Ryujo

Ryujo was an odd-looking ship, to say the least, with her bridge running across the breadth of the hanger deck forward, and her distinctive undulating sheer line. I don't quite know why, but I've always kind of considered her a bit of a scow. But lately I've been re-assessing my opinion. She was actually a rather handy little carrier, and managed to carry 30+ aircraft on a pretty small displacement. The Japanese undoubtedly found her very useful in the early portions of the war for supplying air cover for various amphibious operations. She was lost during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on August 24, 1942.