| Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Junyō, entered service in 1942 Junyō fought in the Aleutians, Solomons and Marianas. While operating off southern Japan on December 9, 1944, IN Junyō was badly damaged by torpedoes from American submarines USS Redfish (SS-395) and USS Sea Devil (SS-400). Without aircraft or fuel oil, there was no reason to repair her, and she was scrapped in 1947. Jun’yō (“Peregrine Falcon”) was a Hiyō-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). She was laid down as the passenger liner Kashiwara Maru (“Live Oak literally: Circle; meaning castle”), but 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. Her aircraft were used from land bases during several battles in the New Guinea and Solomon Islands Campaigns. Jun’yō was torpedoed in November 1943 and spent 3 months under repair. Several bombs damaged her 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 canceled as uneconomical. She was then effectively hulked for the rest of the war. After the surrender of Japan in September, the Americans also decided that she was not worth the cost to make her serviceable for use as a repatriation ship. Junyō was surrendered to the Allies on September 2, 1945. An American technical team evaluated the ship’s condition on October 8, and deemed her a constructive total loss. Junyō was stricken from the Navy List on November 30 and scrapped between June 1, 1946 – August 1, 1947, by the Sasebo Ship Company. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1979.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.25 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 5686 x 3581 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Navy |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 26, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Sasebo |
| State or Province | Nagasaki |
| Country | Japan |
| Archive | Naval History and Heritage Command |
| Record Number | 80-G-701429 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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