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Japanese aircraft carrier Hiyō 1943

Japanese aircraft carrier Hiyō: Japanese aircraft carrier Hiyo
Image: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Marker: recorded wreck position (Second World War).

Key facts

NameJapanese aircraft carrier HiyōWikidata label
Year lost1943English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed)
EraSecond World Warderived from year
Ship typelight aircraft carrierWikidata P31 instance of
Cause of lossWar actionKeyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence
Nationality / flagEmpire of JapanWikidata P8047 country of registry
OperatorImperial Japanese NavyWikidata P137 operator
ConflictWorld War IIWikidata P607 conflict
Sea / oceanPhilippine SeaNatural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon
Position16.3333, 132.5333Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0)

About the wreck

Hiyō (Japanese: 飛鷹; "Flying Hawk") was the name ship of her class of two aircraft carriers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). Originally planned as the ocean liner Izumo Maru (出雲丸) in 1939, she was purchased by the Navy Ministry in 1941 for conversion to an aircraft carrier. Completed shortly after the Battle of Midway in June 1942, she participated in the Guadalcanal campaign, but missed the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in October because of an electrical generator fire.

The carrier's aircraft were disembarked several times and used from land bases in battles in the South West Pacific. Hiyō was torpedoed in mid-1943 and spent three months under repair. She spent most of the next six months training and ferrying aircraft before returning to combat. She was sunk by a gasoline-vapour explosion caused by an American torpedo hit during the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 20 June 1944 with the loss of 247 officers and ratings, about a fifth of her complement.

Location

  • Recorded position: 16.3333, 132.5333 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
  • Sea / ocean: Philippine Sea

Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.

OpenStreetMap

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Japanese aircraft carrier Hiyō (revision 1380751152), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.

Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).

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Further reading