Shipbucket

Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō photographed during full-power trials in 1922.

"An airplane-carrying vessel is indispensable. These vessels will be constructed on a plan very different from what is currently used. First of all the deck will be cleared of all obstacles. It will be flat, as wide as possible without jeopardizing the nautical lines of the hull, and it will look like a landing field." - L'Aviation Militaire, translated by Lee Kennett. Welcome to the First Aircraft Carrier Challenge! Your task is to draw a country's first aircraft carrier. This topic was derived from ideas shared in the Future Challenge Ideas/Suggestions thread. If you have ideas of your own for a future challenge, consider sharing them there. Do not be afraid to make a suggestion that has already been made. It shows that multiple people are interested in a particular topic.

Design Requirements

1. Your submission must depict a fictional aircraft carrier.
2. The aircraft carrier should be the first aircraft carrier built or operated by its respective country.
3. It must be commissioned as an aircraft carrier before 1935.
4. Aircraft carriers converted from existing ships are permitted.

Challenge Rules

1. Each participant may submit a single image.
2. The image should be a Shipbucket template modified to include the participant’s art and, optionally, one of the following: ship badge, unit insignia, manufacturer logo, national flag, or naval ensign. Other elements, including data sheets and scenic elements, are no longer permitted. If you have specifications and blocks of text, please include them in your post and not the image itself.
3. One side-view of the participant's ship must be included. One top-view is also permitted, but not required. All other views are prohibited.
4. If two views are included, they must depict the same individual ship (e.g. USS Langley CV-1) in the same paint scheme, markings, and configuration.
5. All art must be in Shipbucket scale and conform to the Shipbucket style guidelines.
6. A textual description accompanying each submission is permitted, but not necessary.
7. Non-serious entries, or entries substantially deviate from the challenge requirements, are not allowed.
8. Off-topic posts will be reported to the relevant authorities.

This challenge will run until Sunday 9 July 2023, ending at 23:59 UTC-12 (International Date Line West).
A countdown timer can be found at this link.


A poll will be held after this date to select a winner. When it opens, please provide honest and meaningful scores for each entry. Responses which grant maximum scores to a select group of entries, and minimum scores to all other entries, will be deleted. Members of the community who manipulate the results in such a fashion may also be subject to a permanent ban. Scores will be allocated in two categories, each with a scale of 1 to 10:

• Drawing Quality - The overall quality of the drawing. One might consider detailing, shading, and accuracy.
• Design Quality -The quality of the design presented, irrespective of drawing quality. One could consider feasibility, practicality, and realism.

Design Requirement Change and Clarifications
The challenge time frame has been extended. Design Requirement 3 now reads: "It must be commissioned as an aircraft carrier before 1935." This change was a response to feedback on Shipbucket's Discord server.

Several questions were also asked on Discord. Here is a summary of the answers:

• Aircraft carriers built for your chosen country by second country are permitted.
• If two armed services within a country both operate aircraft carriers, your entry must be the first built or operated by that country regardless of its armed service (even if the two armed services develop aircraft carriers independently).
• Your design must allow aircraft to take-off from and land on a flight deck, thought this is not necessarily the same flight deck.
• If aircraft carrier X is laid down or its conversion begins before aircraft carrier Y, but Y actually enters service before X, you can depict either ship.
• Only watercraft should be considered.

Ōsumi Class Aircraft Carrier




Background

(In this one off AU THERE IS NO OTHER DETAILS)

Premise: Japan is less expansionist during WW1, and thus naval development programs are cut back rather to promote economic & industrial development.

In 1925, the construction on IJN Hōshō began, with the plan to construct a trio of vessels in order to initialize aircraft carrier doctrine for the Navy. The boats were designed to have staggered construction periods with the first boat, Hōshō to be built from 1925-1927, the second boat Shokaku from 1926-1928, and the third boat (unnamed) from 1927-1929. The Shokaku & the Unnamed third carrier would later be officially canceled in 1925 due to economic conditions at the time.

In June 1926, due to unknown circumstances (Historians believe the welding process went haywire) Hōshō erupted into flames whilst her construction was 64% complete. Her hull would subsequently be scrapped on site.

