The Illegal Aircraft Carrier - Ryūjō

[@williampaz2092]

When the US Navy converted battle cruiser hulls into aircraft carriers Lexington and Saratoga they pushed the displacement envelope to the breaking point. To this day it is claimed these two great ships were 33,000 tons as allowed by the Washington Naval treaty. When an anti-torpedo bulge was added it was claimed that the “armoring up”clause in the treaty allowed this and merely pushed the displacement to 36,000 tons. Impossible. The original battle cruisers would have displaced 45,000 tons and the USN simply built aircraft carriers starting on the engineering deck and up. Lexington and Saratoga were 48,000 tons at least. Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Akagi was 41,000 tons and IJN Kaga was 43,000 tons. The Washington Naval Treaty specified two (and only 2) aircraft carriers converted from Capital ship hulls and could not displace more than 33,000 tons. I have never found any evidence that ANYONE tried to follow the treaty.

[@chungawunga9988]

Ya it would seem weird to me as to why they would want to follow these rules. It would make sense that an American would have to check the displacement on Japanese ships and vice versa but I’m sure that wasn’t going on.

[@LumpusKrampus]

Who would even be able to check once it's deployed? If all the design paperwork says it's 33K, then that's all she wrote.

[@LostShipMate]

The British did largely follow the Washington Naval treaty, which was odd, They were typically the first to break treaties.

[@賴志偉-d7h]

It is okay when the US broke the rules.

[@gastonjaillet9512]

The european nations overall largely respected the Treaty, surprisingly. That is until the late 1930s of course, when it became clear that Germany wasn't following any rules

[@CMTechnica]

Pretty much every nation, the US included, violated the loopholes in the Washington Naval Treaty. Japan building a light carrier is hardly an exception when you look at what every other fleet fielded leading up to WWII

[@Usmvalor3]

It was kinda sneaky, and scummy in one major way though. This and London Naval treaty were expertly orchestrated to screw over everyone except for USN, simply because they wanted to have fleet on at least par with the Brits.

[@Marin3r101]

Ahh minimizing one to bash others. How classy.

[@AdmRose]

The US and Britain were the two countries that strictly adhered to the Treaty. Japan did at first, then tried some creative ship designs that were not entirely successful and then finally just outright lied regarding tonnage. The Italians just gave questionable tonnage numbers from the start and the French took advantage of the lack of restrictions on destroyers.

[@jeebusk]

Rules are pointless without enforcement, the surprising thing is how hard some countries tried to adhere to the naval treaties.

[@AdmRose]

@@jeebusk Yea they seemed to overlook the whole “enforcement” part when they wrote the Treaty.

[@bernardtimmer6723]

In the 1930s the Japanese navy built a whole fleet of support vessels easily converted to actual carriers. Most or all were converted to operational carriers by World War II. They also built a number of light cruisers(6.2 inch guns) easily converted to heavy cruisers(8.1 inch guns) while conceiling their actual displacement.

[@堀水英則]

龍穰はそれほど大きな艦では有りませんでしたが、大戦中は沈没する迄縦横無尽の活躍を見せた非常に優秀な名艦でした。

[@WyvernApalis]

A great war crime machine

[@riki65848]

@@WyvernApalis Ryujo didn't kill innocent people. Greatest war crime machine is B29.

[@jimmydm3]

@@riki65848 Greatest war crime machine in WWII was the Japanese soldier. Killed and raped women and children, and brutalized the civilian population in the territory they seized.

[@MaidenPasadena]

Japanese light aircraft carriers including Ryujo had their bridges below deck, but this created a physical distance between the main officers on the bridge and the pilots. Normally, when launching an aircraft from a carrier, the pilot was given a navigational chart showing the carrier's current location. However, Moriyasu Hidaka, who was in command of IJN Zuihou's Zero fighters during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, testified that he was unable to receive the navigational charts from the navigator due to poor communication with the bridge. He had no choice but to depart, thinking that since his mission was to escort Kates, he would be able to return to the carrier if he followed Kates. The battle was urgent, and in fact, IJN Zuihou was hit shortly after he departed. Four of the nine Zero fighters he commanded were lost in the battle, including two pilots who were unable to return to the carrier due to lack of navigational charts. He said that if the carrier had had an island bridge, this would not have happened.

[@michaelfisher7170]

Clever way to get around the treaty limitations, but weight in armor had to be sacrificed to make it happen. Great job. The big ships are obvious subjects for videos like this but I enjoy seeing the ships that didn't quite "fit in" to what's expected from a warship and were at least innovative and imaginative, if not ultimately successful. Keep up the great work!

[@westcoaststacker569]

I would vote this one a success from the video.

[@jamesbugbee6812]

@Get on the cross and don’t look back NIV is PC.

[@jeffreyestahl]

An interesting video would be all the ships (by very few nations ultimately) that were designed and built for the 700tn clause that said "If it's under 700 tons displacement, you can build as many as you like." Italy was one of the few nations to take advantage (and even then cheated a bit with their late war DEs - e.g. Spica and Ariete classes).

