Japanese seaplane carrier Mizuho

History
Mizuho off Tateyama, Japan, in 1940.
Empire of Japan
Name	Mizuho
Builder	Kawasaki Shipyards
Laid down	1 May 1937
Launched	16 May 1938
Commissioned	25 February 1939
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk by USS Drum, 2 May 1942
General characteristics
Type	Seaplane carrier
Displacement	10,930 tons standard
Length	183.6 m (602 ft 4 in) (waterline)
Beam	18.8 m (61 ft 8 in)
Propulsion	2-shaft diesel engines, 15,200 bhp (11,300 kW)
Speed	22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Armament	6 × 12.7 cm/40 Type 89 naval guns 20 × Type 96 25 mm AA guns
Aircraft carried	24 seaplanes

Mizuho (瑞穂, "Fresh Grain") was a seaplane carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The ship was built at Kawasaki Shipbuilding at Kobe, Japan, and was completed in February 1939.^[1]^[2]

Design and description

Mizuho was built to a similar design as the seaplane carrier Chitose, but with slightly less powerful diesel engines instead of Chitose's turbines.^[3] She carried 24 seaplanes,^[1] and was equipped to carry twelve miniature submarines,^[1] although she could not carry full loads of both at one time.^[3]

Service history

Mizuho participated in invasion support for much of her career;^[1] her first mission was with the Fourth Surprise Attack Force.^[2] On 1 March 1942, planes from Mizuho and Chitose damaged the American destroyer USS Pope, which was later sunk by aircraft from the aircraft carrier Ryūjō and gunfire from the heavy cruisers Ashigara and Myōkō.^[4]

Sinking

The American submarine USS Drum torpedoed Mizuho at 23:03 hours on 1 May 1942 40 nautical miles (74 km; 46 mi) off Omaezaki, Japan. She capsized and sank at 04:16 hours on 2 May 1942 with the loss of 101 lives. There were 472 survivors, of which 31 were wounded.^[3]^[5]^[6]

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Toppan, Andrew (June 25, 1998). "World Aircraft Carriers List: Japanese Seaplane Ships". Retrieved 2009-07-04.
^ ^a ^b Budge, Kent. "Mizuho, Japanese Seaplane Carrier". The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
^ ^a ^b ^c "IJN Mizuho Seaplane Carrier". Retrieved 2009-07-04.
^ Tully, Anthony. "IJN Mizuho: Tabular Record of Movement". Retrieved 2009-07-04.
^ "USS Drum". Retrieved 2009-07-04.
^ combinedfleet.com IJN Mizuho Tabular Record of Movement

External links

Tech info on acepilots.com

Japanese auxiliary ship classes of World War II

Colliers and oilers

Notoro
Ondo
Sunosaki
Ashizuri
Kazahaya^S
Hayasui^S
Hario^S
Muroto
Teiyō Maru^S
Ōse (ex-SS Genota)^SC

Food supply ships

Mamiya^S
Nosaki^S
Kinesaki
Irako^S
Kurasaki^SC

Landing ships

No.1
No.101
Shinshū Maru^S (Army)
SS (Army)

Armed merchant cruisers

Aikoku Maru^S
Hōkoku Maru^S
Kongō Maru^S
Noshiro Maru^S

Minelayers
and cable layer

Tokiwa^SC
Itsukushima^S
Yaeyama^S
Okinoshima^S
Tsugaru^S
Minoo^SC
Shirataka^S
Hatsutaka
Tsubame
Natsushima (1933)
Sokuten (1938)
Hirashima
Ajiro^S
Kamishima
Hashima
Sokuten (1913)
Aux. No.1
Aux. No.101 (ex-HMS Barlight)^SC

Minesweepers

No.1 (1923)
No.5 (1928)
No.13
No.17
No.7 (1938)
No.19
No.101 (ex-HMS Taitam and HMS Waglan)^C
Aux. No.1
Aux. No.101 (ex-HNLMS DEFG-class)
Aux. No.104 (ex-HNLMS DEFG-class)

