Taigei

"Good day, I'm Submarine Tender Taigei. I may be inexperienced, but I am glad to be of service."

- Taigei

"Carrier Ryuuhou, remodeled from a Submarine Tender. I'll once again try my best as a carrier"

- Ryuhou Ryūhō (龍鳳, "Dragon phoenix" ?) was a light aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was converted from the submarine tender Taigei (大鯨, "Great Whale" ?), which had been used in the Second Sino-Japanese War. One of the least successful of the light aircraft carrier conversions due to its small size, slow speed and weak construction, during World War II, Ryūhō was used primarily as an aircraft transport and for training purposes, although she was also involved in a number of combat missions, including the First Battle of the Philippine Sea.

Appearance
She wears a white and blue serafuku with a red tie (identical to Shigure Kai2's) under an apron with a picture of a whale on it. A whale-shaped pin is placed on the apron, at the level of her right kidney. On her back is her smokestack and a crane, hanging from her right shoulder is a bag full of torpedoes (presumably to refill her submarines, considering that she cannot use them) and she holds a bucket full of veggies. On her neck is either a tiny whale necklace or a blue magatama. Additionally, she wears black pantyhose and sandals.

She has dark purple hair with low twintails, feathered hair flaps and a ahoge as well as red eyes.

As Ryuuhou, she wears a magenta haori with floral patterns on the sleeves and hem on top of her similarly recolored serafuku. As she became an Archer-type Aircraft Carrier, she now holds a yumi bow, wears muneate and yugake, a quiver full of plane-arrows and her flight deck is attached to her left arm. Unlike the others, her flight deck is actually a flexible piece of armour instead of the usual rigid piece of wood. The whale clip has moved to being on her hair on her left side and she now wears a hairband.

After remodeling, her clothes turn teal, her flight deck significantly increases in size and now features a camo design. The necklace is now absent, her tie has been tied differently (now like Yuudachi Kai2) and she gains a radar hairclip.

Trivia

 * Started as a Submarine Tender until December 1941, when conversion into a Light Aircraft Carrier began.
 * Was the only major IJN vessel to be struck during the Doolittle Raid, which delayed her launch as a CVL.
 * Last Aircraft Carrier to sail overseas from Japan
 * Ryuuhou's hair band bears resemblance to the Ensign of Japan Post (Japan's Postal service).
 * Ryuuhou's Kai art is based on her real-life camouflage.
 * "Taigei" means "big whale", thus the design on her Taigei form's dress and Ryuuhou form's hairpin. "Ryuuhou" means "dragon phoenix".
 * She is one of two ships in-game that were released with a second remodel in the same update. The other is U-511.