List of sunken aircraft carriers

The following is a list of sunken aircraft carriers, with each of the aircraft carriers listed in alphabetical order.

The carriers listed in boldface were scuttled during training exercises or lost for other non-combat causes. The number of aircraft carried is for reference only, as the actual load could vary according to the mission and dates.

• Akagi ( Imperial Japanese Navy): 66-aircraft fleet carrier ; crippled by dive bombers from the carrier USS Enterprise during the Battle of Midway (4 June 1942), it was scuttled the following morning by torpedoes fired from the Japanese destroyers Arashi, Hagikaze, Maikaze, and Nowaki.

• Akitsu Maru ( Imperial Japanese Navy) : 8-aircraft escort carrier (converted liner) ; sunk in the East China Sea by submarine USS Queenfish 15 November 1944 while escorting a convoy ferrying troops from Manchuria to Philippines.

• Amagi ( Imperial Japanese Navy): 66-aircraft fleet carrier ; destroyed in drydock during the Great Kantō Earthquake (1 September 1923) while being converted from a battlecruiser.

• Amagi ( Imperial Japanese Navy): 66-aircraft fleet carrier ; sunk during the massive attack on Kure Harbour (24 July 1945) by aircraft of Royal Navy Task Force 37 (HMS Formidable, HMS Indefatigable, and HMS Victorious) and US Navy Task Force 38 (USS Ticonderoga, USS Essex, USS Randolph, USS Shangri-La, USS Yorktown, USS Bon Homme Richard, USS Bennington, USS Lexington, USS Hancock, USS Belleau Wood, USS Monterey, USS Bataan, USS San Jacinto e USS Cowpens).

• America ( United States Navy): 79-aircraft carrier ; scuttled off Cape Hatteras on 14 May 2005, after serving for over four weeks as a target for live-fire tests.

• Aquila ( Regia Marina) : 51-aircraft fleet carrier (converted liner) ; unfinished and heavily damaged, it was sunk in shallow waters by Italian combat swimmers to prevent it being used by the Germans to block Genova harbour on 19 April 1945.

• Ark Royal ( Royal Navy): 60-aircraft fleet carrier ; torpedoed by German submarine U-81 on 14 November 1941, sank the following day approx 30 miles from Gibraltar while under tow.

• Audacity ( Royal Navy): 8-aircraft escort carrier (converted merchant ship) ; sunk by German submarine U-751 on 21 December 1941 while escorting convoy HG 76.

• Avenger ( Royal Navy): 15-aircraft escort carrier (converted merchant ship) ; sunk by German submarine U-151 on 15 November 1942 just off Gibraltar, while providing air cover to Operation Torch.

• Bismarck Sea ( United States Navy): 27-aircraft escort carrier ; sunk by two Japanese kamikaze aircraft off Iwo Jima on 21 February 1945.

• Block Island ( United States Navy): 24-aircraft escort carrier ; sunk by German submarine U-549 on 29 May 1944 off the Canary Islands.

• Chitose ( Imperial Japanese Navy): 30-aircraft light carrier (converted seaplanes tender) ; sunk by torpedo bombers from the carrier USS Essex on 25 October 1944 off Cape Engaño, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

• Chiyoda ( Imperial Japanese Navy) : 30-aircraft light carrier (converted seaplanes tender) ; crippled by bombers from the carriers USS Franklin and USS Lexington, and later sunk by the cruisers USS Santa Fe, USS Mobile, USS Wichita and USS New Orleans on 25 October 1944 off Cape Engaño, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

• Chuyo ( Imperial Japanese Navy): 27-aircraft escort carrier (converted liner) ; sunk by submarine USS Sailfish near Hachijōjima Island on 4 December 1943.

• Courageous ( Royal Navy): 48-aircraft fleet carrier (converted battlecruiser) ; sunk by the German submarine U-29 on 17 September 1939 while performing anti-submarine patrol duties off the coast of Ireland.

• Dasher ( Royal Navy): 15-aircraft escort carrier (converted merchant ship); sunk on March 27 1943 off the Firth of Clyde after a major internal explosion due to unknown causes.