Due to the Washington Naval Treaty being signed in 1922, the Japanese were permitted 81,000 tons of aircraft carrier tonnage. However, under Article XX, Pt. 4: “an aircraft carrier was defined as a warship displacing more than 10,000 tons constructed exclusively for launching and landing aircraft. Carriers lighter than 10,000 tons, therefore, did not count towards the tonnage limit.”

With the Washington Naval Treaty taking effect in 1923, the major naval powers agreed to a short term (2 year) construction pause for aircraft carriers over 10,000 tons. As a result, the conversion of Amagi and Takao that had been the primary target for the IJN’s new carrier’s were put on hold for a short period to adhere to the treaty’s pause. However, in 1923 the Great Kanto Earthquake critically damaged the hull of Amagi, causing the cancellation of the conversions as the hull of Amagi was far too damaged to modify. The carrier conversion of Takao was scrapped via the Prime Minister’s orders as a single, expensive & ineffective carrier made little sense.


Design & Construction

Due to the loophole in the Washington Naval Treaty, the IJN in 1928 permitted the revival of Hōshō’s sister ships. However, the design sphere has changed since Hōshō’s initial design work was completed in 1922. The Hōshō design would form the basis of Ōsumi’s design, however involving more modernized materials.

The IJN permitted construction of a pair of light carrier vessels under the Han’i Kessen Doctrine (Construction of 2x light carriers, 2x fleet carriers, and 2x seaplane tenders). In 1930 Ōsumi would be launched, with some minor outcry from other naval powers as they believed Ōsumi to be a violation of the Washington Naval Treaty as Japan was not counting it as part of their tonnage. However, Ōsumi being under 10,000 tons meant it was exempt from the treaty limitations and excluded from Japanese tonnage allocations. The Ōsumi would finish construction work in 1933, with her commissioning on May 27th, 1933 on the 28th anniversary of the Battle of Tsushima. Her sister, IJN Atsumi, would launch in 1931 with commissioning in 1934.


Service

Ōsumi would serve as a training vessel for her first few years of service, with her first landing trials being conducted in late 1933 with the assistance of the Sempill Mission, a delegation of 30x naval aviators led by Captain William Forbes-Sempill intending to help the IJN develop its naval aviation operations. The lessons learned in Ōsumi & Atsumi would impact the fitting out of the Ryūjō and the Sōryū Class with more advanced landing equipment.

Ōsumi would form the initial basis of the First Carrier Division in 1933, with her sister joining a year later. Ryūjō and Sōryū would later join the Division after their fitting out period was completed in 1935 & 1937 respectively.

The First Carrier Division would be sent to China as a result of the Shanghai Incident taking place in 1937, with Ōsumi arriving at the mouth of the Yangtze River to support Japanese troops on the ground. Ōsumi’s fighters would shoot down an unknown number of Chinese Nationalist fighters, however Chinese records estimate 5x fighters shot down in three different incidents. The First Carrier Division would pull back away from Shanghai in early March, with Ōsumi sortieing back to Kure Naval Base for a refit of her landing systems.

Ōsumi would continue to act as an escort & training carrier until 1939 where she would deploy alongside Ryūjō as part of the 2nd Carrier Division off of Shanghai, where 3x Chinese Nationalist Martin B-10 bombers would attempt an attack run against the 2x carriers after they were spotted by reconnaissance aircraft. The bombing run would prove unsuccessful as both carriers would conduct evasive maneuvers to avoid the bombs falling. However, Ōsumi would be the only carrier of the 2nd Carrier Division for the rest of the year as Ryūjō made back for Japan for an overhaul of her stability figures, as the evasive maneuvers during the bomber attack proved that she needed an overhaul. Ōsumi’s fighters would shoot down a total of 15x Chinese fighter planes, with loss of 5x aircraft of their own (1x due to shoot down, 3x due to ditching, and 1x due to unknown reasons).

