The were World War II Japanese aircraft carriers. Sixteen ships of the class were planned under the Maru Kyà « Programme (Ship #302 in 1941) and the Kai-Maru 5 Programme (#5001âÂÂ5015 in 1942). However, only three of the Unryà «-class carriers were completed.
In the lead-up to the Pacific War the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) attempted to build a large number of fleet carriers. For them to be built quickly, the design for these ships was based on the aircraft carrier rather than the newer and more sophisticated or the .
The Unryà «-class aircraft carrier design was very similar to that of Hiryà «. The ships were lightly built, and the main difference from Hiryà « was that the carriers' island was placed on the starboard side of the ships. The carriers were capable of carrying 63 aircraft in two hangars, and were fitted with two elevators. The Unryà « class carried a smaller quantity of aviation fuel than Hiryà « with fuel tanks protected by concrete. The ships were fitted with the same propulsion system used in the aircraft carrier to reach , though was instead fitted with two turbines of the same type used in destroyers and had a maximum speed of . The carriers also had a similar armament as Hiryà « and were equipped with two Type 21 radars and two Type 13 radars.
The first three Unryà «-class aircraft carriers were laid down in 1942 and construction of a further three began the next year. Eventually, only three (, , and ) were completed and construction of the other three carriers (, and ) was abandoned in 1945.
Project number was G16. General production model of the Unryà « class. 3 carriers were completed. The IJN unofficial designation for Unryà « and Amagi were , Ship Number 5002âÂÂ5006 were also.
The Ikoma subclass was a simplified and sped-up construction model of the Unryà « class. They were equipped with shift-arrangement machinery (four sets of parallel boilers and one turbine). Therefore, their funnels were intended to be spaced out. The IJN unofficial designation for this class was .