[@cosmoray9750]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4qaqqWPm9yAr9U 🤔

[@michaelfisher4737]

hi :)

[@kentowakai1234]

You are absolutely nailing the pronunciation of the Japanese names. Impressive.

[@zer0bre]

Not that hard...

[@kirkwcowgill]

But he flubs the pronunciation of Chinese cities.

[@michaelwandrick5306]

That’s not a human narrating this film it’s A I and obviously you couldn’t tell the difference…. Don’t feel bad no one else can’t either ….That’s what scares a daylights out of everybody about A I… we now cannot believe any videos or photographs that we see now….A I can make photographs that humans cannot tell the difference between real and fake…. These are scary times we’re entering…. That’s why it’s so important for the politicians to be an office…… and frankly the group we have now have an average age of 60 they’re not gonna cut it……. we are part of the transition over to part human part computer type of humans hybrids if you will……. 75 and already I miss the old way……. At least I won’t be around to see it at its peak, but unfortunately, I’m gonna be around to see it start….. help…… wake up America

[@Mortifix]

These videos have been perfect for me lately. Been going pretty hard on World of Warships so I am appreciating the lore.

[@HarborLockRoad]

I just built the Hiryu and Soryu out of cardboard. Didnt come out bad at all. You really get an appreciation for the japanese carriers when you build them from scratch.

[@kevindavis5966]

Those ships are almost 750 feet in length - where did you find all of the cardboard, and where in the world did you put them?

[@highdesertutah]

Let us know when you take them to sea.

[@ankursin]

@@kevindavis5966 he just build a replica much smaller than actual size

[@christiant.s.f.9029]

@@ankursin wooshhh

[@skydiverclassc2031]

I bet that a firecracker dropped from a dive bomber put an end to that.

[@BloodyApril]

It carried 21 B5N2 Kates and 18 A6M2-21 Zeros. Participated in Aleutian campaign along with Junyo. During Midway operation. On June 3rd 1942 one of its Zeros was captured when the pilot tried to land in a marsh on Adak Island thinking it was a grass field. The pilot Tadayoshi Koga broke his neck. The plane was found by a PBY Catalina, shipped to a testing ground, studied and test flown by American pilots who learned its strengths and weaknesses. The A6M2-21 best carrier fighter of that time. The Ryujo was a medium aircraft carrier. Almost comparable to Junyo. Which carried 24 Aichi D3A1 Val dive bombers and 21 Mitsubishi A6M2-21 fighters. Ryujo and Junyo were 4th carrier division. Zuiho and Shoho were light carriers of the 3rd carrier division. They could only carry 12 Zeros and 12 Kates.

[@armorer94]

The zeros were fast and agile, but if you did manage to hit it, it went up like a Roman candle. The plane's agility was the result of not building armor into the design. Once the US had faster, more agile aircraft (Corsair. Hellcat) the zeros advantage was negated.

[@TheStugbit]

Her biggest problem was the small stern elevator which didn't allow for bigger aircraft to be used. But still managed to carry Kates and Zeros.

[@adriendiaz739]

The zero crashed on Akutan, and it’s where it got its name, the Akutan Zero.

[@paoloviti6156]

Yes but this particular Zero that was recovered upside-down and seriously damaged was actually assembled with parts from various downed or damaged Zeros recovered from various places including also the engines. Unfortunately it finished it's career when it was chopped in pieces by an airplane handled by a green pilot.....

[@BloodyApril]

+@@armorer94 That didn,t come until the A6M3-22 best Zero performance wise. Flown by Japan,s top ace. Hiroyoshi Nishizawa. Tainan Kokutai.

[@rustyATV]

Maybe it sounds silly, but the carriers Japan converted from other ships look a bit spooky to me, the way they just tacked on a hangar on top of a hull which then sits really low in the water. Also curious how they held up in severe weather. Seems like they could be flooded easily.

[@shrk128]

You want spoopy IJN carriers? Look no further than Shinano. She was designed as the 3rd sister of the Yamato class, converted mid-build to a support carrier, and found her end at the warhead of an american torpedo from a submarine, while carrying a shipment of 50 Ohkas. She was tragic, but her end saved lives, ironically enough.

[@therealignotus7549]

Why sppoky?

[@Sebastianator01]

@@shrk128 DarkDocs did a great video on her. Great I video. Gonna go watch it thanks for the inspiration

[@DUSTKILLL]

@@shrk128 get outa here with saving life's. It was during war time and the usa was fire bombing civilians lol don't justify anything as good ner bad as everything is gray

[@janickgoudeau6126]

How come sppoky?

[@danzervos7606]

This is the aircraft carrier that lost the Zero in the Aleutians nearly intact that Americans recovered and were to analyze and determine best measures to defeat it.

[@jandmchavez]

The Japanese had taken Howard hueses airplane to make the zero fighter .