Patrol boats

No.1^C
No.31^C
No.46^SC
No.101 (ex-HMS Thracian)^SC
No.102 (ex-USS Stewart)^SC
No.103 (ex-USS Finch)^SC
No.104 (ex-Dutch East Indies Valk and Arend)^C
No.105 (ex-Philippine customs Arayat)^SC
No.106 (ex-HNLMS Banckert (1929))^SCI
No.107 (ex-USS Genesee)^SC
No.109 (ex-Dutch East Indies Fazant)^SC
Aux. No.1

Repair ships

Asahi^SC
Akashi^S
Hayase (ex-Chinese passenger Chin Kiang)^SC
Hitonose (ex-ROCN Min Sheng)^SC

Seaplane tenders

Notoro^SC
Kamoi^SC
Chitose
Mizuho^S
Nisshin^S
Akitsushima^S
Kamikawa Maru^C

Submarine chasers

No.1
No.3^S
No.4
No.13
No.28
No.60
Aux. No.1
Aux. No.101 (ex-HNLMS Tjerimai)^SC
Aux. No.102 (ex-HNLMS Ardjoeno class)^C
Aux. No.103 (ex-HNLMS B1 class)^C
Aux. No.111 (ex-HNLMS P13 or P14)^SC
Aux. No.112 (ex-HNLMS A)^C
Aux. No.117 (ex-HNLMS Bantam)^C
Aux. No.251
Aux. No.253^S

Submarine tenders

Komahashi^SC
Jingei
Taigei^S

Survey ships

Tsukushi^S
Katsuriki^SC
Hakusa (ex-China customs Fu Hsing)^SC

Target ships

Settsu^SC
Yakaze^SC
Hakachi^S
Ōhama^S

Training ships

Fuji^SC
Shikishima^SC
Asama^SC
Azuma^SC
Kasuga^SC
Atada (ex-ROCN Yat Sen)^SC

Others

Sōya (freighter)^SC
Kashino (turret transporter)^S
Ōtomari (icebreaker)^S
Tategami (salvage tug)
Kasashima (salvage tug)
Miura (salvage tug)
Kaiyō No.1 (oceanographic research ship)
Asuka (traffic ship, ex-ROCN Yung Chien)^SC

S: Single ship of class
C: Converted to ship type
I: Incomplete until the end of war

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in May 1942
Shipwrecks	1 May: Angarstroy, HMS Punjabi 2 May: USS Cythera, HMS Edinburgh, Hermann Schoemann, ORP Jastrząb, USS Mindanao, Mizuho, U-74 4 May: USS Pigeon, USS Tanager, Wa-1 5 May: Bévéziers, Kikuzuki, USS Genesee, Maryann 6 May: Alcoa Puritan, D'Entrecasteaux, Empire Buffalo, USS Luzon, USS Oahu, Tama Maru, USS Quail 7 May: Le Héros, Shōhō, USS Sims 8 May: USS Lexington, Monge, HMS Olympus 9 May: U-352 10 May: HMHS Ramb IV 11 May: HMT Bedfordshire, HMS Kipling, HMS Lively, USS Neosho 12 May: Empire Dell, HMS Jackal, Okinoshima 13 May: Norlantic 14 May: Dzerzhinsky, Potrero del Llano 15 May: HMS Trinidad 17 May: Challenger, I-28, I-64 20 May: George Calvert 21 May: Faja de Oro, Elizabeth, Presidente Trujillo 23 May: Samuel Q. Brown 24 May: L-21 25 May: Asahi 26 May: SS Carrabulle 27 May: Alamar 28 May: Sylvan Arrow 29 May: Emanuele Pessagno, U-568
Other incidents	1 May: USS Grenadier, U-573 4 May: USS Mackerel 6 May: I-8 7 May: USS Neosho 20 May: Sylvan Arrow 30 May: USS R-18 Unknown date: Chōgei, I-53
1941 1942 1943 April 1942 June 1942