Akagi

1942

Midway, one bomb, the flagship of Pearl Location: Pacific Ocean, NW of Midway Atoll · Coordinates: 30.12°N 179.07°W · Casualties: 267 · Survivors: 1,630 · Depth: 5,490 m · Cause: aerial attack — Struck by a 1,000-pound bomb from a single USS Enterprise SBD Dauntless dive bomber at 10:26 on 4 June 1942 at the Battle of Midway. The bomb detonated among fuelled and armed aircraft on her upper hangar deck. Fires consumed the ship for a full day; she was torpedoed and scuttled by her own destroyers on the morning of 5 June. · Fate: abyssal · located 2019 · Type: aircraft carrier · Tonnage: 36,500 tons · Crew: 1897 · Flag: Empire of Japan · Launched: 1925 Flagship of the Kidō Butai, the Japanese fast carrier strike force that attacked Pearl Harbor. At the Battle of Midway on the morning of 4 June 1942, a single American Dauntless dive bomber planted a 1,000-pound bomb among her fuelled and armed aircraft; she burned all day and was scuttled the next morning. 267 dead; 1,630 survived. Located in 2019 by Paul Allen's RV Petrel at 5,490 metres. The Vessel The Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Akagi was the flagship of the Kidō Butai, the First Air Fleet that was the principal strategic striking force of the Imperial Japanese Navy through the first six months of the Pacific War. She had been originally laid down in 1920 as the second of the Amagi-class battlecruisers but was converted during construction into an aircraft carrier under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. She was commissioned on 25 March 1927 at the Kure Naval Arsenal. As commissioned Akagi displaced 36,500 tons, was 260 metres long, and carried an unusual three-deck flight arrangement derived from early British carrier practice. The 1935-1938 modernisation rebuilt her with a conventional single continuous flight deck, a starboard-side island superstructure, and improved protection. As rebuilt she carried 66 aircraft (18 fighters, 18 dive bombers, 27 torpedo bombers, plus reserves) and could operate them at 31.5 knots, a standard comparable to the American Lexington-class. She served as the flagship of the First Air Fleet under Vice-Admiral Chūichi Nagumo from April 1941. Her air group led the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor as the lead ship of the Kidō Butai's six-carrier strike force. She subsequently participated in the January 1942 raids on Rabaul, the February 1942 attack on Darwin, the March 1942 operations in the Indian Ocean (sinking HMS Hermes, HMS Dorsetshire, and HMS Cornwall), and the May 1942 support of Operation MO. By June 1942 s The Disaster At 10:22 on 4 June 1942, Lieutenant-Commander Richard Best of USS Enterprise's dive bomber squadron VB-6, piloting a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber at 6,000 metres altitude, identified Akagi as his target. Akagi's flight deck at that moment held 18 torpedo-armed Nakajima B5N Kate torpedo bombers being prepared for launch, along with fully-fuelled aircraft of her combat air patrol. Best's dive attack produced a single bomb hit directly amidships. The single 1,000-pound bomb, striking at a relatively gentle angle of 45 degrees, penetrated Akagi's wooden flight deck and detonated on her upper hangar deck. The detonation occurred among the torpedo-armed, fully-fuelled aircraft being prepared for launch. The resulting chain reaction was catastrophic: aviation fuel from ruptured lines ignited; the aerial torpedoes detonated in succession; the 250-kilogram bombs on the armed aircraft detonated; the fire spread through the hangar deck and downward into the main deck. By 10:30, Akagi was on fire from end to end and was unable to manoeuvre. Admiral Nagumo transferred his flag to the light cruiser Nagara at 10:46 and was evacuated from the burning flagship. Captain Taijirō Aoki remained aboard Akagi with a damage-control party; through the afternoon and evening of 4 June the party attempted to save the ship. The fires could not be contained. At 18:00 on 4 June Akagi's starboard engine compartment exploded. Captain Aoki ordered the ship's company to abandon ship at 19:20. The survivin