the aft elevator measuring long and wide. The forward elevator was slightly smaller in width. It took approximately 15 seconds to raise an aircraft from the lower hangar deck to the flight deck and the same to lower one. Hangars Taihōs upper and lower hangars were approximately long and high. The upper hangar was wider than the lower. Fighters were normally stowed in the middle and forward sections of the upper hangar and were raised to flight deck level using the bow elevator to facilitate more rapid handling. Dive bombers occupied the remaining upper hangar spaces with torpedo bombers stowed in the lower hangar. With greater all-up weights and longer take-off runs than the fighters, these planes were brought up to the flight deck using the aft elevator where they could then be spotted as far astern as possible. As a fire safety precaution, the carrier's two hangars were divided into sections (five on the upper and four on the lower), separated by fire-proofed fabric curtains. The curtains were intended to limit the supply of air to and delay the spread of any fire breaking out on the hangar decks. Further protection against fire was supplied by a foam spray system fed by two rows of pipes and nozzles running along the walls and ends of the hangars. The lower hangar could also be flooded with carbon dioxide where the likelihood of fuel vapor build-up was greatest. Taihōs original design specified installation of two catapults on her forward bow for power-assisted take-offs. However, as the Imperial Japanese Navy had not developed a workable catapult for carrier decks by the time of Taihōs construction, these were eventually deleted from the requirements. The IJN instead opted to use rocket-assisted take-off gear (RATOG) when necessary. This consisted of two solid-propellant (cordite) rockets attached to either side of a plane's fuselage. Generating of thrust for three seconds, they were able to get an aircraft airborne in a much shorter distance than normally required. On Taihōs port side, abreast the aft elevator, stood a collapsible crane with a lifting capacity. When not in use, it could be folded and lowered below flight deck level through an opening in the deck, thus eliminating a potentially hazardous obstruction during air operations. Taihōs single large funnel, built into the island, was angled 26° from the vertical to starboard and carried the ship's exhaust gases well clear of the