Displacement of the vessel was 30,250 tons (short) under standard load with 37,870 tons (short) under full load. Dimensions included a length of 855 feet, a beam of 90 feet, and a draught of 31.5 feet. Power was served through 8 x Kampon RO Go boilers feeding 4 x Kampon geared steam turbines delivering a combined 160,000 horsepower to 4 x shafts. Maximum speed could reach over 33 knots with ranges out to 12,000 miles.
As designed, Taiho was given a conventional arrangement with a straight line flight deck fitting two hangar elevators. A crane was fitted aft along starboard for recovery of outboard items including downed aircraft and supplies brought along by support ships. The island superstructure was sat over the starboard side of the vessel and proved the only obstruction to pilots taking off or landing. The flush deck allowed for multiple aircraft to be readied and one launched right after the other to send as many aircraft into the sky as quickly as possible. Authorities originally envisioned the ship carrying up to 80 aircraft into the fray but no more than 75 were realistically fielded in practice - this primarily due to a shortage of aircrew more than anything else, such were the losses being heaped upon the IJN by this point in the war. Her aircraft stable would eventually include several types - fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers. The entire crew complement for the ship numbered 1,751 men though over 2,100 were carried before the end.
All told, the Taiho became the most technologically advanced Japanese carrier of the war. Her class never grew beyond herself despite the additional two vessels considered. She would lead a short life in service with the IJN in World War 2 - finding a fate that would befall many of the IJN's most important warships. Taiho was an amazing effort nonetheless considering the untested changes enacted to her design over previous Japanese carrier attempts - and all this completed while under the stress of war and pressure from loss of territory, manpower, and vital resources.
Shortly after commissioning in March 1944, Taiho was sent to Singapore to join veterans Shokaku and Zuikaku under the flag of Carrier Division I. After a period of training for her naval aviators and sea trials to prove her design and systems sound she arrived at Tawi Tawi in the extreme south Philippines to form part of the First Mobile Fleet.
It was in June of 1944 that the Taiho would quickly meet her end during the Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19th). In response to the American presence, Taiho ordered her air wing launched. However, the American Navy attack submarine USS Albacore had spotted her and proceeded to engage the massive floating vessel. A full spread of six torpedoes were fired against the Japanese target though only one managed to score a direct hit (four missed and one was intercepted by a suicide dive by a Japanese pilot). The blast caused by the sole impacting torpedo generated a hole in the starboard side of the ship in front of the island superstructure, sending aviation fuel spraying and rendered the forward hangar elevator useless. Flooding ensued which added to the crew's mounting woes.
The damaged elevator now meant that aircraft could not be launched or retrieved as normal and the damage was forcing a slight list. Speed was reduced to compensate for the latter while the elevator well was ordered covered up on the flight deck. The quick fixes allowed normal service of the flight deck heading into the afternoon hours.
Despite this, deadly vapors have been amassing in the lower sections of the ship and attempts to remedy this were largely ineffective. An ignition source somewhere on the ship eventually caused a mighty explosion which buffeted the deck and fractured the sides of the hull, allowing more seawater to enter. A second massive explosion then followed, spelling ultimate doom for the ship which sank in about 90 minutes. Of the 2,150 crew onboard, only 500 survived.
Taiho lasted a short few months in IJN service and was a critical loss for the Japanese war effort in the Pacific.
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