Mirai-class aircraft carrier

Revision as of 09:56, 1 April 2019 by Fuso-Neptunia (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Mirai-class aircraft carrier
USS Forrestal (CVA-59) underway at sea on 31 May 1962 (KN-4507).jpg
FNS Mirai during Operation: Guardian Seas, July 1985
Class overview
Name: Mirai–class aircraft carrier
Builders: Kosheku Shipyards
Operators: Fuso Navy.png Fuso Navy
Succeeded by: Shokaku-class aircraft carrier
In service: 1958–1991
Retired: 2
Scrapped: 2
General characteristics
Type: Aircraft carrier
Tonnage: 62,500 tonnes
Displacement: About 68,889 short tons; 62,500 tonnes
Length: 902 ft (275 m)
Beam: 118 ft (36 m)
Draft: 31 ft (9.4 m)
Installed power:

Steam turbines

268,000 shp (200,000 kW)
Propulsion: Four shafts
Speed: In excess of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range: Unlimited
Complement:
  • 502 officers
  • 3,821 enlisted
Crew: 2,750 approx.
Armament:
  • 4 × 5 in (127mm)/54 caliber Mark 42 guns
  • 3 × Mark 29 STAM launchers (1979 upgrade)
  • 1 × Phalanx CIWS (1979 upgrade)
Aircraft carried: 60 maximum
Aviation facilities: 1,095 ft × 257 ft (334 m × 78 m) flight deck

The Mirai-class were two conventional aircraft carriers designed and built for the Fuso Navy. The carriers were built as a plan to expand Fuso's airpower across the surrounding regions of the country and able to deploy FA-4 fighter jets with the carrier's CATOBAR launch system, as well as being a naval platform for the deployment of troops across warzones with its airwing. During wartime, one of the two carriers will be housing high ranking military officials in defense zones across Fuso. The carriers were deployed in numerous operations across the globe and became a cornerstone for Fuso's foreign policy towards many regions.

In 1979, the carriers were given a six-month-long retrofit at their homeports and were deployed in the early 80s on the Bashari peninsula to participate in peacekeeping operations. However, the operational costs of the carriers, as well as the increase of domestic dissent towards the government, the carriers would become the victim of the nation's "Military War Shock" in 1991, which resulted to its decommissioning and eventually both carriers were scrapped in 1997.

Designs of the aircraft carrier were preserved and eventually used for the military's future assessment for a more modern aircraft carrier in the future. Eighteen years later, the Mirai-class was succeeded by the Shokaku-class aircraft carriers.

Description

The Shokaku-class carriers have an overall length of 947 ft (289 m) and a full-load displacement of about 59,000 tonnes. They have a beam at the waterline of 134 ft (41 m), and the maximum width of their flight decks is 228 feet 10 inches (69.72 m) to 253 feet 3 inches. The ship's company can number up to a maximum of 2,800. Until the completion of the FNS Kaga, they are currently the largest warships in the Fusoese Navy.

The carriers armament and defenses are complemented by two anti-missile and anti-aircraft ESSM launchers, as well as four Phalanx CIWS. Some parts of the carriers are equipped with mounted anti-infantry weapons across with M2 Brownings. The carrier also carries one company-sized troops ready for offensive and defensive operations.

The Shokaku-class carriers can accommodate up to 60 aircraft of different types, but the Ministry suggests to carry 42 aircraft in order to accommodate for any aircraft to make a landing on the carriers itself, specifically in any emergency or other necessities. Five combat air squadrons, with each squadron having 6 FA-18s. A sixth and seventh squadron would either be composed of EFA-18s for electronic warfare operations, E-2 Hawkeyes for airborne early warning operations and other such, with the rest filled in by any aircraft such as a squadron of Anti-submarine helicopter squadrons that would compose of 5 to 6 SH-60s. The aircrew is also made up of support personnel involved in roles including maintenance, aircraft, and ordnance handling and emergency procedures. Each person on the flight deck wears color-coded clothing to make his role easily identifiable.

Ships in class

Pennant no. Ship Commissioned Decommissioned Fate Homeport
Shokaku subclass
ACV-12 FNS Mirai 19 July 1958 18 October 1991 Broken up at Kone, 1997 Yokosa Naval Base, Yokosa City
ACV-13 FNS Koukai 23 January 1959 18 October 1991 Broken up at Sukochi, 1998 Kure Naval Base, Hanoshine City

Service history

1958–1970

1970–1979

Later years