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The turbines and boilers were the same as those used in the Mogami-class cruisers.

Hiryū was fitted with four geared steam turbine sets with a total of 153,000 shaft horsepower (114,000 kW), each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by eight Kampon water-tube boilers. Her crew consisted of 1,100 officers and enlisted men. She displaced 17,600 metric tons (17,300 long tons) at standard load and 20,570 metric tons (20,250 long tons) at normal load. The ship had a length of 227.4 meters (746 ft 1 in) overall, a beam of 22.3 meters (73 ft 2 in) and a draft of 7.8 meters (25 ft 7 in). Other changes involved increasing her beam, displacement, and armor protection. Her forecastle was raised and her hull strengthened. Originally designed as the sister ship of Sōryū, her design was enlarged and modified in light of the Tomozuru and Fourth Fleet Incidents in 1934–1935 that revealed many IJN ships were top-heavy, unstable and structurally weak. Hiryū was one of two large carriers approved for construction under the 1931–32 Supplementary Program. The loss of Hiryū and three other IJN carriers at Midway was a crucial strategic defeat for Japan and contributed significantly to the Allies' ultimate victory in the Pacific. She was scuttled the following day after it became clear that she could not be salvaged. Dive bombers from Yorktown and Enterprise crippled Hiryū and set her afire. After bombarding American forces on the atoll, the carriers were attacked by aircraft from Midway and the carriers USS Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown. In April, Hiryū 's aircraft helped sink two British heavy cruisers and several merchant ships during the Indian Ocean Raid.Īfter a brief refit, Hiryū and three other fleet carriers of the First Air Fleet ( Kido Butai) participated in the Battle of Midway in June 1942. The following month, her aircraft bombed Darwin, Australia, and continued to assist in the Dutch East Indies campaign. During the first few months of the Pacific War, the ship supported the conquest of the Dutch East Indies in January 1942. She took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Wake Island. Her aircraft supported the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in mid-1940. Generally regarded as the only ship of her class, she was built to a modified Sōryū design. Hiryū ( 飛龍, "Flying Dragon") was an aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1930s. 7 × triple, 5 × twin 25 mm (1 in) AA guns.Scuttled after the Battle of Midway, 5 June 1942

Hiryū at anchor in Yokosuka, shortly after completion in 1939