Ōsumi would participate in the Attack on Pearl Harbor in May of 1942 acting as an auxiliary carrier, providing scouting, anti-submarine, and general combat air patrols. None of her aircraft would take part in the actual battle itself, however the carrier did take part in the landing of 2x Mitsubishi A6M “Zero”s from Ryūjō that had gotten lost. Ōsumi would not take part in the Battle of Midway as she was in the Philippines at the time of battle. Her sister Atsumi however would take part in her place.

Ōsumi would later deploy out of Naval Base Truk for a few months in 1943, before being recalled to mainland Japan to train new cadets while her sister was in refit. She would spend most of 1943 and 1944 training new pilots for the navy after the severe losses in Midway. In late 1944, the IJN pulled Ōsumi and Atsumi from training to act as aircraft and fuel transport ships to Iwo Jima and Okinawa.


Fates

The IJN Ōsumi conducted transport runs to Okinawa, with her final cargo run being February 24th. She would sail back to Nagasaki the next day. She would remain in Nagasaki until the end of June when she would begin deliveries of fighters to Korea due to the foreseen Declaration of War by the USSR. Her last sortie would be on August 6th when she departed Nagasaki for Busan. She would spend 2 days in Busan before making back to Nagasaki on August 9th, however radio reports out of neighboring cities and towns near Nagasaki reported a complete destruction of the city (Due to the dropping of the Atomic Bomb), so the Captain of the Ōsumi decided to make for Tsushima until further developments were revealed. She would remain in Tsushima when surrender was declared on August 14th. Her crew sabotaged the engine and gear systems to prevent seizure. When the island was seized by the American Occupation Forces, she would be dragged out of port. American authorities wanted Ōsumi to take part in Reparation Transport of Japanese Troops from Korea, but the destruction of her engine systems prevented it. She would be dragged out of her anchoring in Tsushima by a tug, where she would then be dragged to offshore Pearl Harbor, to be sunk in tests of ASM-N-2 Bat guided bombs from a PB4Y Privateer, making Ōsumi the last Japanese carrier sunk. Her wreck is located at 19°58'26"N 158°34'00"W

On one of the cargo runs in 1945 to Iwo Jima, Atsumi would be stalked for several hours by the submarine USS Spearfish. Around midnight on January 10th, 1945 USS Spearfish would launch 2x torpedoes towards IJN Atsumi. The first torpedo would strike the dead center of the ship while the second would hit the rudder. Atsumi would explode into a massive rupture of flames 30 miles North-West of Iwo Jima, with an explosion so bright and loud those on the island were woken up by it. She would sink with all hands, and 25x stored aircraft on board. RV Petrel found her wreck location on June 5, 2018 at 24°55'55"N 140°58'15"E


Specifications of IJN Ōsumi (1933)

Type: Training Aircraft Carrier
Displacement: 9,567 (standard)
Length: 563 ft
Beam: 75ft 7in
Draught: 15ft 5in (mean)
Installed power: 8x boilers with 22,000 kW
Propulsion: 2 shafts; 2x steam turbines
Speed: 27 knots
Range: 9,245 nmi at 12 knots
Complement: 523
Armament:
4 × single 120mm GP guns
3 × single 6.5 AA guns
Aircraft carried: 18-24x


Typical 1933 Air Fleet:

Combat Oriented: (20x total)
12x Nakajima A2N Fighters
6x Mitsubishi B2M1 Torpedo Bombers
2x Yokosho C2M Reconnaissance Aircraft

Training Oriented: (18x Total)
18x Yokosho K4Y Training Aircraft

_________________
Worklist:
- Solkriet - My Personal AU: http://www.shipbucket.com/forums/viewto ... 14&t=10834
- America the Divided - Joint-Project between Minepagen and I http://www.shipbucket.com/forums/viewto ... =14&t=9855
- Occasionally the Random pop-ups of my Abyssinia or Hong Kong AUs

"The word Br*t?sh is a horrible term I never want to hear from you again, We do not tolerate that dehumanization".

I must give props for the backstory, and special props for mentioning Petrel finding the wreck!

