Warships in Evangelion
This is a list of the warships in the show, including those that characters in the show have been named after. Not meant to be overdone, but enough for a fan to appreciate the history behind the name and perhaps learn some more. To be provided with links to wikipedia, combinedfleet.com and other sites of interest.
IJN Aoba(青葉)
(Namesake of Shigeru Aoba) Aoba was the lead vessel in the two-ship Aoba class of heavy cruiser.
As the flagship of japanese cruiser division six, Aoba was engaged in the invasion of Guam during the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, being based out of Truk in the Caroline Islands and providing protection for japanese troops landing on the Solomon Islands.
After seeing off the Battle of Coral Sea, she participated in the Battle of Savo Island in August 1942, where japanese warships engaged american vessels in a night gun and torpedo battle, with three american warships and one australian warship sunk, and three more damaged. At the Battle of Cape Esperance in October, Aoba was severely damaged by forty 6-inch and 8-inch shells, but eventually returned to Japan for repairs. Serving mostly in escort duties for the rest of the war, she was damaged again and again by aircraft and submarine attacks, and was finally brought to Kure as a reserve ship after the damage was deemed irrepairable.
Aoba was converted into an anti-aircraft hulk after yet another bombing, and a final bomb raid in July 1945 put her out of action once and for all. Her wreck was scrapped after the end of the war.
IJN Akagi(赤城)
(Namesake of Ritsuko and Naoko Akagi) One of the most famous of all japanese warships, Akagi was laid down as an Amagi-class battlecruiser in 1920 and converted into an aircraft carrier subsequent to the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, which imposed limitations on warship design and production on all signatory nations.
Akagi served as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo during the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, launching two waves of aircraft at Oahu. She served on other campaigns in the Pacific in the following six months such supporting the invasion of Rabaul in the Bismarck islands. Her aircraft sunk several ships including the old british carrier HMS Hermes.
During the Battle of Midway, on June 4, 1942 Akagi was attacked by dive bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, one bomb hit damaging the rudder. Another bomb exploding among armed and fueled planes set off a chain of fires and explosions that proved impossible to control, leading to her being abandoned. Severely damaged by fire but still floating, she was scuttled the next day by torpedoes from four destroyers. Of all the carriers lost in the Battle of Midway, Akagi was the luckiest, suffering the fewest deaths among all crew.
Akagi's name literally means "Red Castle", having been named after a mountain of the same name, Mount Akagi(赤城山,Akagi-Yama ), in the Gunma Prefecture of Japan. This name was chosen due to Akagi's battlecruiser origins. Purpose-built aircraft carriers, such as the Soryu, were named after flying creatures instead.
IJN Ayanami
(Namesake of Rei Ayanami) Ayanami was the first of the Ayanami class, or Fubuki Type-II destroyers. (To be expanded and put in layman's terms later, along with all the rest)
IJN Fuyutsuki
(Namesake of Kozo Fuyutsuki)
IJN Hyuga
(Namesake of Mokoto Hyuga)
IJN Katsuragi
(Namesake of Misato Katsuragi)
IJN Kirishima
(Non-canonical Mana Kirishima)
IJN Maya(摩耶)
(Namesake of Maya Ibuki) Maya was one of the four Takao-class heavy cruisers, named after a mountain (摩耶山 Maya-Yama) near Kobe. She was sunk by submarine attack on October 23, 1944, during the Battle of the Palawan Straits.
IJN Musashi
(Non-canonical Musashi Lee Strasbourg)
IJN Ibuki
(Another namesake of Maya Ibuki)
IJN Soryu(蒼龍 )
(Namesake of Asuka and Kyoko) Soryu, as opposed to the heavier Akagi and Kaga, was the first purpose built heavy aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was followed by her heavily modified sister ship Hiryu, which was heavier and had a different flight deck configuration. At the time of her introduction, she was the fastest carrier in the world, with a speed of 34 knots.
Soryu was one of the six aircraft carriers to take part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, and served in numerous other pacific campaigns in the months to follow. On June 4, 1942, the Soryu was attacked by dive bombers from the USS Yorktown, taking three bomb hits. Two penetrated the upper hangar deck, and the third penetrated down to the lower hangar deck before exploding, setting off a chain reaction among the armed and fueled planes stored inside. She lost 711 of her 1103 crew, the single highest loss at Midway, because of the fires being in both her hangar decks.
As with all purpose-built japanese aircraft carriers, Soryu was named after a flying creature. In this case, Soryu literally means green(or blue) dragon.
Other Warships
USS Langley(CV-1)
(Namesake of Asuka and her father Langley)
DKM Graf Zeppelin
(Namesake of Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu)
Warships in the show itself
USS Rammage USS Harry S. Truman CBGN Kirov USS Illinois USS Kentucky CVG Kuznetsov Oliver Hazard Perry class FFG