[@danzervos7606]

@@jandmchavez Howard Hughes? I think that theory has been disproven. The Zero was a unique design that did use some of the design elements of other aircraft, but then all aircraft manufacturers were using advances by other companies.

[@dave8599]

Very interesting information on the source of our first captured Zero. thanks!

[@Rammstein0963.]

@Dan That's based on a American and British ego trip of the time, declaring that there was NO WAY the Japanese managed to invent a plane superior to what we had (this mindset was born of anti Asian racism btw).

[@FoxMacLeod2501]

@@Rammstein0963. The powerful white people, who write most of the history books the world pays attention to, love this. The show _Ancient Aliens_ is largely built upon their unconsciously racist assumptions and feelings toward the myriad peoples they've decided to view as inferior. "There's no _way_ that _anyone_ before us, let alone the ancient hordes of primitive, darkly-complected _savages,_ could ever have built such marvels as the pyramids and temples found in far-away deserts and jungles. It's been phrenologically proven to be intellectually inferior to but an average male child of a land-owning contemporary Londoner; the primitives do not even inherently comprehend the King's English, for God's sake! Nay, glorious, massive, and durable as the ancient structures are... _IT SEEMS MORE REASONABLE THAT _*_SPACE ALIENS_*_ BUILT THE PYRAMIDS, RATHER THAN ANY NON-WHITE HUMAN BEINGS WHO ACTUALLY, DEMONSTRABLY LIVED THERE._

[@influxtv8047]

Its actually nice to see to see the improvement in video quality from this channel over time 👍

[@themudthedirtandthesand9079]

The real problem with this channel is the pictures selected are highly generic, often of the wrong ships being talked about, or scenes of wrong battles being talked about. If you learn the Pacific War from credible books, as I did 50 years ago, it is easy to pick out lots of inaccuracies in the film selected here.

[@markdexter6338]

Unlike other try hard and trash channels. *"nUmBer SixTEen.."*

[@paulsteaven]

"Prancing Dragon" I love how poetic the IJN naming convention is for their aircraft carriers unlike the other naval powers. But they broke that trend when the Amagi (of the Unryuu class) was commissioned.

[@tremedar]

Not so much broke a trend, as made Amagi a carrier, one way or another. Either a battlecruiser conversion or a keel up design, they were naming a carrier after that mountain.

[@mikasa2858]

I don't know much about IJN. But the trend is still alive in JMSDF submarine Sō ryū class like Sō ryū (Blue Dragon) ,Un ryū (Cloud dragon), Haku ryū (White Dragon), Ken ryū (Sword Dragon), Koku ryū (Black Dragon), Jin ryū (God's Dragon), Shō ryū (Rising dragon), + 5 other Sō ryū class. The names might be not so poetic but each dragon has its background story. And 9 Oya-shio class submarines are all named after "tide" like 〇〇shio.

[@anthonycaruso8443]

It makes it easier to attack people who are sleeping.

[@Alchemicalromance93]

I love loopholes and the situations that arise from them.

[@keithbaker1951]

Pretty much happens whenever you make " rules " for people who you have no actual say over. We see loopholes in all laws except one. Natural law is the only true law.

[@KuDastardly]

Germany also did this by undermining the Treaty of Versailles when it came to tonnage and displacements. Hence, the Germans would create pocket battleships.

[@Alchemicalromance93]

@@KuDastardly For pocket battleships that big, they must've had deep pockets.

[@KuDastardly]

@@Alchemicalromance93 Not as deep as the loopholes found in the treaty. >:)

[@slappy-chicken]

Talk about "think outside the box". Even with all it's flaws, the ship was an engineering marvel. Man, I love learning about WWII. I wish the war had never happened. I guess a "positive" of the war were the technological breakthroughs humankind made. And by that i mean advances that had a positive impact for greater good of society.

[@nimay13]

Necessity is the mother of invention. Also, when in war there’s no budget factor to consider.

[@Keti_Mporta]

War has driven technological development through most of human history

[@Sherwoody]

My first impression was that it looked like a scow, but it was actually a useful little carrier.

[@tonystone1016]

Thanks for the video. I didn't realize what a franken-carrier this was.

[@kellybreen5526]

There is a common thread with the Wasp, which was built "using up" the remaining carrier tonnage. There were warnings that Wasp should remain in the Atlanic with Ranger as they were not adequately protected, but necessity won out and Wasp was sunk due in no small part to her lack of torpedo protection.

[@jaybee9269]

Churchill was surprised Wasp survived the very dangerous Med and was sunk by the Japanese…

[@OverlordGrizzaka]

Considering the later usage of light and escort carriers, any arguments against sending either to the pacific was and is moot. Lucky hits dont count as a solid "I told you so". The presence of more carriers would have seen a different outcome at coral sea, Midway and Guadalcanal.

