What? A Rule 5 blog? Really? After all, why not? Why shouldn’t I go back to posting pictures of ships and ship-girl waifus?
Last time I did this we covered the IJN carrier Soryuu (Sōryū). This time I’ll cover her sister (or maybe step-sister, considering the actual amount of commonality between the two) ship, IJN carrier Hiryuu.
Launched in November 1937, the real Hiryuu (Hiryū) was based on the same hull design as Soryuu, but enlarged and modified to the point where she was generally considered to be a class of her own. As launched, she carried a crew of 1,100, a compliment of 73 aircraft, and a defensive armament of 6 twin 12.7cm guns and 7 triple, 5 twin 25mm AA guns. She was part of the strike fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor, participated in the Japanese raid into the Indian Ocean, then was refitted ahead of the Battle of Midway.
Along with Akagi, Kaga, and Sōryū, she was sunk by American aircraft at Midway. Aircraft from Hiryū are generally considered to have dealt the killing blow against Yorktown.
In Azur Lane, Hiryuu is presented as Soryuu’s brash and aggressive sister. Hiryuu is the tomboy bully who is usually getting in trouble or slacking off on something. Her main fixation is on her combat prowess, plus a weird obsession with Soryuu’s ankles. Maybe because Sōryū was built with a slimmer hull, one of the major modifications made during Hiryū’s build.
She doesn’t get a whole lot of story time beyond the occasional supporting role in one of Soryuu’s stories, which also shows in her lack of outfit options. A new addition is Hiryuu META, as the developers continue to add more powerful META ships to the game.
