Each ship carried six twin 127 mm Type 89 mounts plus twenty-one triple and thirty single Type 96 25 mm mounts. Unryu and Amagi also received six 28-cell launchers for 4.7-inch anti-aircraft rockets. Kasagi was listed with four 30-cell launchers, while the remaining designs had six. The Type 96 battery looked formidable on paper, but its practical effectiveness was poor. Thirty depth charges were even harder to justify because a carrier should evade a submarine and rely on its screen instead of maneuvering to attack the contact itself. The inventory illustrates the difference between accumulating defensive weapons and building a coherent layered-defense doctrine.
Notable Point · 16:10-18:03
The limits of weapon-heavy carrier defense
The carriers combined 127 mm guns, numerous Type 96 cannon, AA rockets, and depth charges, but the mixture did not guarantee an effective defensive system.