Ise-Class Japanese Battleships: The Ise and Hyuga, Hybrid Battleship/Aircraft Carriers

The front was all battleship.  The back was all aircraft carrier.

From Wikipedia.

These two battleships are of particular interest because they became hybrid ships: half battleship, half carrier.

They were a pair of dreadnaught battleships built for the Japanese Navy during World War I.  Both ships carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923.  They were modernized in 1934-1937 with improvements to armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style.

Afterwards they played a minor role in the Second Sino-Chinese War.

Despite the expensive and extensive reconstructions, both were considered obsolete by the eve of the Pacific War and neither saw significant action in the early years of the war.  Following the loss of most of Japan's large aircraft carriers in the Battle of Midway, they were rebuilt once again with a flight deck replacing the rear  gun turrets to give them  the ability to operate an air group of float planes.

However, a lack of  aircraft and qualified pilots meant that they never  actually launched aircraft in battle.

Strange Looking Contraptions Indeed.  --GreGen