[@kellybreen5526]

@@OverlordGrizzaka Fair comment. That said, the war against the Japanese was always secondary to Europe. The point I was trying to make was Wasp had to be built light and poorly protected in order to get her within the tonnage limit. In the case of this carrier and Wasp, this decision to sacrifice protection likely played a large part in the loss of the respective ships. I could be wrong here, but I believe that aside from bulkheads, Wasp had no torpedo protection whatsoever.

[@TheRealRedAce]

Due in no small part to US warships hanging around in the same refuelling area well-known to the Japanese.

[@geralddaly5864]

@@kellybreen5526 wasp was a lightened yorktown class so they wanted as large an air group as possible in the available tonnage so sacrifices had to be made but also she got hit with 3 torpedoes the same amount that sank shokaku and look at ark royal

[@rickmcdonald1557]

As a Sailor in Vietnam I really enjoy these videos and the narrator does an excellent job telling the stories. Thanks~!!

[@nickhall8319]

Even the pronunciation of forecastle? Like nails on a chalkboard.

[@grndiesel]

It's hard to call this ship unsuccessful, given her long career during wartime. The concept of a light carrier is not without merit, since it allows more ships to be deployed for the same overall cost.

[@westcoaststacker569]

From the video it seemed to be a great success. Not many carriers would of withstood the final attack.

[@monchichis333]

And that concept carried on with manufacturers after war time, and that is why we have a lot of Toyotas now.

[@Alchemicalromance93]

Such an interesting idea to locate the observation deck under the flight deck. I wonder what it was like to work in that area and I wonder how they were able to coordinate the landing and take off of the aircraft.

[@Aaron-zu3xn]

they were underfunded but the designs were amazing,they were twisted but they were smart and that's what made the japanese such a threat,even their medical research was responsible for every biological WMD of today,we still use their tech today decades after the fall of the emperor

[@Keifsanderson]

My office on CVN-72 was immediately under the flight deck. In general, it's hot and loud. Also had a catapult running through the office. That was fun.

[@jbmu4644]

@@Keifsanderson That sounds pretty cool!

[@Alchemicalromance93]

@@Keifsanderson Wow that's really cool! How long did you serve?

[@Keifsanderson]

@@Alchemicalromance93 A shade over 20 years. Retiring in a month. Deploying on a carrier was a cool experience. Glad I was able to do it. It's incredible. The size and complexity.

[@MooreFishing-ky3wq]

I love how the carrier turned into the USS Wasp , Hornet , and Yorktown as it was sinking .

[@oldesertguy9616]

Not to mention SBD's and TBF's turning into B-25's.

[@garfieldsmith332]

And HMS Barham as the USS Pope exploding. And Ronald Regan making an uncredited cameo appearance.

[@ut000bs]

Do you have video of Ryujo and Pope sinking he could have used? No?

[@garfieldsmith332]

@@ut000bs Ah yes in HD colour and in 3D. And from both sides in the war. Everyone was making a slight joke on the issue. The HMS Barham clip has been used in countless videos and even movies. So have the films of the US Carriers. What most people mean is it probably be better to show stills or other Japanese film clips of other ships instead of inserting clips that many people all ready know about and have seen. Real footage is scarce but stills or reusing actual footage would be better.

[@ut000bs]

@@garfieldsmith332 I was making a joke, too. I have also mention the "stock" footage of HMS Barham and others in other videos. My favorites are the shots of Japanese carriers heading to Pearl Harbor while being sunk at the Battle of the Philippine Sea and Cape Engano among _many_ others. I noticed he used those shots here, too. 👍‍🖖‍

[@Straswa]

Great vid Dark Seas! The Ryujo is my favorite Japanese carrier, such a unique design and history.

[@redginge4840]

A quality documentary, and surprisingly unbiased.

[@3865ron]

Narration has gotten better lately. Sounds good.

[@bkjeong4302]

Honestly, it’s crazy how many aircraft the Japanese managed to fit on such a small and poorly designed carrier, even if most of the aircraft were older models than those found on their larger carriers.

[@bkjeong4302]

@bruh Even with that it’s still insane just how packed this carrier was, especially as Japanese naval aircraft wing-folding mechanisms were not as compact as those of American aircraft.

[@erichvonmanstein6876]

@Fred brandon yup, but who had those? That would be just stupid 🤷

[@dimasakbar7668]

@Fred brandon source? Afaik A6M2 zero had all metal construction ( thin and weak alumunium, but still not bamboo)

[@timclaus8313]

Plenty of the early carriers could carry more of the older biplanes than the monoplane fighters and attack aircraft used in WWI. The really large carriers that actually saw combat were all converted battlecruisers.

[@keithw4920]

Its the most top heavy looking carrier of all time even without an island and deck mounted heavy AA.

