Wreck of HIJMS Akagi (赤城)

 Second World War 1939-1945, military, navy, aircraft, shipwreck, aircraft carrier

Laid down in December 1920 as the second ship of the Amagi Class of Battlecruisers, the construction of the Akagi was halted in February 1922 by Japan's signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, which severely curtailed tonnage allotments for warships in the Imperial Fleet. The partially completed Akagi remained dormant at the Kure Naval Arsenal for over a year while Japanese naval officials debated what to do with her hull, finally using provisions in the treaty which allowed conversion of two existing Battleship or Battlecruiser hulls into Aircraft Carriers as the basis for the completion of the Akagi and her sistership Amagi as Fleet Carriers.

At the time of her launch in 1925, the Akagi had become the sole member of her class after the Amagi was severely damaged in the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. Commissioned into Imperial Japanese Navy service in March 1927, the Akagi's unusual hull design featuring three separate flight decks on three separate levels required several months of operational training and evaluation before she entered frontline service with the Carrier Division 2 in November 1927. After only four years in service, the Akagi's complex design proved to be more of an impediment to her operation than anything else and in December 1931 she was placed into second class reserve status and spent the next four years rarely leaving port before she was placed out of service for major overhaul in November 1935. After three years of extensive overhaul, the Akagi emerged from the yard in 1938 with a single flight deck and capacity for 91 aircraft, along with a unique Portside mounted island. After operating off China in support of Japanese troops fighting in the Second Sino-Japanese War through 1940, the Akagi was made flagship of the First Air Fleet and assigned to Carrier Division 1 in April 1941 in preparation for Japan's upcoming actions against the United States and her Allies.

Joining with the other Carriers of the First Air Fleet at Hitokappu Bay in the Kuriles on November 22nd 1941, the Akagi put to sea on November 27th under strict radio silence as the Flagship of the Pearl Harbor Strike Force, arriving off Oahu ten days later. During the ensuing surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, torpedo bombers from the Akagi sank the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and the USS West Virginia (BB-48) at their moorings while dive bombers and fighters strafed several airfields before returning to their carrier victorious. Returning to Japan at the end of December, the Akagi was quickly outfitted for further operations to press Japan's nearly-uncontested dominance of the South Pacific and sailed for Truk in early January 1942. For the next three months, the Akagi and her crew participated in the Invasion of Rabaul, Kavieng, Davao and Java while also launching air strikes on the Australian mainland at Darwin. After lending her aircraft to the destruction of the British Fleet at Colombo and Trincomalee, the Akagi returned to Japan in late April to undergo upkeep and repairs at Hashirajima in advance of her next mission in Hawaiian waters; the Invasion of Midway.

Embarking Vice Admiral Nagumo in early May 1942, the Akagi became the Flagship of the Carrier Striking Force comprised of Divisions 1 & 2 and stood out of Hashirajima on May 27th bound for Midway as part of a naval armada comprising three other Fleet Carriers, eleven Battleships, thirteen Cruisers, forty five Destroyers and other auxiliaries. Leading the air attack on the American Atoll at dawn on June 4th, the Akagi sent her first wave of aircraft up and prepared for what was expected to be a limited response from the reportedly undermanned and underprepared garrison on Midway. Much to the surprise of the Japanese Fleet and airmen, Midway was found to be heavily reinforced and alerted to the Japanese attack and by the time Akagi's first flight returned to her decks at 0700hrs American planes were in range and beginning to attack the Fleet. Reports from his pilots on the condition of Midway's airfield following the first wave of attacks prompted Nagumo to order all Carriers to rearm their planes for a second strike on Midway, rather than the planned strike at the American Fleet which was still not located. This fateful order sent crews aboard the Akagi and the other carriers frantically changing out ammunition on the aircraft above and below deck, forced to ignore standard ammunition safety practices by the rapid pace of the air operations.

As the crew of Akagi worked to rearm and refuel the planes stowed below decks, the first waves of American Carrier-based aircraft appeared along with several waves of B-17's to attack the Japanese Fleet. While the airborne combat air patrol easily destroyed the slow-moving American torpedo bombers, the B-17's high-altitude bombing runs caused the entire force to perform evasive maneuvering, slowing the rearming and refueling process considerably. As the last of the B-17's withdrew shortly after 0930hrs, Nagumo received word that scout aircraft had located the American Fleet to his East and quickly ordered his bombers to be re-loaded with torpedoes and made ready to attack the US Carriers. Again sparking a flurry of ammunition change-outs below decks, the crew of Akagi raced to comply with the new orders and had begun sending aircraft onto the main deck for launch when a new wave of American Carrier-based planes appeared overhead at 1020hrs. In a coordinated attack, several groups of dive-bombers attacked the Japanese Carrier Force at nearly the same time, overwhelming the ships onboard defenses and airborne fighter cover. Akagi was targeted by three SBD Dauntless Dive-Bombers flying from the USS Enterprise (CV-6) which managed to weave through her anti-aircraft fire and drop their bombs onto the fast-moving carrier at 1026hrs.

The first 1000lb bomb fell wide of the Akagi, landing off her Port midship and showering her bridge in shrapnel and seawater, while a second bomb struck home and punched through the center of the Akagi's flight deck and detonated in her hangar, causing massive damage and starting a large fire among the fully fueled and armed aircraft. The third planes' bomb also hit the Akagi's flight deck, but impacted far enough aft to pass through the deck and enter with water Astern of the ship, where it detonated causing shock damage to the Akagi's center two shafts and jamming her rudders hard to Port, leaving her steaming in wide circles. Within minutes, the Akagi was rocked with several explosions from ordinance in her hangar deck and the large fire quickly became an inferno below decks. With the ship no longer maneuverable and therefore unable to maintain its position in the fleet, Admiral Nagumo was forced to transfer his flag to the Cruiser Nowaki at 1046hrs and departed the Akagi, which remained afloat but heavily aflame. As damage control parties worked to fight the enormous fires gutting the ship, the Akagi was rocked by explosion after explosion as the day progressed and by 1350hrs her engine room crew were forced to abandon their posts, leaving the Carrier dead in the water. Realizing the ship was in serious danger of sinking, the Akagi was ordered abandoned shortly thereafter, with only her Captain and damage control teams remaining onboard after 1600hrs in a last-ditch attempt to save the ship. The Akagi remained afloat and heavily aflame throughout the night of June 4th and into the morning of June 5th, but as she was unable to move under her own power by dawn she was ordered abandoned and scuttled, per orders issued by Combined Fleet Admiral Yamamoto. After her remaining crew were taken off, the Akagi's colors were struck at 0500hrs and she was set adrift before being torpedoed twice by Japanese Destroyers. Still brightly lit by internal fires, the Veteran Akagi quickly settled by the bow and sank at this location at 0520hrs on June 5th, 1942, taking 263 of her crew with her to the bottom.


www.combinedfleet.com/Akagi.htm

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gt1WRk43GU