_________________

MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Ørn Class Aircraft Carrier




Specifications: MNS Ørn (1925)


Type: Aircraft Carrier
Displacement: 11,367 (standard)
Length: 601.5 ft
Beam: 67.3 ft
Draft: 18.5 ft
Installed power: 6 water-tube boilers
40,000 shp (30,000 kW)
Propulsion: 2x shafts; 2x geared steam turbine sets
Speed: 26 knots
Range: 6,300 at 11 knots
Complement: 635 (excluding aircrew)
Armament: 6 x single 144mm GP guns
4 x twin 40mm AA guns
5 x single 13.7mm MP guns
Armour: Belt: 5.8 in
Deck: 1.5 in
Aircraft carried: 20-25x



1925 Air Group


10x CF2-1 Fighters
10x CTB1-3 Torpedo bombers
2-3x CS1-1 Reconnaissance aircraft

Fate: Sunk by naval gunfire, 31st of July 1939

_________________
"The further you are from the sound of guns, the less you understand."
- General Walter Natyncyk, CAF

Project list -
realstrange
USN Hellcat sheet
Greek F-16's
USAAF B-24 Liberator mega sheet (Europe, Italy/North Africa, and Pacific)

In 1916 the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci suffered a magazine detonation while in port. She capsized and sank in 11m of water, In september of 1919 work started on refloating the ship and was sucessfully refloated, still upside-down in 1921. In order to fit the ship onto Italys largest floating drydock, almost everything above deck had to be removed. Plans to modernize and rebuild the ship were made, including using the new secondary battery from the now cancelled Caracciolo, but these plans came to naught. Instead plans were drawn up to rebuilt her as a carrier since it would be cheaper to convert the da Vinci than the Caracciolo.

The bow was rebuilt and lengthened to help make the ship faster, and the boilers and turbines meant for the Caracciolo was used to increase the speed from her original speed of 23kts up to 26,5kts. The two funnels were sponsoned out of the starboard-side amidships. The carrier was not built with an island, having the bridge in front of the superstructure below the flight deck. A hangar large enough to accomodate 16 planes were made, with a total of 10 planes in a permanent deck park. The planes chosen was the Fiat CR.1 as the fighter, the Fiat B.R. as the torpedo bomber and the Ansaldo A-120 as a scout. For self-defense the ship had 8x152,6mm guns mounted on sponsons and 8x102mm AA guns as well as 12x40mm guns for defense against torpedo boats and fast-attack craft. The original armor belt was replaced with a belt of 76,2mm protecting the powerplant and the magazines located amidships.

Work was completed early in 1925 and the ship was accepted into service in late 1925, spending hear early career filling the role of training Italian naval aviators for when future larger, and better carriers could be built to fill in the role of the stop-gap da Vinci.

Atropus Class Aircraft Carrier


During the end of the great war, the Saderan Empire came up with the concept of creating a specialized aircraft-carrying ship, which led to the creation of Atropus. While the empire had previously experimented with various conversions and ships, those were not effective due to their ill-conceived and converted nature.

Atropus, however, was a novel and unique ship that had not been seen before in the Saderan or any other Navy. Despite being one of the first carriers with a full-length flight deck and aircraft elevators, some of its design features were influenced by the Admiral Amelia class aircraft carriers from the Shausal Navy. But Atropus stands out from its predecessor with its open-sided hangar, which allows greater ventilation and the ability to prepare aircraft within the hangar before being transported up to the flight deck.

Specifications

Displacement - 13,311 tonnes standard
Length: 539 ft O/A
Beam: 64 ft L.W.L
Draft: 28 ft At Standard Load
Installed power: 6 Double-Ended Coal Fired Boilers
25,000 shp
Propulsion: 1x shafts; 1x Vertical Quadruple Expansion Steam Engine
Speed: 17 knots
Range: 4,100 at 8 knots
Complement: 400
Armament: 4x1 127mm M-1813 Mod2
Armour: 0.5 in Splinter Protection Around Ammunition And Aviation Fuel Storage
Aircraft carried: 8-10x

Atropus (PC-1) 1807-1809-1810 - Undetermined fate

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Work list: 1. various pre-1900 Zipang ships 2. Some protected cruisers and other miscellaneous projects

Experimental Aircraft Carrier Kanade (V-1)



