Mizuho

Mizuho (瑞穂) may refer to:

Japanese seaplane carrier Mizuho

Mizuho (瑞穂) was a seaplane carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The ship was built at Kawasaki Shipbuilding at Kobe, Japan, and was completed in February 1939.

Design and description

Mizuho was built to a similar design as the seaplane carrier Chitose, but with slightly less powerful diesel engines instead of Chitose's turbines. She carried 24 seaplanes, and was equipped to carry twelve miniature submarines, although she could not carry full loads of both at one time.

Service history

Mizuho participated in invasion support for much of her career; her first mission was with the Fourth Surprise Attack Force. On 1 March 1942, planes from Mizuho and Chitose damaged the American destroyer USS Pope, which was later sunk by aircraft from the aircraft carrier Ryūjō and gunfire from the heavy cruisers Ashigara and Myōkō.

Sinking

The American submarine USS Drum torpedoed Mizuho at 23:03 hours on 1 May 1942 40 nautical miles (74 kilometres) off Omaezaki, Japan. She capsized and sank at 04:16 hours on 2 May 1942 with the loss of 101 lives. There were 472 survivors, of which 31 were wounded.

Mizuho (train)

The Mizuho (みずほ) is a limited-stop shinkansen service operated between Shin-Osaka and Kagoshima-Chuo in Japan since 12 March 2011, following the completion of the Kyushu Shinkansen. The name was formerly used for a limited express sleeping car service operated by JNR from 1961, which ran from Tokyo to Kumamoto, and was discontinued in December 1994.

Train formation

Mizuho services are operated by 8-car JR West N700-7000 series and JR Kyushu N700-8000 series trainsets, with car 1 at the Kagoshima-Chuo end. All seats are no-smoking.

N700-8000 series Green car interior

N700-8000 series Green car interior

N700-8000 series standard-class reserved car interior

N700-8000 series standard-class reserved car interior

N700-8000 series standard-class non-reserved car interior

N700-8000 series standard-class non-reserved car interior

History

Limited express sleeping car service

The Mizuho was first introduced on 1 October 1961 as a seasonal limited express sleeper train service, which ran from Tokyo to Kumamoto in Kyushu, supplementing the three existing limited express services, Asakaze, Sakura, and Hayabusa, operating between Tokyo and Kyushu. From 1 October the following year, the service was upgraded from a "seasonal" service to become a daily service.