| Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Shinano, in a sketch by Japanese author, photographer, editor, and Imperial Japanese Naval and Japanese Coast Guard officer lieutenant Commander Shizuo Fukui (October 25, 1913 – November 4, 1993). Shinano was the 3rd of the Yamato class battleships; when all 4 carriers present were lost at Midway, Shinano, 45 percent complete, was redesigned into a support carrier, with a small air group but carrying reserve aircraft, fuel and ordnance in support of other carriers and land bases. She was constructed in absolute secrecy; only 3 photographs are known to exist. 1 is a side view surreptitiously taken by Marine engineer Hiroshi Arakawa (???? – ????) at Ishikawajima Shipyard during her trials; 1 is an aerial photo from a B-29 Superfortress taken by chance from 10,000 feet; and the 3rd was a test taken to see if her camouflage was functioning. Worried by the reconnaissance flight, Shinano was commissioned on November 19, 1944, and departed Yokosuka at 1800 Hours, intending to make a 16-hour overnight run to Kure without air cover. United States Navy submarine Archerfish (SS-311), Captained by Commander Joseph F. Enright (September 18, 1910 – July 20, 2000), had no intelligence that Shinano existed because of the tight security around Shinano’s construction. Archerfish fired 6 torpedoes at the unexpected target at 0315 Hours; 4 struck her starboard engineering spaces and gasoline storage tanks. Counterflooding didn’t work, and arrogance about her watertight integrity delayed reaction to the damage. At 0900 Hours Shinano lost power and at 1018 Hours, abandon ship was ordered. 1,435 Japanese Officers, sailors and civilian workers went down with Shinano. Shizuo Fukui had just retired from the Coast Guard’s technical division when this sketch was produced. He became Director of Historical Materials Research at Naval Academy Etajima in 1960, where he focused on Yamato class battleships, of which Shinano is a half-sister. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1653.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.05 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 5735 x 2908 |
| Photographer | Shizuo Fukui |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 20, 1952 |
| Location | |
| City | |
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| Country | Japan |
| Archive | Naval History and Heritage Command |
| Record Number | NH 63437 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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