[@jayusn-et2231]

Usually I watch your videos on my TV where I can only give a "thumbs up" with no ability to comment. Today I watched on my desktop while eating my lunch, so I just wanted to take the time to let you know I appreciate the effort you put into your videos. I truly appreciate that you actually narrate your videos instead of using a horrible CG voice. That you don't use stock video with only music and no information for a significant portion of your video. That your information is thoroughly researched and you don't use opinion, just historical facts. That you welcome viewer comments, but don't beg for our uneducated opinions by asking questions like "What do you think?" Your multiple "Dark" channels are some of the few "Historical(?)" channels that actually present factual history and I want you to know I appreciate your effort. All the Best. e

[@kittymervine6115]

I will say that as part of a Navy family, I really liked the part at 4:30 where the big ball opens up and balloons come out! That would add a lot to any launching fun!

[@GTsuji]

All countries. “Treaty? What treaty?”

[@garykubodera9528]

Interesting episode of this aircraft carrier. I never knew the background on it but it's intresting the Japanese had the insight and used the treaty to thier advantage when building this ship. One of the many Japanese and other WWII ships in World of Warships-on of the few on-line games I actually enjoy playing. Keep up the great work! 😃

[@seanlavelle344]

They also used a loop hole to create the battle ship Yamato which was the biggest in history to by pass the limited numbers a nation could have.

[@nimay13]

Another loophole is the Mogami class. She’s basically a heavy cruiser, but with treaty specifies that anything below 203mm gun is considered as a light cruiser they managed to built her as such. Later they retrofit her with 203mm. Lol. Come to modern day, they did the same stuff again. Now with “Helicopter Destroyer” Izumo class. Japan are banned from making Carriers post WW2, so they built this Helicopter Destroyer WITH the ability to convert it to accept VTOL aircraft. Now they have an essentially a carrier with F35-Bs.

[@keepthechange2811]

I play blitz. I've almost all the IJN boats

[@mikemccolum5832]

World of paper ships

[@navyreviewer]

@@seanlavelle344 Yamato was not limited by any treaty. The Washington and first London treaties expired Dec 31rst 1935. She was started after that. She would have violated the 2nd London treaty but Japan didnt sign that treaty.

[@something7239]

"Illegal aircraft carrier" just sounds so awesome.

[@ottoreinstra9323]

This is such a great collection of footage and pictures totally unrelated to the story. It even features a WW1 Austrian battleship. I’m truly disappointed that you didn’t include the sinking of the Moskva.

[@Theduckwebcomics]

His format seems to be mostly narrated Wikipedia entries n a serious "1990s History channel" voice while playing footage that's tangentially related to the topic 😅

[@MrM1729]

Love the film clips and understand the difficulty of matching film to narration, but it’s odd to watch American carriers burning while the audio track describes Japanese carriers.

[@douglasskaalrud6865]

The sinking of the Moskva was a tragedy. It should have become a museum piece as the ugliest naval war vessel in history.

[@skeetrix5577]

I've literally followed along with him word for word on Wikipedia. not a bad way to earn a buck

[@jaybee9269]

@@douglasskaalrud6865 >> Go back and look at French pre-dreadnoughts.

[@masaharumorimoto4761]

Sweet episode!!!!! thanks dude!

[@cruzcontrol1504]

Love ALL the Dark channels, your narrators voice is perfect, can listen for hours, and have...

[@kumo7537]

素晴らしい映像。 日本に居てもこれ程のものは見つかりません。 ありがとう!

[@neves5083]

Amazing as always

[@leroyholm9075]

Excdellent. More please. These are crucial history documentaries.

[@SeeLasSee]

I watched this video just because the ship was so funny looking in the thumbnail.

[@8088I]

Appears as Ryūjō served as Japan's loyal Kujo quite well.

[@nathanielmoore87]

I love the videos you do!! Keep up the good work. Also, at the risk of sounding like the grammar police, forecastle is pronounced "fōk-sul". Why? I don't know. It's just a Navy thing. Every Sailor I know says it that way. 🤷‍♂️

[@proud_tobe_texan2890]

He has a bot talking for him

[@jeffreybarton3014]

@@proud_tobe_texan2890 damn had this old Navy vet fooled. Bots can't reproduce centuries old navy slang

[@jeffreybarton3014]

@@proud_tobe_texan2890 I'm just not sure. I'm always on here and I can usually spot a bot. They just aren't this good yet. I can hear dudes lips moving

[@vincere_]

@@jeffreybarton3014 Dark Seas' narrator is a real guy, that's for sure. There are suspicious fake investor advice and other financial services ads running on youtube right now, they sound like they're using AI generated voicefakes if you listen carefully. At first they sound like a real person, but you can hear the inconsistencies and technical issues.

[@godwhymenowman]

@@jeffreybarton3014 it's His real normal voice used just words and info from Wikipedia

[@Kariakas]

Very well done, so much detail.

[@deanbrown9901]

Remarkable how close this narration is to the Wiki article on Ryūjō.

[@davidb8373]

Yeah, he just plagiarizes articles and voices over random footage. That’s how he manages to put out so many videos every week.

[@deanbrown9901]

Also explains the absolute mauling to some pronunciations he does... doesn't actually research

[@davidb8373]

@@deanbrown9901 yesterday, I watched a video where he started a sentence with “Still,” seven times. None were used correctly. It gets annoying when half the sentences begin with a preposition.

