid expansion of the conflict in China in the summer of 1937, Imperial Japan sent the 1st (“Ryujo” – “Shoe”) and the 2nd (“Kaga” AB) to the 3rd Fleet of the Navy in the East China Sea DAV Navy. Both naval aviation formations from Sasebo County crossed the East China Sea to arch. Zhoushan about 100 miles from Shanghai. The airborne warheads of both divisions were armed with obsolete “90” biplanes (model 1930), and the Kaga airborne warheads partially had more modern “95” bombs (model 1935). The task of the fighter divisions was to maintain air superiority over the city, where the headquarters of the airborne assault brigade of the Navy “Shanghai” and the port parking of ships, to ensure the occupation of the city and prov. Jiangsu.
The only heavy AV Kaga, did not have time to approach the time of the Kuomintang Air Force’s major raid on Shanghai on September 14, 1937, but the next time suffered heavy losses from the Kuomintang aviation. The squadron of torpedo aircraft of the Kaga airborne warhead (3rd-rank captain Ts. Iwai) was armed with outdated biplanes. According to the testimony of the IA comasco (3rd-rank captain T. Sibat), the torpedo bomb commander demanded fighter cover, but the personnel underestimated the enemy and was confident in their ability to repel air defense forces on their own. On 15-16.8.1937, in two sorties over the Pudong area, the torpedo-squadron of the KAG airborne warhead lost a company (8 “89” units, captain-lieutenant S. An) torpedo-bearing and a couple of nosedive aircraft.
A week later, on 8/22/1937, the IA squadron received the first company of the latest “96” monoplanes (6 units, Navy lieutenant M. Nakajima). 4-5.9. 1937 in battles with the Kuomintang IA (F11C “Curtis”) in the delta of the river. The Yangtze Company of Captain Lieutenant M. Igarashi knocked down the top three and five of the enemy. According to the representative of the Headquarters at the headquarters of the 3rd Fleet of the Navy (2nd-rank captain E. Siro), thanks to the assistance of the naval aviation, ground combat operations in the city took no more than five days. At the end of September, the 2nd SAE was assigned to the Sasebo district, where the squadron of the Kaga airborne warheads was fully re-equipped with the 96 monoplane.
Until the end of 1938, the division was based on Fr. Taiwan (Taipei), from where, together with the coastal air brigade of the Navy in China, it supported the airborne assault units of the Navy and ground units of the Ground Forces moving towards Nanjing. Since the spring of 1938, naval strike aircraft of the 3rd Fleet of the Navy conducted an attack on provincial railway junctions. Hebei. 12/12/1938 the group came under attack from the Kuomintang Air Force (12 units SS.37 “Gloucester”). On April 15, 1938, to cover the strike groups over the Bayun military airfield (Guangzhou), the Kaga airborne warhead raised two IA companies (6 units of 96 monoplanes, 5 units of 95 biplanes). In a battle over a target, companies were shot down to the squadron (15 units) of the enemy when three pilots were lost. At the end of the summer of 1938, the reconnaissance of the Naval Aviation Brigade received information about the concentration of enemy aircraft at the Nam-yun airdrome (the area of the Guangzhou-Hankou railway line near Jiangxi). When hitting the airfield on 08/30/1937, six dive-bombers of the Kaga airborne warhead and cover of an undetermined number were hit by two squadrons (21 F11C Curtis units) of the Kuomintang Air Force. According to the combat report of the dive aviation commander, naval aviation announced up to 20 units. victories (4 unconfirmed) in the death of two pilots.
According to the memoirs of the watch assistant of AB “Kaga” in 1937-38. (Navy lieutenant M. Itakura), in connection with participation in hostilities, discipline fell severely on the ship, there were cases of brutal bullying, leaving units and suicides of personnel, theft and drunkenness on board. At the base, the command staff arranged for the illegal drinking of alcoholic beverages, and after returning from the combat area, the command was forced to take harsh disciplinary measures against personnel and command personnel.
