Japanese aircraft carrier Chitose

Chitose as a seaplane carrier
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Chitose
Namesake	千歳 (Thousand Years)
Builder	Kure Naval Arsenal, Kure, Japan
Laid down	26 November 1934
Launched	29 November 1936
Commissioned	25 July 1938
Notes	Converted from seaplane carrier to light aircraft carrier 26 January 1943–1 January 1944
Recommissioned	15 November 1943
Reclassified	Light aircraft carrier 15 December 1943
Reinstated	1 January 1944
Fate	Sunk 25 October 1944
Stricken	20 December 1944
General characteristics
Class and type	Chitose-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	11,200 long tons (11,380 t) (standard) 15,300 long tons (15,546 t) (full load)
Length	192.5 m (631 ft 7 in)
Beam	20.8 m (68 ft 3 in)
Draft	7.5 m (24 ft 7 in)
Installed power	56,000 shp (42,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × geared steam turbines 2 × shafts
Speed	28.9 kn (53.5 km/h; 33.3 mph)
Complement	800
Armament	Seaplane Carrier: 4 × 12.7 cm/40 Type 89 naval guns 12 × Type 96 25 mm AA gunss Aircraft carrier 8 × 12.7 cm/40 Type 89 naval gun 30-48 × Type 96 25 mm AA guns
Aircraft carried	Seaplane Carrier 24 × floatplanes Aircraft Carrier: 30 × aircraft
Aviation facilities	Seaplane Tender: 4 × catapults Aircraft Carrier: 2 × elevators

Chitose (千歳) was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served from 1938 to 1944, seeing service as a seaplane carrier and later as a light aircraft carrier during World War II. In her initial guise as a seaplane carrier, she first saw service during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938, and subsequently played a key role in the Imperial Japanese Navy's development of a network of seaplane bases on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. After the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, she took part in the Philippines campaign, the Dutch East Indies campaign, the Battle of Midway, and the Guadalcanal campaign, during which she was damaged in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and also saw service related to the Battle of Cape Esperance.

Chitose was converted into a light aircraft carrier during 1943, and subsequently took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She was sunk in the Battle off Cape Engaño, one of several actions that made up the Battle of Leyte Gulf, on 25 October 1944.

Although it has been speculated that Chitose as a seaplane carrier also carried Type A midget submarines, only her sister ship Chiyoda had that capability.^[1]