• Eagle ( Royal Navy): 30-aircraft fleet carrier ; sunk by the German submarine U-73 on 11 August 1942, while providing air cover to a convoy during Operation Pedestal.

• Gambier Bay ( United States Navy): 28-aircraft escort carrier; sunk by Japanese surface ships of Center Force (including the battleship Yamato : on 25 October 1944 during the Battle off Samar, part of the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf.

• Glorious ( Royal Navy): 48-aircraft fleet carrier (converted battlecruiser); sunk by gunfire of the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau on June 8, 1940 while returning to Scapa Flow during Operation Alphabet.

• Graf Zeppelin ( Kriegsmarine): 42-aircraft fleet carrier ; unfinished and heavily damaged, she was refloated by the USSR after WW2 and sunk off Łeba harbour as a bomb and torpedo target on 16 August 1947.

• Hermes ( Royal Navy): 20-aircraft fleet carrier ; sunk by aircraft launched from the Japanese carriers Akagi, Ryūjō, Hiryū, Sōryū, Shōkaku, and Zuikaku off Batticaloa (Sri Lanka) on April 9, 1942, during the Japanese Operation C.

• Hiyō ( Imperial Japanese Navy) : 53-aircraft fleet carrier ; sunk by torpedo bombers launched by the carrier USS Belleau Wood on 21 June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

• Hiryū ( Imperial Japanese Navy): 53-aircraft fleet carrier ; crippled by dive bombers from the carrier USS Enterprise during the Battle of Midway (4 June 1942), it was scuttled the following day by torpedoes fired from the Japanese destroyer Makigumo.

• Hornet ( United States Navy): 90-aircraft fleet carrier ; crippled by torpedo bombers and dive bombers from the Japanese Fast Carriers Force (carriers Shōkaku, Zuikaku, Hiyō, Junyō and Zuihō) on 27 October 1942 during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, and after an unsuccesfull attempt tow and then to scuttle her, she was finally sunk by torpedoes from the Japanese destroyers Makigumo and Akigumo

• Independence ( United States Navy): 30-aircraft light carrier ; heavily damaged as a target ship during the Operation Crossroads nuclear weapons test on Bikini Atoll (25 July 1946), was towed to San Francisco for decontamination tests and scuttled on 29 September 1951 off Farallon Islands.

• Kaga ( Imperial Japanese Navy): 72-aircraft fleet carrier ; crippled by dive bombers from the carrier USS Enterprise during the Battle of Midway (4 June 1942), it was scuttled by torpedoes fired from the Japanese destroyer Makigumo.

• Langley ( United States Navy): 34-aircraft fleet carrier (converted collier) ; later converted to a seaplane tender, crippled by Japanese dive bombers while entering Tjilatjap harbor (Java) on 27 February 1942 and scuttled by torpedoes and gunfire from the escorting ships.

• Lexington ( United States Navy): 91-aircraft fleet carrier ; sunk by torpedo bombers from the Japanese carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku on 8 May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea.

• Liscome Bay ( United States Navy): 28-aircraft escort carrier; sunk by Japanese submarine I-175 on 24 November 1943 off Butaritari Island.

• Ommaney Bay ( United States Navy): 28-aircraft escort carrier; crippled by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft in the Sulu Sea on 4 January 1945 and scuttled with a torpedo by the escorting destroyer USS Burns.

• Oriskany ( United States Navy): 91-aircraft fleet carrier ; scuttled as an artificial reef off Pensacola (17 May 2006).

• Princeton ( United States Navy): 45-aircraft light carrier ; sunk by a single bomb from a single land-based Japanese bomber on 24 October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

• Ryūjō ( Imperial Japanese Navy) : 48-aircraft light carrier ; sunk by torpedo bombers and dive bombers from the carrier USS Saratoga on 24 August 1942, during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons.

• Saint Lo ( United States Navy): 28-aircraft escort carrier; sunk by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft on 25 October 1944 during the Battle off Samar, part of the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf.

