Shimane Maru Japanese Escort Carrier

Shimane Maru was the lead ship of her class of escort carriers for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II.

Although she was completed, the ship did not enter active service before being destroyed by British aircraft on 24 July 1945.

The concept of the class was similar to British merchant aircraft carriers. The class consisted of two oil tankers of 10,002 gross register tons (GRT) that were modified by the Navy to provide minimal anti-submarine air cover for convoys going from Southeast Asia to the Japanese homeland. The conversion consisted of fitting a full-length flight deck, a small hangar, and a single elevator. An island and catapults were not installed. The only other change was the rerouting of the boiler uptakes to the aft starboard side where they discharged in a typical downward-facing funnel.

The Shimane Maru was fitted with a single geared steam turbine set with a total of 8,600 shaft horsepower (6,400 kW). It drove one propeller shaft using steam provided by two boilers. The ship had a designed speed of 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph) and a range of 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

The flight deck was 154.99 meters (508 ft 6 in) long and had a maximum width of 23.01 meters (75 ft 6 in). The hangar, built on top of the well deck, was served by a single elevator from the flight deck. It had a capacity of a dozen aircraft.

Type:	Escort carrier
Tonnage:	10,002 gross register tons (GRT)
Displacement:	11,989 tonnes (11,800 long tons) (standard)
Length:	160.5 m (527 ft) (o/a)
Beam:	20 m (66 ft)
Draught:	9.1 m (29 ft 10 in) (mean)
Installed power:	8,600 shp (6,400 kW)2 boilers
Propulsion:	1 Shaft1 Steam turbine
Speed:	18.5 knots (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph)
Range:	10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) @ 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Sensors and processing systems:	Type 3, Mark 1, Model 3 radar
Armament:	2 × single 12 cm (4.7 in) guns 9 × triple, 25 × single 2.5 cm (1 in) AA guns
Aircraft carried:	12