Kanade began her life as one of what would eventually become the Yachiho-class 1st class cruisers. Designed during the 2nd Intercontinental War to intercept and destroy enemy commerce raiders, particularly the light and armed merchant cruisers of the Raventz Empire, they were to have a high speed and a heavy armament. In order to gain as much speed as possible, they were closer in design to scaled up light cruisers than scaled down armored cruisers. Laid down as the 5th ship in her class, Kanade was selected along with the incomplete battlecruiser Azmel to be converted into an aircraft carrier following a series of successful airstrikes by the Gliade Empire's first carrier, the converted battlecruiser GIMS Belligerent. While work on Azmel was started first, work was suspended and Kanade was completed first in order to sort out any issues that could appear.

Kanade's design was very similar to that of Belligerent, albeit somewhat smaller due to her smaller size. Her superstructure was built along the same lines as her half sisters, although much of it would be hidden from view within the hangars that were also constructed. Kanade had two hangars, one fore containing four fighters, and one aft containing six attack aircraft and a single (deflated) nonrigid airship. Two large cranes were installed amidships in order to be able to move planes between the two flight decks as well as fishing any seaplanes or ditched planes out of the water. She also was constructed with two flight decks, one fore for taking off and one aft for landing. Armament consisted of four 20cm guns in two twin mounts. These had only limited firing arcs due to the flight deck's supports being in the way but this was allowed due to Kanade's experimental nature. Four 8cm and eight 2cm anti aircraft guns were also fitted. Steam was generated by 12 oil fired boilers which drove four shafts, driving the ship to a maximum speed of 32 knots. Range was 6000 miles at 18 knots.

History
Commissioned in April 818, Kanade first engaged in a series of experiments involving the launch and recovery of aircraft near Remoris. These experiments revealed that the superstructure and funnels caused turbulence and smoke interference which made it difficult for pilots to land. As such Azmel's superstructure was shifted to starboard and a single flight deck ran the length of the ship. Immediately after these experiments, Kanade embarked six attack aircraft and four fighters and a blimp. This would be her general aircraft complement for the duration of the 2nd Intercontinental War. In June 818, she conducted the first of several airstrikes against Raventzian airship bases, leaving two airships destroyed. This sortie confirmed the usefulness of the aircraft carrier to the Altesian navy, which began designing its first purpose built carrier soon after. Kanade was present for the surrender of the Raventz fleet in 820, but was out of harbor on exercises when the ships were scuttled by their crews. In February 822, she participated in the sinking of the former Raventz battleship Hilfenstadt. This revealed that level bombing was incredibly difficult and as a result, torpedo bombers replaced Kanade's attackers.

In September 822, Kanade underwent a major rebuild which involved stripping the ship down to the main deck and installing a single flight deck running down the length of the ship. Aircraft capacity rose to 24 planes. She would then be reclassified as a training carrier as newer ships began to enter service. She served as an aircraft transport during the 3rd Intercontinental War, seeing no action apart from evading a torpedo fired by a Zemuran submarine. Decommissioned in 849, she would be mothballed until 867 when she was finally scrapped.

Specifications
Type: Heavy Cruiser
Displacement (826): 8,500 tons (standard load), 9230 (full load)
Length: 184.4m (wl), 186.8m (oa)
Beam: 18m
Draught: 5.8m
Propulsion:
- 4-shaft geared turbines
- 12 Naransha boilers
- 115,060 horsepower
Speed: 32 knots
Range: 6000 nmi at 18 knots
Complement: 642
Armament:
As built:
- 4 x 20cm/45 guns (2 x 2)
- 4 x 8cm/50 guns (4 x 1)
- 8 x 2cm/75 Type 22 cannon (8 x 1)

_________________
I don't know what I'm doing half the time so please cut me some slack.

CURRENT AND PLANNED PROJECTS (in order of first priority)
- Altesian battlecruisers
- Altesian destroyers
- Altesian cruisers
- Altesian ironclads
- History & maps of the Alteias Republic AU

Angol class Aircraft Carrier (1929-1943)



