Surprisingly enough she stayed in active service until 1944, closing out her career launching Seafires and Barracudas in attacks against the Tirpitz in Norway.
In 1942 with Sea Hurricanes on her deck:
Seafires and Barracudas on her in 1944:
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Ship Photo of the Day
- Thread starter Randy Daytona
- Start date
Surprisingly enough she stayed in active service until 1944, closing out her career launching Seafires and Barracudas in attacks against the Tirpitz in Norway.
In 1942 with Sea Hurricanes on her deck:
Seafires and Barracudas on her in 1944:
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was at the extreme range of their fleet. Every ship was crammed with extra fuel, and 8 (some say 9) oilers accompanied the fleet. Of note, was that at sea refueling had only started to be practiced shortly before the 3,500 mile voyage across the Pacific.
One of the oilers was IJN Nippon Maru, which was 525 ft long with a beam of 65 ft and a displacement of 10,000 tons. Diesel power through a single shaft gave about 19 knots. She was everywhere in WW2, until sunk by the submarine USS Scamp in January 1944.
Kyokutō Maru (left), Kokuyō Maru, Nippon Maru and Shinkoku Maru (right) on 1 December 1941
Nippon Maru in June 1943
Kyokutō Maru and carrier Hiryū in May or June 1942
Kokuyō Maru and cruiser Tone on 17 June 1944
(Notice the distinct profile of the heavy cruiser Tone with all 4 of its twin 8" guns forward. It was the Tone's seaplane, launched late due to a mechanical delay, that found the US fleet at Midway.
One of the oilers was IJN Nippon Maru, which was 525 ft long with a beam of 65 ft and a displacement of 10,000 tons. Diesel power through a single shaft gave about 19 knots. She was everywhere in WW2, until sunk by the submarine USS Scamp in January 1944.
Kyokutō Maru (left), Kokuyō Maru, Nippon Maru and Shinkoku Maru (right) on 1 December 1941
Nippon Maru in June 1943
Kyokutō Maru and carrier Hiryū in May or June 1942
Kokuyō Maru and cruiser Tone on 17 June 1944
(Notice the distinct profile of the heavy cruiser Tone with all 4 of its twin 8" guns forward. It was the Tone's seaplane, launched late due to a mechanical delay, that found the US fleet at Midway.
USS Edsall DD-219 was a Clemson class destroyer built in the early 1920’s. Enroute to Singapore when Pearl Harbor was attacked, she was detailed to assist the Royal Navy’s Force Z.
Early in the Pacific, she was misidentified as a light cruiser and attacked at long range by the heavy cruisers IJN Tone and IJN Chikuma as well as the battleships Hiei and Kirishima. Watchers on the Japanese ships described it as 4 adults trying to catch a highly energetic child as over 1,300 heavy shells were fired without success in trying to slow down the frantically twisting destroyer. Eventually airstrikes were called in to sink the Edsall, one of the results being the engagement being considered a fiasco by the IJN and causing a change in tactics.
Edsall in San Diego Harbor in the 1920s
Edsall and USAT Willard A. Holbrook sometime in early 1942.
USS Edsall sinking; retouched IJN propaganda image.
Early in the Pacific, she was misidentified as a light cruiser and attacked at long range by the heavy cruisers IJN Tone and IJN Chikuma as well as the battleships Hiei and Kirishima. Watchers on the Japanese ships described it as 4 adults trying to catch a highly energetic child as over 1,300 heavy shells were fired without success in trying to slow down the frantically twisting destroyer. Eventually airstrikes were called in to sink the Edsall, one of the results being the engagement being considered a fiasco by the IJN and causing a change in tactics.
Edsall in San Diego Harbor in the 1920s
Edsall and USAT Willard A. Holbrook sometime in early 1942.
USS Edsall sinking; retouched IJN propaganda image.
Watching another documentary on Jutland today so why not the flagship of the Kaiser’s fleet, SMS Friedrich der Grosse with Vice Admiral Rheinhard Scheer aboard.
After the war, Admiral Jellicoe invited Admiral Scheer to visit - a world of decorum and civility that no longer seems to exist.
The 2nd of the Kaiser class of 27,000 ton dreadnoughts, she mounted 10 (5x2) 12” cannons. She survived the war only to be scuttled at Scapa Flow.
SMS Friedrich der Grosse underway
Friedrich der Grosse sometime before 1917
After the war, Admiral Jellicoe invited Admiral Scheer to visit - a world of decorum and civility that no longer seems to exist.
The 2nd of the Kaiser class of 27,000 ton dreadnoughts, she mounted 10 (5x2) 12” cannons. She survived the war only to be scuttled at Scapa Flow.
SMS Friedrich der Grosse underway
Friedrich der Grosse sometime before 1917