As the aircraft carrier Taihō settled
in the water and plunged to her doom, Vice-Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa opted to go
down with her. The Battle of the Philippine Sea had just begun, and his magnificent
vessel had endured irreparable damage. In the minutes that followed, Ozawa’s staff
convinced him they truly needed his leadership, so he took the Emperor's portrait and decided
to continue fighting aboard a nearby vessel. But as he was transported to a friendly
destroyer on his way to his new flagship, a devastating explosion dismantled
what was left of his beloved ship. Ozawa had to abandon Taihō to her fate - one that may have been sealed more by
his own crew than the enemy… Delusions of Glory The new Taihō aircraft carrier design
was approved for construction in 1939. Based on the veteran carrier Shōkaku,
she eventually became a type of her own, with plans for a new batch of new-generation
Japanese aircraft carriers. However, she would become the only ship of her class. Taihō was the first Japanese aircraft
carrier fitted with an armored flight deck. Notably, the armor was as thick
as 80 millimeters in some areas, and the ship could endure multiple 500-kilogram
bomb hits and still remain in the fight. The ship’s flight deck measured 257 by 30 meters,
the largest total area of any Japanese carrier before the Shinano. She was so large she had
to be offset two meters to port to compensate for her island structure and balance her weight.
And in contrast to all pre-war Japanese carriers, her flight deck was not wooden-planked
but made of steel and coated with latex. The carrier also featured 14
hydraulically-operated arrester wires for landing, as well as three crash barriers. And
her two large, 100-long-ton armored elevators, one at the aft and the other forward of the island,
could convey aircraft as heavy as 7.5 long tons. Taihō's original design was conceived with two
catapults on her bow for assisted take-offs, but the engineers opted to employ
rocket-assisted gear instead. Headway Taihō had a similar profile to British
Illustrious-class carriers, and her plated bow to flight deck level enabled better seakeeping
and airflow over the forward end of the deck. With 160,000 shaft horsepower, the carrier had a top speed of 33.3 knots and a radius
of 10,000 nautical miles at 18 knots. Unlike European ships, Taihō's original design
never contemplated a radar installation. The Japanese Imperial Navy was unaware that
other nations were using pulsed radar for combat until 1941, when a Japanese
technical mission visited Germany. Soon after, Japan initiated a crash plan to speed
up radar development, and Taihō received a Type 21 radar atop her island and another on the lower
bridge deck just before her completion in 1944. As for armament, the carrier was fitted
with 12 brand-new 65-caliber Type 98 anti-aircraft guns in six twin-gun
arrangements, three on each side. Though powered electro-hydraulically, they
could also function manually in case of need. On average, the gun could fire at
a rate of 15 rounds per minute at 14 kilometers horizontally or one kilometer
vertically while operated by 11 crew members. Moreover, the carrier had 17 triple-mount
25-millimeter anti-aircraft cannons, 16 mounted on sponsons just below flight
deck level, and one on the flight deck. The electrically-powered mounts could
also operate manually, and their firing rate reached 110 to 120 rounds per minute,
with a maximum range of three kilometers. Additionally, the vessel had 25
portable standard Type 96 guns. A Heavy Carrier The carrier's upper and lower hangars
were 150 meters long and five meters high. For fire safety, the vessel's two hangars were
divided into sections, five on the upper one and four on the lower one. They were separated
by fire-proofed fabric curtains that restricted the air supply, thus delaying the spread of fire.
Additionally, a foam spray system ran along the walls and ends of the rooms, and the lower hangar
could be flooded with carbon dioxide if necessary. The vessel's planned airwing varied during her
construction from 126 aircraft to a mere 53 by the time of operation. In contrast to American
carriers, Japanese aircraft had a wide folded wingspan, with many types only folding near
the tips while others did not fold at all. The ship was supposed to carry larger
and more modern carrier-based aircraft, all of which were still under development
at the time, but most weren’t ready on time. At the peak of her career, Taihō was equipped
with 22 Mitsubishi A6M5 Reisen "Zero" fighters, 22 Yokosuka D4Y1 Suisei "Judy" dive bombers, three Aichi D3A2 "Val" dive bombers, and 18
Nakajima B6N2 Tenzan "Jill" torpedo bombers. Sturdy as she was, Taihō had a waterline belt
armor as thick as 152 millimeters in some points and was able to withstand a 300-kilogram charge.
