IJA Akitsu Maru - An Army ‘Aircraft Carrier’

The rivalry between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy is legendary. Both sides utterly loathed the other, in the 1920s through the 1940s. This often reached the point of sabotaging each other's operations, or even trying to deal with officers of the other service.

The most 'quirky' manifestation of this rivalry, however, was the Army's parallel naval force. This ranged from transport submarines, all the way up to prototypes for the later amphibious assault ship concept.

Today's video will look at one of those, in the form of Akitsu Maru. Which was not a traditional aircraft carrier, no matter how much she looked like one. Still a very interesting ship, though.

Further Reading:
https://www.amazon.com/Aircraft-Carri...
https://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Japan...
https://www.amazon.com/Warships-Imper...
http://www.combinedfleet.com/Akitsu_t...

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