Japanese Aircraft Carrier Shinyo - Service History

Service History

Scharnhorst was a passenger ship operated by Norddeutscher Lloyd in the 1930s. She was trapped in Japan after the outbreak of World War II in Europe in September 1939. The Japanese Navy purchased the ship on 7 February 1942, under the agreement they would pay Norddeutscher Lloyd twice the value of the ship after the end of the war. The ship was intended for use as a troop ship, but after the Japanese defeat at the Battle of Midway, the Navy decided to convert her into an escort carrier.

Conversion work on Scharnhorst began in September 1942 in the Kure Navy Dockyard. Steel from the uncompleted hull of the canceled fourth Yamato-class battleship was used in the conversion process. Work lasted until December 1943, and the rebuilt ship was commissioned into the Japanese Navy on 15 December 1943. Scharnhorst's design was similar to the Japanese passenger liners of the Nitta Maru-class, which were also converted into the Taiyō-class escort carriers, so her conversion followed a similar plan. The main differences were retention of the original propulsion machinery, and addition of external bulges which helped increase stability.

On 1 November 1943, Shinyo was readied for sea trials and ran a shake-down cruise. The ship was commissioned into the fleet on 15 November 1943, and was subsequently assigned to the Grand Escort Command on 20 December. For the first six months of 1943, the ship conducted training maneuvers in the Home Islands. On 13 July 1944, she escorted the convoy Hi-69, including the escort carriers Taiyō and Kaiyo, which were carrying additional aircraft for the Philippines. Shinyo was tasked with providing aerial cover for the convoy. The convoy arrived on 20 July; on the 25th, Shinyo left with another convoy, bound for Singapore. The ship arrived on the 31st, and departed again four days later with the convoy Hi-70. The convoy consisted of eight transports, headed for Moji; Shinyo was joined by a pair of light cruisers and several smaller craft. The convoy arrived on 15 September August, while Shinyo put in to Kure the following day.

On 8 September, Shinyo escorted the convoy Hi-75, consisting of nine transports and several destroyers and smaller craft, bound for Singapore. On the 13th, the convoy stopped briefly in Takao, Formosa, before departing later that day. The convoy arrived on 22 September. Another convoy, Hi-76, left Singapore for Moji on 3 October, with Shinyo and several destroyers escorting it. The convoy temporarily stopped in Mihara on 19–20 October; on the 22nd, Shinyo departed from the convoy and proceeded to the Saiki airbase, arriving on 24 October. The following day, she left for Kure. While there, she replenished fuel and supplies. On 7 November, she was ordered to cover the return of the carrier Jun'yō.

On 9 November, she was assigned to convoy Hi-81, carrying aircraft for the Philippines. Fourteen B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers were assigned to the ship for the operation. The convoy left Japan on 14 November. The escort consisted of six destroyers, protecting seven troopships carrying an army division and a tanker. On 15 November, while in the East China Sea, an American submarine sank one of the transports; two days later, another transport was sunk and the tanker was damaged. Later that night, Shinyo was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS Spadefish. The submarine hit her with as many as four torpedoes in quick succession. The carrier's unarmored fuel tanks exploded and started a massive fire that destroyed the ship and killed most of her crew. Only 70 men from her crew of 1,200 officers and men survived. Shinyo quickly sank stern first. Spadefish attempted to attack the convoy again, but was driven off by the escorts. Shinyo was formally stricken from the naval register on 10 January 1945.