Only three ships reached service, and none delivered the wartime carrier effect that the program promised. Unryu was sunk by USS Redfish, Amagi was sunk in port and later raised for scrapping, and Katsuragi survived mainly to repatriate Japanese personnel and civilians. Their limited careers should not obscure the considerable shipyards, labor, and machinery Japan could mobilize for carrier construction. Political infighting and institutional pettiness in the run-up to war squandered part of that potential. Even better Japanese coordination could not match the industrial scale of either the United States or the British Empire.
Chapter · 20:54-22:50
Three wartime careers and squandered industrial potential
Unryu, Amagi, and Katsuragi had brief or postwar careers, while the wider program reveals capacity undermined by politics and strategic imbalance.