Wreck of HIJMS Hiryū (飛龍) | Second World War 1939-1945, military, navy, aircraft, shipwreck, aircraft carrier

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

HIJMS Hiryū was the second member of the Sōryū Class of Aircraft Carriers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy, laid down in July 1936 and commissioned into active service in July 1939. At the time of her completion, she bore little resemblance to her sister HIJMS Sōryū as a result of changing Japanese Carrier Doctrine, she was over 2000 tons heavier, four feet wider and most notably had her island placed aft on her Port Side, a feature intended to aid in Fleet Carrier operations but in reality led to increased turbulence and onboard landing accidents. Nonetheless, the Hiryū and her crew assumed the role of a Fleet Carrier and promptly began intensive training and exercises in preparation for war with America and her Allies.

Assigned to Carrier Division 2, 1st Air Fleet in April 1941, the Hiryū joined with the other Fleet Carriers in mission-specific training for the upcoming attack on Pearl Harbor and joined the rest of the Striking Force at Hitokappu Bay in the Kuriles in late November 1941. Standing out of Hitokappu for Hawaiian waters on November 27th, the Hiryū and the Japanese Fleet arrived off Oahu ten days later and sent their aircraft up shortly before dawn on December 7th, 1941 to make a surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet. The Hiryū sent two waves of fighters and bombers into the fray and lost several of her aircraft before the mission was called off, and after recovering her remaining air wing the Hiryū turned West with the Japanese Fleet and departed the area victorious. Detaching from the Fleet with her sister Sōryū to launch two days of airstrikes on Wake Island en route to Japan, the Hiryū touched at Kure Naval Yard for ten days before returning to combat as a member of the Southern Carrier Air Force and began operations in the Philippines in company with the Sōryū. Through April 1942 the two sisters remained in company and supported the Invasion of Java, launched airstrikes on Darwin and played a major role in the destruction of the British Eastern Fleet at Trincomalee, with her aircraft sharing credit for the sinking of the Carrier HMS Hermes (95), Cruisers HMS Cornwall (56) and HMS Dorsetshire (40) and the Destroyer Escort HMAS Vampire (D68).

After hastily departing the Indian Ocean for Japanese Home Waters on a failed intercept of the American Task Force which had launched airstrikes on Tokyo, the Hiryū returned to Japan for brief refit and reprovisioning period in advance of her next mission which would see her again in Hawaiian waters, this time off Midway. After steaming with Sōryū to Hashirajima in mid-May, the Hiryū stood out May 27th as part of an large Japanese Naval Armada consisting of three other Fleet Carriers, eleven Battleships, thirteen Cruisers, forty five Destroyers and other auxiliaries, all bound for Midway Atoll in advance of a large invasion force. Reaching their launch point and at dawn on June 4th, 1942, the Hiryū and the rest of the Carrier Striking Force sent their first strike aloft to attack Midway Atoll at 0430hrs. As the mornings strikes progressed, the Hiryū and the Carrier Force came under repeated American air attack, but thanks to Veteran fighter pilots providing air cover and skillful seamanship, none of the Carriers were damaged for the loss of several dozen American planes, and by 1000hrs the second major airstrike on Midway was being staged for launch from the four ships.

The arrival of American Divebombers went all but unnoticed by Japanese lookouts thanks to patchy cloud cover and the frenzied pace of onboard activity until it was far too late. Starting at 1025hrs, American planes made a single coordinated attack which totally destroyed three of the Japanese Fleet Carriers in the space of fifteen minutes, aided heavily by the fully fueled and armed Japanese planes sitting on the Carriers decks and inside their hangars. Spared the carnage which had befallen her fellow Carriers, the Hiryū emerged from the American attack unscathed and within 30 minutes had planes aloft to hunt down and Destroy the American Carrier sighted by scout planes.

