Backus,_This_was_Hyuga.jpg
"This was Hyuga" by Standish Backus (watercolour, 1946) depicts her on the bottom at Niro Bay.
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| Career
| 
|
| Ordered:
| 1912
|
| Laid down:
| 5/16/1915
|
| Launched:
| 1/27/1917
|
| Commissioned:
| 4/30/1918
|
| Decommissioned:
|
|
| Fate:
| Sunk
|
| Struck:
| 7/28/1945
|
| General Characteristics
|
| Displacement:
| 38.872 tons
|
| Length:
| 219.62 m
|
| Beam:
| 33.8 m
|
| Draught:
| 9.14 m (mean)
|
| Propulsion:
| 80,640 HP
|
| Speed:
| 25 knots
|
| Range:
|
|
| Complement:
| 1,463
|
| Armament:
| as built : 12-14in/45cal, 16-5.5in/50cal, 8-5in/40cal, 20-25mm
|
| Aircraft:
| 22
|
| Motto:
|
|
Hyuga (日向), named for Hyuga Province in Kyushu, was an Ise class battleship laid down by Mitsubishi on 6 May 1915, launched on 27 January 1917 and completed on 30 April 1918. It was initially designed as the fourth ship of Fuso class but was heavily redesigned to fix shortcomings.
To partially compensate for the loss of carrier strength at Midway she was converted to a hybrid battleship/carrier at the Sasebo Navy Yard between 1 May and 1 October 1943. Her 5th and 6th 14-inch (356 mm) turret and barbette were removed and a hangar surmounted by a flight deck was added. Anti-aircraft weapons were also added to better fight off aerial attack. Her complement of 14 Yokosuka D4Y dive-bombers and 8 Aichi E16A seaplanes were catapult-launched but landed either on conventional carriers or land bases. They could also be hoisted back on board by using cranes. Because productions of aircraft was severely depleted by then, she never carried the full complement.
She participated in the Battle off Cape Engano in October 1944. HIJMS Hyuga, commanded by Rear Admiral Kusagawa Kiyoshi, was attacked by American carrier aircraft at Nasake-jima, south of Kure, on 28 July 1945 and her crew ran the ship aground in shallow waters. She was removed from the Navy List on 20 November 1945. Between 2 July 1946 and 4 July 1947 she was raised and broken up by the Kure Dry-dock of Harima Zosen Yard.
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