• Saratoga ( United States Navy): 91-aircraft fleet carrier (converted from a battlecruiser) ; sunk as target ship during Operation Crossroads nuclear weapons test on Bikini Atoll (25 July 1946)

• Shinano ( Imperial Japanese Navy) : 47-aircraft fleet carrier ; sunk by submarine USS Archer-Fish on 29 November 1944 , while transferring from Yokosuka to Kure to complete fittings.

• Shinyo ( Imperial Japanese Navy): 27-aircraft escort carrier (converted liner); sunk by submarine USS Spadefish on 17 November 1944, while escorting a convoy to Singapore.

• Shōhō ( Imperial Japanese Navy): 30-aircraft light carrier (converted submarines tender) ; sunk by torpedo bombers and dive bombers from the carriers USS Lexington and USS Yorktown on 6 May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea.

• Shōkaku ( Imperial Japanese Navy) : 72-aircraft fleet carrier ; sunk by submarine USS Cavalla on 19 June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

• Sōryū ( Imperial Japanese Navy): 57-aircraft fleet carrier ; sunk by dive bombers from the carrier USS Yorktown. during the Battle of Midway (4 June 1942).

• Sparviero ( Regia Marina) : 34-aircraft light carrier (converted liner) ; unfinished, scuttled by the Germans on 5 October 1944 to block the access to Genova harbour.

• Taihō ( Imperial Japanese Navy) : 65-aircraft fleet carrier ; sunk by submarine USS Albacore on 19 June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

• Unryū ( Imperial Japanese Navy) : 57-aircraft light carrier ; sunk by submarine USS Redfish in the East China Sea on 19 December 1944, while en route to Luzon Island.

• Unyo ( Imperial Japanese Navy) ; 27-aircraft escort carrier (converted liner) ; sunk by submarine USS Barb off Yokohama on 17 September 1944.

• Wasp ( United States Navy): 76-aircraft fleet carrier : sunk by the Japanese submarine I-19 SE of San Cristobal Island on 15 September 1942 while escorting a troopships convoy to Guadalcanal.

• Yorktown ( United States Navy): 90-aircraft fleet carrier ; crippled by dive bombers and torpedo bombers from the Japanese carrier Hiryū on 4 June 1942 during the Battle of Midway, she was torpedoed the following day by the Japanese submarine I-168 while under tow and sank in the early morning of June 7, 1942.

• Zuihō ( Imperial Japanese Navy): 30-aircraft light carrier (converted submarines tender) ; sunk by aircraft from US Navy Task Force 38 (carriers USS Intrepid, USS Franklin, USS Lexington II, USS Enterprise, USS Independence, USS Belleau Wood, USS Langley II, USS Cabot and USS San Jacinto on 25 October 1944 off Cape Engaño, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

• Zuikaku ( Imperial Japanese Navy): 72-aircraft fleet carrier ; sunk by aircraft from US Navy Task Force 38 (carriers USS Intrepid, USS Franklin, USS Lexington II, USS Enterprise, USS Independence, USS Belleau Wood, USS Langley II, USS Cabot and USS San Jacinto on 25 October 1944 off Cape Engaño, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

See also

• List of sunken battleships
• List of sunken battlecruisers

References

• "Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945" by J.Rohwer and G.Hummelchen - Greenhill Books - ISBN 1-85367-117-7
• "Jane's Fighting Ships of WWII" - Studio Editions - ISBN 1-85170-194-X
• "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships" - Vol.3 1922-1946 - Conway Maritime Press - ISBN 0-85177-146-7
• "Imperial Japanese Navy Aircraft Carriers 1921-194"5 by Mark Stille - New Vanguard N.109 - Osprey Publishing - ISBN 1-84176-853-7
• "US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1921-1945" by Mark Stille - New Vanguard N.114 - Osprey Publishing - ISBN 1-84176-890-1
• "US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1942-1945 WWII Built Ships" by Mark Stille - New Vanguard N.130 - Osprey Publishing - ISBN 1-84603-037-6
• "British Aircraft Carriers 1942-1945" by Angus Konstam - New Vanguard N.168 - Osprey Publishing - ISBN 1-84908-079-8

External links

• British escort carriers in WW2
• German carrier "Graf Zeppelin"
• Italian carriers in WW2 (Italian)
• Japanese carriers in WW2
• US carriers in WW2