Japanese seaplane carrier Mizuho

Mizuho (瑞穂 ?) was a seaplane carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The ship was built at Kawasaki Shipbuilding at Kobe, Japan, and was completed in February 1939.[1] [2] {| class="toc" id="toc"

Contents
[hide] *1 Construction
 * 2 Combat
 * 3 Sinking
 * 4 Footnotes
 * 5 External links
 * }

Construction
Mizuho was built to a similar design as the seaplane carrier  Chitose , but with slightly less powerful diesel engines instead of Chitose ' s turbines.[3] She carried 24 seaplanes,[1] and was equipped to carry twelve miniature submarines,[1] although she could not carry full loads of both at one time.[3]

Combat
Mizuho participated in invasion support for much of her career;[1] her first mission was with the Fourth Surprise Attack Force.[2] On 1 March 1942, planes from Mizuho and Chitose damaged the American destroyer USS Pope (DD-225), which was later sunk by aircraft from the aircraft carrier  Ryujo  and gunfire from the heavy cruisers  Ashigara  and  Myoko .[4]

Sinking
The American submarine USS Drum (SS-228) torpedoed Mizuho at 23:03 hours on 1 May 1942 40 nautical miles (74 km) off Omaezaki, Japan. She capsized and sank at 04:16 hours on 2 May 1942 with the loss of 101 lives. There were 472 survivors, of which 31 were wounded.[3] [5] [6]