Battleship Hyuga colored

Hyūga, named for Hyūga Province in Kyūshū, was an Ise-class battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy laid down by Mitsubishi on 6 May 1915, launched on 27 January 1917 and completed on 30 April 1918. She was initially designed as the fourth ship of the Fusō-class, but was heavily redesigned to fix shortcomings. Hyūga was extensively updated and reconstructed from 1926–1928 and 1934-1936.

At the outbreak of the Pacific war, Hyūga was part of the battleship force at the Combined Fleet's anchorage at Hashirajima. On 7 December she sortied for the Bonin Islands, along with her sister ship Ise of Battle Division 3 and with the Nagato and Mutsu of Battle Division 1 as part of the reserve battle fleet for Operation Z (the attack on Pearl Harbor).

After the disastrous Battle of Midway, the Japanese Navy considered plans to convert all battleships besides Yamato and Musashi into aircraft carriers. Ultimately, the Navy decided that only the Hyūga and Ise would be converted into hybrid battleship/carriers. To compensate for the weight loss and to preserve metacentric height, the flight deck was covered with 203 mm (8 in) of concrete. A single elevator was fitted.

She and Ise departed Japan for Singapore in November and returned in February 1945 during Operation Kita. She was later attacked during the bombing of Kure by American aircraft from the aircraft carriers USS Essex, Ticonderoga, Randolph, Hancock, Bennington, Monterey and Bataan from 24–28 July 1945, and her crew ran the ship aground in shallow waters. She was removed from the Navy List on 20 November 1945. From 2 July 1946 to 4 July 1947, she was raised and broken up by the Kure Dry-dock of Harima Zosen Yard.

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