[@yuyuyu_ayukawa1025]

私の曾祖父は空母龍驤や加賀で戦闘機搭乗員として訓練をしたり教官を務めていました。 九〇式艦上戦闘機、九六式艦上戦闘機などに乗っていたそうです。 船がよく傾いて乗組員が海に落ちる事故が多く、危険な訓練も毎日実施されて死亡事故が多発していたと聞いています。 曾祖父は「戦争に負ければ植民地にされてしまう時代だった。勝つ以外の選択肢が無いから皆命がけで猛特訓したんだよ。あの時代は大変だった。」と言ってましたね。

[@theodoremoore2549]

This is a google translation of the above. My great-grandfather trained as a fighter pilot and served as an instructor on the aircraft carriers Ryujo and Kaga. He apparently flew the Type 90 and Type 96 carrier-based fighters. I've heard that the ship often tilted and crew members fell into the sea, and dangerous training was carried out every day, resulting in many fatal accidents. My great-grandfather said, "It was a time when if we lost the war we would be colonized. There was no choice but to win, so everyone risked their lives and trained hard. Those were tough times."

[@lordsiomai]

I personally find it amazing how a naval vessel like this were able to survive for this long considering it had a long list of issues from the start.

[@kanyesouth523]

I agree, before this video i didn’t really know the story but at the beginning i was saying to myself “wtf were they thinking with that design??”

[@milkybar06]

And now we see history repeating itself.

[@phlanjo]

Your narration is getting better and better, great job

[@sandalphoncpu]

Military regulations are like F1 regulations. They’re very restrictive, but they always don’t work as intended in front of talented engineers

[@krisfrederick5001]

That looks like the guy transporting his SUV with half of it hanging out the back of his UHAUL.

[@killer.crayon]

Under Washington Treaty, this ship is absolutely legal 😉

[@americanpatriot2422]

Great video!

[@MrSuzuki1187]

Excellent history lesson!

[@BlacktailDefense]

It's been mentioned previously by other commenters, but the US Navy attempted a similar scheme in the CV-7 Wasp, which attempted to use 15,000 tons leftover from the London Naval Treaty's allowance to the US. It would have been a decent Light Carrier with a single hangar deck, but the Navy decided they wanted it to carry *all* the airplanes, and crammed two hangar decks and as much of a 33,000-ton Yorktown class Carrier's air wing as possible into a 15,000-ton ship. The resulting ship had dangerous topweight, armor barely thicker than the hull plating (and not even used at all in the some of the areas that all other US Fleet Carriers were armored), less fuel (and a steeply-reduced range as a result), two screws and steam turbines instead of four, a tepid AA battery, and no large-bore guns. Also, because only two screws and turbines were used, and the amount of tons-per-horsepower were much greater than in the other US Fleet Carriers, the Wasp only made 28kts, not the 30kts+ standardized in the Lexington, Yorktown, and Essex classes, making the Wasp to slow to be interoperable with them. For these reasons the US Navy tried to keep the Wasp as far from the action as possible, and initially used her only to ferry aircraft in the Atlantic early in the war, before Carrier losses forced them to redeploy her to the Pacific. There the Wasp met her end in her first contact with the enemy, when two torpedoes struck her, taking much of her crew and aircraft to the bottom of the sea with her. Contrast that with the horrific punishment the Saratoga, Enterprise, and the Essex class endured throughout the war, and kept fighting.

[@allenatkins2263]

"The Prancing Dragon", sounds like a Carnival Cruise ship.

[@justadildeau]

It is also a kama sutra move. 9/10

[@easyalpha1]

Looks hypnotic….yet deadly.

[@christopherpotts5681]

Outstanding episode

[@toptiergaming6900]

This is actually one of my favorite ships in world of warships

[@rikk319]

I've put the most hours in operations with the Ryujo, love that ship.

[@Wallyworld30]

The Avenger torpedo bomber was such a massive upgrade from the Devastators we used a just a year earlier at Midway. The Avenger sunk a couple battleships and this carrier. Devastator was best torpedo bomber for years after came out but so Obsolete by time of Midway. Avengers were by far the best Torpedo Bomber of the war.

[@alasdair1571]

Great story telling, and I love your channels for all the historic information you present. I must admit I was a bit confused as to which of the carriers you show was the Ryūjō, especially after the numerous refits, as I know that you do need to use other similar videos clips for illustration purposes. Perhaps a discrete text label to this effect could help? I wasn't sure if Ryūjō ever had a tower over the flight deck after one of her refits!

