At least two warships of Japan have borne the name Akashi:
USS Enterprise (CV-6) was a Yorktown-class carrier built for the United States Navy during the 1930s. She was the seventh U.S. Navy vessel of that name. Colloquially called "The Big E", she was the sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. Launched in 1936, she was one of only three American carriers commissioned before World War II to survive the war. She participated in more major actions of the war against Japan than any other United States ship. These actions included the attack on Pearl Harbor — 18 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers of her Air Group arrived over the harbor during the attack; seven were shot down with eight airmen killed and two wounded, making her the only American aircraft carrier with men at Pearl Harbor during the attack and the first to sustain casualties during the Pacific War — the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, various other air-sea engagements during the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Enterprise earned 20 battle stars, the most for any U.S. warship in World War II, and was the most decorated U.S. ship of World War II. She was also the first American ship to sink a full-sized enemy warship after the Pacific War had been declared when her aircraft sank the Japanese submarine I-70 on 10 December 1941. On three occasions during the war, the Japanese announced that she had been sunk in battle, inspiring her nickname "The Grey Ghost". By the end of the war, her planes and guns had downed 911 enemy planes, sunk 71 ships, and damaged or destroyed 192 more.
Japanese ship names follow different conventions from those typical in the West. Merchant ship names often contain the word maru at the end, while warships are never named after people, but rather after objects such as mountains, islands, weather phenomena, or animals.
Akashi may refer to:
Eleven ships of the British Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Hector, named after the Trojan hero Hector in the Iliad.
The Battle of Chemulpo Bay was a naval battle in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), which took place on 9 February 1904, off the coast of present-day Incheon, Korea.
Hashidate was the third in the Matsushima class of protected cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship was the only one of the class constructed in Japan. Like sister ships, her name comes from one of the traditional Three Views of Japan, in this case, the Ama-no-hashidate in northern Kyoto prefecture on the Sea of Japan.
Agano (阿賀野) was the lead ship of her class of four light cruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Completed in 1942, she escorted a troop convoy to New Guinea in December. In early 1943 the ship participated in Operation Ke, the evacuation of Japanese troops from Guadalcanal. Six months later Agano transported troops and supplies to New Guinea and she played a minor role in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay in early November. A few weeks later, the ship was badly damaged by American airstrikes and she sailed for Truk under her own power the following day. While en route, Agano was torpedoed by an American submarine and had to be towed to her destination. After several months of repairs, she left for Japan, but was intercepted and sunk by another American submarine in February 1944. Most of her crew was rescued by her escorting destroyer, but that ship was sunk with the loss of most of her crew and all of Agano's survivors by an American airstrike the following day.
Kumano (熊野) was one of four Mogami class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy, serving in World War II. She was named after the Kumano River Kii Peninsula on the island of Honshu in central Japan. The Mogami-class ships were constructed as "light cruisers" with five triple 6.1-inch dual purpose guns. They were exceptionally large for light cruisers, and the barbettes for the main battery were designed for quick refitting with twin 8-inch guns. In 1937 all four ships were "converted" to heavy cruisers in this fashion. Kumano served in numerous combat engagements in the Pacific War, until she was eventually sunk by carrier aircraft from Task Force 38 while she was undergoing repairs at Santa Cruz, Zambales, Philippines in November, 1944.
Inazuma was the twenty-fourth Fubuki-class destroyers, or the fourth of the Akatsuki class, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the inter-war period. When introduced into service, these ships were the most powerful destroyers in the world. They remained formidable weapons systems well into the Pacific War.
Arashio was the fourth of ten Asashio-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the mid-1930s under the Circle Two Supplementary Naval Expansion Program.
Akashi (明石) was a Suma-class cruiser protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was a sister ship to Suma. The name Akashi comes from an ancient name for a portion of the coastline near the modern city of Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture.
Suma (須磨) was a protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built by the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in Japan. She was the lead ship in the Suma-class cruiser, and her sister ship was Akashi. The name Suma comes from a geographic location near Kobe, in Hyōgo Prefecture.
Jintsū (神通) was the second vessel completed in the three-ship Sendai-class light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), named after the Jinzū River in the Gifu and Toyama prefectures of central Japan. She was active in World War II in various campaigns including the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the Battle of the Java Sea, and Battle of Midway. On 13 July 1943 in the Battle of Kolombangara, she was discovered during a night attack by American ships and sunk in combat.
The two Suma-class cruisers were protected cruisers operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. While more lightly armed and armored than many of its contemporaries, their small size and relatively simple design facilitated their construction and their relatively high speed made them useful for many military operations. Both participated in combat during the Russo-Japanese War and World War I.
Ibuki may refer to one of the following ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy named after Mount Ibuki:
Akashi was a Japanese repair ship, serving during World War II. She was the only specifically designed repair ship operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The navy based her design on the US Navy's USS Medusa.
At least three warships of Japan have borne the name Tone:
A repair ship is a naval auxiliary ship designed to provide maintenance support to warships. Repair ships provide similar services to destroyer, submarine and seaplane tenders or depot ships, but may offer a broader range of repair capability including equipment and personnel for repair of more significant machinery failures or battle damage.
Two warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy were named Tatsuta:
At least five ships in the Imperial Russian, Soviet or Russian Navies have been named Varyag after the Varangian people, the Viking ancestors of the Rus.