shinano (azur lane)
Azur Lane's personification of the Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Shinano.
Character design by Soaryuna, voiced by Noto Mamiko.
Shinano was introduced in Azur Lane as the first UR (Ultra-Rare) ship of the roster, by way of the Dreamwaker's Butterfly event on September 17, 2020.
Appearance
In-game, Shinano is portrayed with very long white hair with fox features (ears and tail), and purple eyes. Her outfit is a traditional blue-white kimono with a white skirt and white thighhighs.
Her rigging consists of her real-life flight deck with several 25 mm triple AA mounts and 12 cm 28-tube rocket launchers on each side, while she has three katana on a hull accessory to her back. She also has moon phases floating around her as a reference to her in-lore ability to see across multiple timelines and the fact that she was historically sunk at night/early morning.
History
The historical Shinano was laid down May 4, 1940. She was originally planned to be the third Yamato-class battleship, but after the loss of the aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Hiryuu, and Souryuu after the Battle of Midway she was converted into a supercarrier as her hull was partially incomplete.
In theory, Shinano was capable of fielding the largest airwing of any aircraft carrier constructed by the end of World War II and was kept secret as she was meant to be a strategic surprise. However, due to the advanced state of her construction as a battleship before conversion, Shinano has a disproportionally small organic air group size of 47 aircraft. Due to this, the IJN planned to use Shinano as a support carrier to tend the other fleet carrier's air wings, capable of stowing around 120 aircraft maximum.
Shinano was launched on October 8, 1944 (originally planned for May 1945, but her construction was expedited due to the loss of Shoukaku and Taihou in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and commissioned November 19, 1944. Shinano was dispatched from Yokosuka to Kure with an inexperienced crew to finish her fitting out and embark her aircraft, but she was sunk en-route by USS Archerfish on November 29, 1944. Shinano was the largest warship ever sunk by a submarine.
Skins
- Dreams of the Hazy Moon (Party Dress)
- Moonlit Chrome (Race Queen)
See also
- Shinano (dreams of the hazy moon) - her special party skin, released on September 24, 2020
- Shinano (Kancolle) - her oldest, but yet-to-be-released counterpart in Kantai Collection
- Shinano (Warship Girls R) - the earliest confirmed and released shipgirl depiction of the same ship