[@godwhymenowman]

words taking from Wikipedia, not that hard

[@thewalruscorporation5364]

Missed the opportunity to call this channel “Dark Docks”

[@andrewmalinowski6673]

This makes me appreciate the Japanese carrier more, especially as this details it's unique place in WWII history. Seeing a model it had seemed more like it was originally designed as a carrier with the intent to convert it into an aircraft carrier

[@sherebangla1995]

Nobody is giving credit to this man's voice...????...i love that talking styles...🔥🔥🇧🇩🇯🇵

[@paulyiustravelogue]

Like you have mentioned, she was only purpose built in her class. After the war broke out, the Japanese enlisted at least three passenger ocean liners, and transformed them into the Taiyo class escort aircraft’s carriers.

[@armorer94]

We did the same with merchant hulls for our jeep carriers.

[@MGB-learning]

Great video

[@ufopulse]

Illegal carriers are cool

[@parkerhughes434]

3:25 That is some INSANE footage.

[@ralfhtg1056]

From 8:10 to 8:15 this shows the xplosion of the HMS Barham in November 1941 after being torpedoed by German U331 in the mediterranean and has thus nothing to do with the subject of the video.

[@SpecJack15]

Still like her form in KanColle. Best CVL for what she experienced.

[@robertguttman1487]

The Ryujo violated the laws, alright. However, the laws she violated were the laws of physics. They tried to accomplish too much with too small a hull. However, the Japanese were not alone in that. The U.S. tried the same thing with the USS Ranger. That was why the Ranger was never deployed to the Pacific, but spent all of WW-II in the Atlantic.

[@peterkantor9494]

Ryujo is so small and cute, I love it!

[@diggernator]

If there's a loophole to be exploited, then it is not "illegal" or "outlawed", may be 'contrary' to the spirit of the treaty but that's it...

[@dosidicusgigas1376]

- laughs in pocket battleship -

[@diggernator]

@@dosidicusgigas1376 Exactly, a very good example

[@kennyj4366]

I loved those shots of Reagan from training films from the early 1940's. Thank you for the interesting video.

[@ronaldalanperry4875]

I like these videos, but would suggest that the creator try to limit himself to images and film clips that depict the ships he is talking about. It's funny to see a burning Essex class carrier (USS Franklin?) standing in for the damaged Ryujo.

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

No, not really. It's a depiction here and there. No need to be pedantic or there'd be nothing.

[@shawnc1016]

There's almost no footage of many old ships available.

[@jamessmith-gw1vi]

No need to be "pedantic" hey shakespear a lie is a lie, and it is relevent to the store if you have only a picture of the carrier just show that

[@fooman2108]

One of the best accounts of a major warship sinking in action was chronicled in "Destroyer Captain" by Chiuchi Hara who was commanding Amatsukaze... He was also commanded Shigure and this ship survived 6 major surface engagements without taking a casualty!

[@sean270wn3]

Tameichi hara

[@fooman2108]

@@sean270wn3 TY miss-remembered still a hell of a read. One of the classiest things that I have ever heard of is JFK inviting Capt. Hara to the White House while he was president.....basically forgiving him for ramming the 109.

[@sean270wn3]

@@fooman2108 he also had the captin of the amigiri at his inauguration. Hara was in shigure at the back of the pack when 109 was rammed

[@_R-R]

Surprising how little footage from the Japanese is left.

[@bkjeong4302]

They destroyed most of their own documentation at the end of the war to avoid them falling into American hands.

[@maypenja2819]

Possibly all that fire bombing?

[@loadmastergod1961]

Congratulations! And thank you. You slowed down your narration to a proper speed. So much more pleasant when to havent been shooting speed and smoking meth.

[@jonathanrangel565]

After 3 years of living in Sasebo, Japan if there is one thing I have seen the Japanese do extremely well its build large ships quickly.

[@operationhighjump4656]

Thank you for this very interesting Information

[@g.t.richardson6311]

Other well written publications have called them a shadow fleet. They built a number of merchant vessels that could be converted to light carriers as war approached. They were basically underpowered, too slow, air group too small, to operate as front line or fleet carriers. Some had a serviceable life, with drawbacks, some were failures.

[@g.t.richardson6311]

I take back above, this was a legit light carrier, confused it with another. It clearly still had many problems, and probably shouldn’t have been a front line unit, but was somewhat successful

[@Reggiestreet]

Love these videos

[@bradkay4794]

If there is a loophole it is not illegal!!! The provision of ships under 10,000 tons not counting as carriers was put there to benefit the USN and RN which already had carriers fitting that description. Nothing prevented Japan from building similar ships and nothing should have.

[@KaiShanIV]

Thank you. I was scrolling down to see if anyone had pointed this out.

[@Poctyk]

>which already had carriers fitting that description Like what?

[@allgood6760]

Thank you 👍

[@johnallenismynameandmusici2796]

Well, I have been in 100 knot winds at sea. It's obvious immediately to any sailor that this ship is top-heavy. Sometimes you get swells that are 10-20 feet high. This ship would roll over on its' port or starboard sides 90 degrees and then it would sink to the bottom. I remember the Japanese fleet was stuck in one really bad storm where they lost several ships. I guess the Ryujo wasn't there that day.

