Junyō At Sasebo, September 1945

Japanese Aircraft Carrier Jun’yō

Japanese Aircraft Carrier Jun’yō

Jun’yō was a Hiyō-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Laid down as the passenger liner Kashiwara Maru, she was purchased by the IJN in 1941 while still under construction and converted into an aircraft carrier. Completed in May 1942, the ship participated in the Aleutian Islands Campaign the following month and in several battles during the Guadalcanal Campaign later in the year.

Jun’yō was torpedoed in November 1943 and spent three months under repair. She was damaged by several bombs during the Battle of the Philippine Sea in mid-1944, but quickly returned to service. Lacking aircraft, she was used as a transport in late 1944 and was torpedoed again in December. Jun’yō was under repair until March 1945, when work was cancelled as uneconomical. Considered a constructive loss by US assessors, she was scrapped in 1946-47.