Ryujo began as a small carrier concept with one hangar and roughly 24 aircraft. Adding a second hangar increased aircraft capacity at the cost of severe topweight on a hull intended to fall below the 10,000-ton treaty threshold. Accepting fewer aircraft and a slightly lower speed could have produced a more practical light carrier. The Fourth Fleet typhoon in 1935 damaged the bridge, flight deck, and superstructure and flooded the hangar. A raised forecastle and more flared bow were intended to improve sea handling, but the repairs left the fundamental burden of the double-hangar arrangement. Increasing aircraft capacity had undermined the small-carrier design it was meant to improve.
Chapter · 55:19-1:01:53
Ryujo's second hangar overwhelmed a light hull
Ryujo shows how doubling aircraft capacity on a sub-10,000-ton carrier created topweight and sea-handling problems that repeated reconstruction could not erase.