Soryu, Hiryu, and Unryu-Class Aircraft Carriers

Considered medium-sized carriers, the Soryu, Hiryu, and Unryu-class ships were related, but all a little different as the original design, Soryu, was modified extensively at each evolution. Completed in the 1930s, Soryu and Hiryu support Japanese military actions in China, Indochina, Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, the Dutch East Indies, and the Indian Ocean. Both were lost at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. The Unryu-class was a wartime program and three were completed and a few partially built by war’s end. The features of these related carriers are detailed in Soryu, Hiryu, & Unryu-class Aircraft Carriers — In the Imperial Japanese Navy during WWII by Lars Ahlberg and Hans Lengerer. Part of Schiffer’s Legends of Warfare Naval series, the 128-page hardcover is brimming with information about the ships. After a discussion of the political situation in the 1920s and ’30s, the second chapter looks at the building of Soryu and Hiryu, including photos and detailed line drawings. Chapter 3 does the same for the Unryu-class, with photos of both operational ships and those not completed. The next section outlines the ships’ designs with general architectural notes and interior photos. The next eight sections detail various systems or sections, including hull, protection, armament, aviation facilities, propulsion, illumination, internal communications, and the crew. Most of these discussions are supported by photos, line drawings, and diagrams with those of the guns and aircraft operations like arrestor wires and crash barriers being of special note. Finally, there’s a section detailing the operational histories of each vessel backed up by a ton of wartime photos. If you are interested in modeling any of these Japanese carriers, you need this book. ~Aaron Skinner, Editor of FineScale Modeler