Following the disastrous defeat at Midway in 1942 the IJN decided to take two old battleships, the
Ise and
Hyuga, toss out a third of their broadside and all secondary guns, and install a flight deck in the rear. This gave them the theoretical ability to launch (but not recover) 12 Yokosuka D4Y
Suisei dive bombers, and up to 12 Aichi E16A
Zuiun floatplanes, which could be recovered by crane.
This was a very bad idea. In short the hangar was very vulnerable in combat situations, the airgroup too small for any real carrier work and the guns too few for a proper surface action.