Name: Angol
Commissioned: July 12, 1929
Faith: decommissioned (October 14, 1943) Scrapped
Nation: Imperial Aryavart Empire (IAE)
Class: Angol-class Aircraft Carrier
Planned Role: Battlecruiser(Amethyst class) (Converted to Aircraft Carrier)

The Angol, originally intended as a battlecruiser. Upon the completion of the hull , it was redesignated as a aircraft carrier due to strategic considerations. Its maiden voyage showcased its impressive maneuverability and stability during maneuvers establishing the Angol as a formidable asset in the fleet. Angol was the only ship of its class as the other 2 ships were haven't laid down.
It played a crucial role at asserting naval supremacy during the escalations in tensions between IAE and Miazok and gave a better understanding in carrier aviation. Angol and his task force hunted convoys and miazok's cruiser forces during 1936-42. The legacy of Angol remains significant, as it played a pivotal role in IAE's war efforts and contributed to the eventual defeat of Miazok. The carrier fell victim to the post-war geopolitical changes. With the dissolution of IAE, the Angol was decommissioned and eventually scrapped, marking the end of its illustrious career with the dissolution of its originating nation

Specs

Length-158m
Draft- 7.5m
Displacement - 22,000 tons
Installed power - 28 water-tube boilers
50,000 shp (37,000 kW)
Propulsion - 2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbine sets
Speed - 23 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Range - 9000 km (10371 km) at 16 knots
Complement - 800

Armament-
3x2 140mm guns
2x1 140mm guns
8x1 75mm flak guns (AA)
8x2 25mm autocannons (AA)
8x3 25mm autocannons (AA)

Armour
Belt: 4.5 in (114 mm)
Deck: 1–1.5 in (25–38 mm)
Bulkheads: 4 in (102 mm)
Aircraft carried- 24~28

_________________
RAIDer1_1

TLDR:

Large and fast aircraft carrier converted from a battlecruiser hull and commissioned (as a carrier) in equivalent year 1925. Designed with an open sided hangar and multiple flight decks to maximise aircraft capacity and operational flexibility.


Background:

Lunaria showed great interest in aviation, and naval aviation in particular. Despite still catching up to the industrial level of other nations, they purchased aircraft technology and kick-started their aircraft industry. During the second half of the 1560s (OTL 1910s) they succesfully carried out tests of launching and recovering wheeled aircraft from ships using temporary platforms, and became convinced of the potential power of aircraft at sea.

However, keen as the Lunarian Admiralty might have been, the financial and political will was not there to allow them to progress from experimentation to operating dedicated aircraft carrying ships. Biding their time, Lunaria theorised on ideal carrier doctrine, fed in no small part by extensive espionage campaigns on other nations that were starting to build or convert their own aircraft carriers.

An opportunity arose as part of the fleet review in the lead up to the anticipated naval arms limitation conference of 1570 (OTL 1920). The pair of so-called "light battlecruisers" of the Kitsune class, built in 1567 (OTL 1917) and widely considered a failed concept and unsatisfactory ships, were earmarked for mothballing. In the light of likely reductions to future capital ship construction, the Lunarian Admiralty at last argued succesfully for funds to be diverted to convert these ships to pure aircraft carriers.

In accordance with the studies of the intervening years, the large fast ships were considered ideal. To maximise aircraft capacity and flexibility of operations, a large open sided hangar was built onto the original battlecruiser shelter deck, opening onto a flying-off deck at the bow. A roughly 3/4 length flight deck was added on top, supported by pillars and kept completely clear of all obstructions, to be used for both take-off and landing operations. To aid landings, a primitive longitudinal wire system was fitted to the upper flight deck. Operational aircraft capacity was expected to be between 50 and 60 depending on the use of a permanent deck park, an idea still to be trialled. Types reflected a legacy of early experimentation, but showed the emergence of a potent strike force while retaining a focus on scouting and protection from enemy aircraft.

The refitted ships were commissioned in 1575 (OTL 1925), with Kitsune becoming the first dedicated aircraft carrier in the Lunarian Navy. These vessels were pivotal in defining Lunarian carrier doctrine over the next decade.