“A U.S. Navy man walks out on one of the Kasagi, Unryu-class carrier's downward curved smokestacks, at Sasebo, October 19, 1945. A Japanese “Kaibokan” escort ship and a submarine chaser are moored in the middle distance, with several U.S. Navy ships beyond.”
No, all of their carriers vented the smoke over the side. The ships had very small and cramped Islands and they caused their own share of operational hassles. Design choices.
ReplyDeleteThe idea was to get smoke away from the flight deck. The smoke plume will expand and rise as it goes aft. The carriers planes will usually approach from port side, so venting over the starboard side keeps the smoke out of their path.
ReplyDeleteThe USN and RN largely accomplished this by venting exhaust through the tops of the islands. The IJN used that same technique on Shinano and Taiho as well, IIRC. As LL says, design choices...