G6--G8 Questions

[John 3rd]

Hello All.

I am including a Japanese G6 or G8 CLV in my new Treaty Mod. I've got Jentschura's book but there are not many details there. They are considerably bigger (17,500T) then the American CLV (Charlotte in RA) and so I want to know what might their air complement be? Does anyone have some sort of 'hard' info on this topic?

Appreciate any helpful suggestions...

[John 3rd]

Ship Bucket lists them at 48 Aircraft each.

Would they carry 27 Zero and 21 Kate OR a balanced air group of 18 Zero, 15 Val, 15 Kate? Certainly big enough to carry Vals...

[John 3rd]

Could also use a good Japanese CLV Name.

[John 3rd]

Does anyone have a notion for armor on it?

[JuanG]

Have not been able to find anything substantial.

Did find this image floating around with some extra details;


No mention of planned speed, protection or airwing, though you can estimate the first from the dimensions, tonnage and power fairly accurately. The latter may just have to be guessed. For G8 atleast given its a Soryu preliminary I'd expect that 48 aircraft group to sound about right, considering the shorter hangars due to the turret placement.

Its a pity the online Hiraga archive was taken down (no idea for how long), as its possible there would have been something in there.

[John 3rd]

Had this forwarded to me:

In response, a similar vessel designated G-6 (Fig. 1A) was projected in Japan in 1932.
While nominally classed as aircraft cruiser, she certainly had the makings of a dedicated
aircraft carrier. G6's designated displacement was 17,500ts (trials) with a maximum speed
of 36 knots. Defensive armament consisted of six 203mm guns in three twin mounts (central
unit in superfiring position). The flight deck would accommodate about 70 aircraft. As a
part of the Second Replenishment Program of FY 1934, Naval General Staff decided to split
all remaining treaty tonnage between two new carriers based on G-6's design. Their
operational requirements were as follows:

Displacement: 10,050 tons (standard).
Defensive armament: five 203mm guns in centerline turrets.
AA armament: twenty 127mm AA guns, 40+ lesser caliber guns.
Air group: 100 aircraft (Over half of these would be carried on the flight deck).
Maximum speed: 36 knots.
Range: 10,000 nautical miles at 18 knots.

According to preliminary plans, the first carrier was supposed to be completed by the end
of 1936 and the second by the end of 1937. Nevertheless, it was clear from the very
beginning that 10,050 tons of available displacement was not enough to meet all NGS's
requirements. For this reason it was decided to scale down the defensive armament to
155mm (in one triple and one twin mounts), AA armament to sixteen 127mm guns (in eight
twin mounts) and the air group reduced to 70 planes. This new, reworked project (Fig. 1B)
can be regarded as the basic design of SORYU class. According to the new project, all
vital parts were assessed as safe against 203mm cruiser and other areas from destroyer
shellfire. Nevertheless, compared to contemporary vessels in other navies, the light
armor protection incorporated in the new design was clearly insufficient.
Sheet steel for the new carrier named SORYU was ready at the Kure Navy Yard by early
1934. In March of the same year, the TOMOZURU incident occurred and the SORYU project
came under close scrutiny. As a result it was decided to revise the whole design once
again without changing its basic configuration. After heavy deck guns were deleted, SORYU
became a dedicated aircraft carrier. NGS's revised specifications for her were as
follows:

Displacement: 18,000 tons (trials).
Air group: 18 operational and 6 reserve fighters, 33 operational and 11 reserve dive-
bombers, with a total of 51 operational and 17 reserve aircraft.
Power output: 150,000shp.
Maximum speed: 35 knots.
Range: 7,800nm at 18 knots.
Defensive armament: twelve 127mm AA guns in six twin turrets.
Armor protection: magazines to withstand 203mm gunfire; engine spaces and avgas tanks to
withstand destroyer fire.

[btd64]

When I had some free time yesterday I did my own research and came up with a site(can't remember the name) that was dedicated to IJN ships pre WW2 thru WW2. Will post the website in a few. GP.

www.combinedfleet.com/kaigun.htm

Looked at it for about a half hour. Don't know if the info will help any, but take a look.

[John 3rd]

That site is a good staple for AE! I have it bookmarked. Thanks for looking around!

[DuckofTindalos]

"All vital parts", eh? It's not a floating fire bomb full of avgas, bombs and torpedoes?[:D]

[John 3rd]

I'm going to go with a 48 plane group and cruiser armor along the lines of Mikuma-Class I think.