[@robdyson4990]

Post ww1 royal navy built at least one submarine which comprised a deck gun far too heavy for purpose Davy Jones captains one of them at least

[@johnallenismynameandmusici2796]

@@robdyson4990 Yep. And I bet they didn't have a single submariner on the design team. I read that the General Electric Company (I think it was) built the main gun for all the new US tanks. The gun itself was so out of this world that they designed the whole tank around the gun rather than trying to fit it on an existing platform. That's the way good design should work. And of course they have to listen to the sailors or soldiers to understand what happens and how they use the product before they design it.

[@Chuck_vs._The_Comment_Section]

For me it is still unbelievable, over what long period of time aircraft carriers were built with only one straight flight deck. So that a pilot who fails to land crashes into the aircraft parked in front of him instead of being able to fly through.

[@VashStarwind]

Love these docs. I would love to see more submarine videos. Those are some of my favorite.

[@benjaminrush4443]

Excellent documentary as usual. Thanks.

[@AwesomeNinja1027]

Is this the same Ryujo that was damaged during the Doolittle Raid?

[@DonDueed]

No, that was Ryuho, a converted sub tender.

[@justadildeau]

Rumor has it there was little to do. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@johngeverett]

"A 'flock' of B-17s . . ." Really??

[@matchesburn]

4:29 - When the "balloon" that opens during the christening is more impressive than the ship itself.

[@therealuncleowen2588]

I just can't take anything this channel puts out seriously. The conspiratorial tone of everything just makes me roll my eyes. Anyone wishing to learn about WW2 warships should check out the vastly superior Drachinifel.

[@tonyromano6220]

He is a ham.

[@treverwayne9298]

Lmfaoo you’re Trippin

[@chrisloomis1489]

Amazing ingenuity , the JAPANESE fought fiercely indeed. Prancing Dragon , a very apt description indeed. 🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵

[@preed5270]

I like the information in these videos however the incessant use of film of other ships, aircraft, and events other than of this particular carrier is a little dishonest. I know it is supposed to add to the interest but not to everyone.

[@dave8599]

Id hardly call it dishonest. Given the extremely few images or movie of this carrier that exist, you'd be staring at the same image for a minute or more. The filler material is very nice, I like it, you may not, but it is NOT dishonest.

[@preed5270]

@@dave8599 ... Thanks for your perspective but I'll stand by mine: adding false images for interest, or for example, does not outweigh showing accurate history. If you don't have a picture of a eagle, don't show a condor; if you don't have photo of a Japanese carrier exploding don't show me a British battleship is all I'm saying. Should be fair enough in a mini-documentary.

[@johnavast5939]

Just fantastic work guys!

[@brianpark3395]

I could be wrong but was the a aircraft carrier that was built on a battleship design if not I was just wondering because I heard about some of the aircraft carriers used by Japan that were battleships

[@scottscouter1065]

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL OUR SANITY...please have photographs or film which is relevant to the narration. Showing another ship while discussing what Ryūjō is doing is an insult to your viewer intelligence. There may not be enough film footage to fill the video, BUT good stills and technical line drawings are far preferable to this nonsense.

[@gallahaggis]

The dark channels are all content farms my dude.

[@MavZero06]

I mean....man's gotta point..I mean the guy did enough research on the ship to write a script about it, guess it's too much to research for design prints, recon photos, diving photos (if she's divable idk)

[@jima4101]

Lol

[@jerrymccrae7202]

There are some tech. Drawings.

[@mramaz1ngarry728]

Japanese destroyed most of their records of the Imperial Japanese Navy upon surrendering.

[@donmarlon5924]

A fascinating retelling of a little-known but important story. Thanks for posting this.

[@BlindMansRevenge2002]

Pretty impressive but, I think the Japanese were much more clever when they unmounted and stored the 14 inch guns for the Congo class in warehouses maintain them during the interwar period and simply drop them back in the Barbetts when World War II was about to get underway. Even more clever was how the battleships Yamato and Musashi were constructed in an enclosure that was not viewable by the public.

[@dashot8334]

seeing this carrier in war gives the chills but same time impressive.

[@geralddaly5864]

the british had the first light carrier in invincable light cruiser of ww1 not a full carrier so they could have converted her and her sister ships into full light carriers under 10,000 that is why the clause was in there

[@godwhymenowman]

Also the first to invent and use Concentration camps

[@grahvis]

@@godwhymenowman . What does that have to do with the subject?

[@geralddaly5864]

so were the british thinking of converting the vindictive and her sisters into light carriers so had it inserted into the pact to allow them to build as many little carriers as they liked

[@oneshotme]

Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

[@timheersma4708]

i find it surprising that other nations didn't attempt to improve the design and create something like it

[@youwanttoliveforever]

I'm not. It's poor seakeeping would have made it not worth it for UK+US. It's speed and limited armor makes it worthless for French and Italian navies. There is no reasonable way to add those qualities to a ship under the tonnage limit.

[@basztiancooper]

where do you think the litoral class came from .