Shimane Maru was a class of auxiliary escort aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

s intended to be operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

 in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

The concept of the class was similar to British Merchant aircraft carrier

Merchant aircraft carrier

Merchant aircraft carriers were bulk cargo ships with minimal aircraft handling facilities, used during World War II by Britain and the Netherlands as an interim measure to supplement British and United States-built escort carriers in providing an anti-submarine function for convoys...

. The class consisted of two tankers that were very minimally converted by the Navy to provide minimal anti-submarine

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....

 air cover for convoy

Convoy

A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...

s going from Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 to the Japanese homeland. Conversion consisted of fitting a full length flight deck, small hangar, and a single elevator. An island and catapults were not installed. The only other change was the rerouting of the boiler uptakes, run aft to the stern, where they discharged to starboard. The Shimane Maru class ship could also be used as a tanker.

Four additional conversions were reportedly considered but not carried out. Although both ships were launched, only one was completed, and neither entered active service before being destroyed.

Also the Imperial Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese Army

-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

 planned similar escort carriers, Yamashio Maru-class

Japanese aircraft carrier Yamashio Maru

was a Japanese Escort carrier of the Second World War converted from a Merchant Tanker for use by the Imperial Japanese Army. It was sunk by American aircraft before it could be operationally used as a carrier.-Construction:...

. The ships were to have been operated under Army command, carrying Army aircraft. Though the Army began to convert two ships, only one was complete and never entered active service.

Ships in class

- Laid down by Kawasaki on 8 June 1944, and launched on 17 December 1944. She was completed on 28 February 1945, but was wrecked by British aircraft on 24 July 1945. Her hulk was also mined, then scrapped at Naniwa

Naniwa

Naniwa can refer to:* The former name of Osaka, Japan* Naniwa-ku , a ward in Osaka* The Naniwa Vehicle Registration Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which issues "Naniwa" license plates for automobiles registered in the city of Osaka* Naniwa, an express train that once...

 in 1948.
- Laid down by Kawasaki on 18 September 1944, and launched on 14 January 1945. Her construction was 70% completed when she drifted onto a mine on 25 August 1945 and sank. Her hulk was scrapped at Kobe

Kobe

, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...

in 1948.
- Laid down by Kawasaki on 18 December 1944, construction stopped in February 1945. Constructions were restarted and sold to Iino Lines K.K. on 19 October 1949, and renamed . Scrapped at Yokosuka in May 1964.
- Cancelled in 1944.