However, the weight of the armor alone caused her hull to immerse so much that her lower hangar
deck barely showed above the load waterline. In fact, the bottom part of her two
elevator wells was below the waterline. These elevators formed the
roofs of the fuel tanks, which were only partially protected with armor
because the naval designers chose to cover the bomb and torpedo magazines instead - a
mistake that would prove to be fatal. A Lurking Enemy The aircraft carrier first started her
service in Singapore before being sent to Lingga Roads off Sumatra, where
she joined two veteran carriers of the First Carrier Division, First
Mobile Force: Shōkaku and Zuikaku. After a training period, Vice-Admiral Jisaburo
Ozawa officially transferred his flag to Taihō, intending to capitalize on the vessel's
extensive command facilities. Subsequently, the ground parted towards Borneo, where they would
await the start of the Kantai Kessen final battle. The Americans struck the Marianas on June
11, signaling the invasion of Saipan and pushing the Japanese to launch Operation
A-GO. Within two days, Ozawa mobilized his fleet towards the Philippines, where they
would intercept American carrier forces. At 7:45am on June 19, Taihō was drawn
into the Battle of the Philippine Sea, where she became one of nine Japanese
carriers to engage the Americans. During the brutal encounter, the ship
deployed 16 Zeros, 17 "Judy" dive bombers, and nine "Jill" torpedo bombers as
part of Ozawa's second attack wave. But as the aircraft took off and circled overhead,
an enemy submarine approached the carrier. Without warning, Albacore
fired six torpedoes at Taihō. Japanese strike pilot Warrant Officer
Sakio Komatsu soon noticed the torpedo wakes and plummeted toward the sea
in a brave attempt to stop them. Like Nothing Happened Komatsu deliberately crashed into the path of one
of the mines, successfully protecting the vessel. However, the sixth torpedo hit its mark, and
the subsequent explosion holed the hull on the starboard ahead of the island. The impact,
which fractured the aviation fuel tanks, also jammed the forward elevator between
the flight deck and the upper hangar deck. The flooding dragged the ship down 1.5 meters
by the bow, as the elevator pit filled with seawater and a dangerous combination
of fuel oil and aviation gasoline. As such, the captain reduced the speed by a knot
and a half, slowing the ingress of seawater. As no fires had broken out, Vice
Admiral Ozawa ordered that normal flight operations be resumed, and
a flight deck damage control party planked over the ruptured well
with wooden benches and tables. By 9:20am, Taihō was ready to launch two
more waves of strike aircraft. However, gasoline kept accumulating inside the pit as
vapors and fumes permeated both hangar decks. The crew was aware of all the risks, but poorly
trained and lacking in practical knowledge, the men were neither capable of pumping out the well
nor covering the flammable substance with foam. Enclosed, the carrier's hangars were difficult to fill with fresh air except
for mechanical ventilation, and the desperate damage control teams hammered
through the glass in the ship's portholes. As normal operations resumed, the chief damage control officer switched the general
ventilation system to full capacity and opened all doors and hatches in a
desperate attempt to get rid of the fumes. Even so, the measure took an unexpected turn. Downfall Taihō's armor being so heavy eventually determined
her fate, as her hull was immersed so deeply into the water that her lower hangar deck was barely
above the load waterline, and the two elevator wells were below. Also, since her aviation fuel
tanks were only partially protected with armor, the empty air spaces around them
turned out to be Taihō's downfall. Areas previously unexposed to the vapors were
suddenly saturated with hazardous chemicals, increasing the risk of spontaneous ignition. Around six and a half hours after the initial hit, a severe explosion jolted the carrier as the
flight deck heaved up and the sides blew out. Moments later, a second explosion
destroyed what remained of Taihō, which sank stern-first, dragging 1,650
irreplaceable officers and men with her. After her sinking, all subsequent
Japanese carriers had their pits filled with concrete. However, it
was one issue alone that could be blamed for the loss of the capital
ship: deficient damage control. Thank you for watching our video!
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