As her first wave of bombers exacted revenge on the USS Yorktown (CV-5), the Hiryū merged with the rest of the Japanese Fleet for protection from further air attack and sent wave after wave of scout planes aloft to hunt down the rest of the US Carrier force. As her first wave returned to her deck claiming to have sunk a Yorktown Class Carrier, the Hiryū's scout planes came upon the seemingly undamaged USS Yorktown which had been repaired and regained headway thanks to her crew's strenuous damage control efforts. Reporting that they had sighted a second Carrier, the Hiryū prepared a second strike wave to attack the 'new' target which was sent up at 1245hrs. The Hiryū's second flight again battered the USS Yorktown and knocked her out of the fight for good before again returning to the Hiryū claiming to have sunk a second US Yorktown Class Carrier. Admiral Nagumo assumed the reports to be confirmation that the USS Enterprise (CV-6) and USS Yorktown (CV-5) had been destroyed and sent orders to rearm all of the Hiryū's aircraft, and several 'orphan' planes from other Carriers which had landed aboard Hiryū, to prepare for a final strike against the remaining US Fleet which he assumed was without air cover and highly vulnerable to air attack.

Aboard Hiryū, hard-learned lessons which were being realized aboard her fellow carriers burning to the waterline only miles away were ignored, as fuel lines snaked across her deck and hanger and live ordinance was stacked on deck and loaded onto planes crammed into every available inch space in preparation for their next mission. As the Japanese force began their turn into the wind so Hiryū could begin her flight operations at 1700hrs, lookouts sighted American planes closing overhead, quickly identified as Carrier-based Divebombers. Thirteen SBD Dauntless's from the USS Enterprise (CV-6) quickly sighted the large Hiryū at the center of the Japanese formation and wasted no time in diving on the Carrier before it could begin its evasive maneuvers. The planes formed a into straight line and dove onto the Hiryū, whose gunners were unable to drive off her attackers before each plane released its 1000lb bomb and broke off. Within seconds three of the bombs slammed into the Hiryū's bow, walking Astern and penetrating her flight deck before detonating in her hangar. A fourth bomb landed directly alongside of the island, also detonating in her hangar among the dozens of fully fueled and armed planes. Almost immediately the Hiryū was shaken by numerous secondary explosions, one of which blew her forward aircraft elevator into her island structure. Leaking aviation fuel fed enormous fires which quickly grew out of control even as damage control crews raced to contain them, but heavily damaged fire mains in the forward section of the Carrier hampered their efforts. By 1705hrs, the Hiryū was no longer part of the Battle of Midway.

Veering out of formation and heading due West to keep the wind from fueling the fires in her bow, the Captain of the Hiryū chose to make 28 knots in an effort to outrange the American planes and in doing so provided more than enough oxygen to spread the fires aft on his ship. Ammunition explosions and fuel vapor detonations rocked through the ship as she raced West, but her damage control teams managed to keep the majority of the flames localized in her bow area while other crew jettisoned weaponry and aircraft over her Stern to lighten the ship. As the night wore on, the constant stream of explosions eventually opened up bulkheads which allowed heavy smoke and fire to enter the Hiryū's engineering spaces which were abandoned at 2100hrs. Dead in the water at 2123hrs and brightly lit by the flames still consuming her bow, the Hiryū was joined by the Destroyers HIJMS Kazagumo and HIJMS Makigumo which began removing all non-essential crew. As damage control teams fought a losing battle against the flames throughout the night, fires eventually reached the forward ammunition magazine and set off a massive detonation aboard the Hiryū at 0153hrs on June 5th which caused the entire forward bow to collapse and prompted the final order to abandon ship. With her Captain and Rear Admiral Yamaguchi electing to remain onboard, the Hiryū was torpedoed by the HIJMS Makigumo at 0510hrs and left to her fate.

At daybreak on June 5th, scout planes from the Light Carrier Hosho were surprised to find the Hiryū still defiantly afloat and burning below decks. Dozens of crew were seen onboard trying to flag down the plane, which prompted the HIJMS Tanikaze to be dispatched to rescue the last survivors from the Carrier. However before she could arrive onscene the Hiryū finally gave out and sank bow-first in this area at 0912hrs, taking some 383 of her crew with her to the bottom. Of the remaining 70 men still alive when she sank, only 35 survived several days floating in the Pacific before they were rescued by the US Navy and spent the rest of the war as POW's.


www.combinedfleet.com/hiryu.htm