Essex, laid down less than three months before Taiho, was commissioned in just 20 months. She was the only nonconversion fleet carrier commissioned during the war against 17 U.S. Taiho exemplifies Japan’s industrial capabilities. The Japanese Navy commissioned Taiho on March 7, 1944. Taiho displaced 29,300 tons and was Japan’s only nonconversion, war-built fleet carrier that was similar to (actually bigger than) an Essex. Essex– and Midway-class carriers laid down in the same period. Taiho was the only nonconversion fleet carrier laid down from 1941 onward by the Japanese versus 24 U.S. That same year, the United States laid down five Essex– class carriers. Kawasaki had laid down Taiho on Jshe was the only carrier laid down in 1941 and the only ship of her class. (Read more about the Pacific Theater and its impact on the Second World War inside WWII History magazine.) Mass-Producing the Unryu-class Aircraft CarrierĪt the time, Japan was constructing a single, keel-up, purpose-built aircraft carrier. Warship construction in June 1942 was already minuscule, yet the Navy laid impossible goals on an industrial base patently incapable of meeting expectations. The loss of one light and four fleet carriers sunk and one badly damaged at the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway had shocked naval planners. One example is the Imperial Japanese Navy’s June 30, 1942, plan for Japanese aircraft carrier construction.

Yet, Japanese military planners seldom considered the limitations to their nation’s construction capabilities. Japan lacked the industrial strength needed to wage a war against the United States.

World of warships ijn aircraft carriers