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Akagi Aircraft Carrier
The Japanese navy was the first one to rely heavily on the aircraft carriers and marine aircraft. In 1922, after signing the Washington Treaty, the navy commanders decided not to send the half-built hulls of battleships and battle-cruisers that were to be recycled according to the treaty restrictions, but to rebuild the Akagi battleship and the Kaga battle-cruiser into aircraft carriers.
The Akagi aircraft carrier was launched on April 22, 1925. On March 25, 1927 she was officially included into the navy listings. Together with the Kaga carrier, these were the first striking aircraft carriers of the Japanese navy, serving as a foundation for working through the new tactics and technology. At first, the carriers were equipped with the three flight decks: the upper one served for both take-offs and landings, the middle one served for the Nakajima A1N1 fighters take-off, and the lower one served for the “Mitsubishi 2MT1” torpedo bombers take-off. But this configuration hadn’t passed the real warfare test, and the carriers were remodified: a single flight deck was left, the hangars and storage compartments were expanded, power plants were changed.
On November 15, 1938 the renovated Akagi was again put into service, this time having the present-day look. In 1940 the carrier supported the war in China with its aircraft. In 1941 the ship and its air group were intensely trained. All this was just a prelude to the legendary Oahu Island assault, when the Japanese aircraft from the Akagi, Kaga, Soriu, Hiriu, Shokaku, and Zuikaku carriers crushed the American navy in the Pearl-Harbor base on December 7, 1941. This event was followed by a victory spree throughout the Indian Ocean, near the shores of Indonesian and Philippine archipelagos. This fantastic career rise came to an end with a disastrous catastrophe of the Japanese navy in the Midway battle on June 4,1942, when four of the famous six ships were destroyed. It was with them that the core of the Japanese marine air force died.
Akagi Aircraft Carrier in the "Pacific Storm"
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