japanese aircraft carriers sunk in ww2

Veröffentlicht

She was designed for a crew of 2,400 officers and enlisted men. Mitsubishi G4M (1939) Betty, Main long range twin engine torpedo bomber of the navy, 2,435 built Her construction made use of the steel reserved for the construction of No. The ship was. They replaced with ease the obsolete Maurice Farman used up to that point. Resting on her keel in nearly 18,000 feet of water roughly 1,300 miles northwest of Pearl Harbor in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, the Akagi was unmistakable. Dimensions: 204.8 m long, 18.2 m wide, 6.6 m draft The bow was raised by a level in 1940. From 27 September she made 25 missions from the Homeland and back with the fleet. Built at Kure Naval Arsenal (1938-1942), IJN Nisshin had 2 aircraft catapults and reworked launching, lifting, carrying and operating facilities for 12 floatplanes alternative to 12 Type A midget submarines. Armor: Belt 56, flight deck 80, internal partitions 130, stores 151 mm Brazil France Germany Italy Japan United Kingdom As modified as the Type-MB they could carry twelve Toku-Daihatsu class landing craft, launched via stern doors, horizontal funnels on starboard and flight deck. Like the legion Condor over Spain for Luftwaffes future officers, combat over China gave considerable experience and confidence to IJN pilots. The Japanese fleet air arm originated in 1912, with the creation of a Commission on Naval Aeronautical Research (Kaigun Kokjutsu Kenkykai), a subdivision of the Technical Department. In fact she survived, was repaired and resumed her service, until sank for good by USS Queenfish on 15 November 1944. In April 1942, the Doolittle Raid, carried out by 16 bombers that took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, 600 miles (970 km) from Japan, also a major impact on Japanese strategy. The greatest loss of life was the 2,046 killed on Akitsu Marua converted passenger liner with a small flight deck, carrying the Imperial Japanese Army's 64th Infantry Regiment. -Kawanishi K8K (1938), same, 15 built The navy also wanted to make the large drydock in which the ship was being built available, which required either scrapping the portion already completed or finishing it enough to launch it and clear the drydock. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. Armament: 6 x 203 mm (61), 12 x 100 mm (121), 28 x 25 mm AA (142), 91 aircraft (miscellaneous) Dimensions: 247.65 m long, 32.5 m wide, 9.5 m draft Naval ships will be officially recognized as military gravesites. Rescued were 55 officers and 993 petty officers and enlisted men, plus 32 civilians for a total of 1,080 survivors. The carriers were among seven ships that went down in the Battle of Midway, a major. They had only one hangar and no tower bridge. However the investigation into the loss of Taih had revealed that her avgas tanks had sprung leaks after she was torpedoed. [26] The first hit towards the stern, flooding refrigerated storage compartments and one of the empty aviation gasoline storage tanks and killing many of the sleeping engineering personnel in the compartments above. In the end, gunnery staffs (used to work with spotter planes) joined naval aviators, to ask a doctrine around a pre-emptive strike was crafted. Out of service 1953. This represented 212 330 tonnes. [7], Unlike the British carriers, Taih and Shinano had unarmored sides to their hangars. Armament: 12 x 127 AA, 31 x 25 mm AA, 73 aircraft In 1941, the need for new aircraft carriers meant that she was sent in drydock for conversion into an aircraft carrier. This wall of fire was in principle impassable, but exactly 10 days after her commissioning, her crew still testing all systems, she was spotted and torpedoed during her first and only shakedown trip off the Japanese coast by the submarine USS Archerfish, launching a full salvo. Sunk by Japanese surface ships of center force during the, Crippled by torpedo bombers and dive bombers from Japanese fast carriers, sunk by torpedoes from the Japanese destroyers, Crippled by Japanese dive bombers later scuttled by torpedoes and gunfire from the escorting ships, Crippled by Japanese torpedo bombers and dive bombers during the, Sunk by land based Japanese bomber during the, Crippled by Japanese dive bombers and torpedo bombers during the, This page was last edited on 25 March 2023, at 10:01. George Gay, survived the doomed attack of Torpedo Squadron 8. They were part of the large 6-6-3 programme, laid down in 1919-21, they wer all sunk in WW2 except Notoro, converted in 1934 as a seaplane tender/carrier. [7], The carrier's 256-meter (839ft 11in) flight deck was 40 meters (131ft 3in) wide and overhung her hull at both ends, supported by pairs of pillars. The Petrel also worked with the US Navy, as according to US law it is otherwise illegal to disturb underwater war graves - that is, sites where the wrecks of US military ships lie. Explorers Find Sunken Japanese Aircraft Carrier from the Battle of Midway, The Most Important Battles of World War II, South Korea Is Building an American Arsenal Ship, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Scientists, ocean explorers, and historians have found the, This is the second Japanese aircraft carrier that the team has found in a week, and earlier this year, the crew discovered the. However after Midway and other crippling battles for the IJN, the 1st fleet division became in 1944 largely a land-based fleet of kichi kktai (base air unit(s)), its carriers played a bait role at Leyte. The first three were started in 1942, launched in 1943 and completed in 1944, Unryu and Amagi in August, and Katsuragi in October. RV Petrel is no stranger to seabed discoveries. IJN Nisshin evaded B-24s bombs, hard-turning at 34 knots, but she would receive four 500-pound (230 kg) and two 1,000-pound (450 kg) bombs for the Dauntlesses in other strikes. Kawanishi E15K Shiun (1941) codename Norm, 15 built, floatplane Torpedo bomber -Aichi Navy Type 2 (1928), experimental floatplane IJN Shoho participated as her sister-ship in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, and was the first IJN aircraft carrier to be sunk, hit by no less than 11 bombs and 7 torpedoes. Her favorite stories illuminate Earth's many wonders and hazards. It was to achieve air superiority to prepare the surface battle, in 193233. Researchers aboard the ship recently discovered the wrecks of the Japanese aircraft carriers Kaga and Akagi 77 years after they were sunk by U.S . As she heeled, water flowed into the open elevator well on her flight deck, sucking many swimming sailors back into the ship as she sank. At 10:18, Abe gave the order to abandon ship; by this time Shinano had a list of 30 degrees. Still, when the USS Bismarck Sea was sunk by Japanese kamikaze pilots during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, she took 318 crewmen down with her, a devastating loss. The official designation of the submarine was Type D (Tei) submarine, The official designation of the submarine was Kaidai-type submarine, The official designation of the submarine was Kiraisen-type submarine, The official designation of the submarine was Sentaka-type submarine, Was German Kriegsmarine submarine under the name, Was a Regia Marina submarine under the name, Was Regia Marina submarine under the name. 111, the third unit of the unfinished Yamato class, due to unsufficient reserves. This was pushed by naval aviators, arguing they needed to win the aerial engagement to clear space over the opposing fleets before final surface battle, notably to elminate the enemys own spotters. The Kaga, hit by 4 projectiles, is immediately ravaged by fires, which explode in explosion to the fuel tanks, causing the complete destruction of the ship. Laid down in May 1940 as the third of the Yamato-class battleships, Shinano's partially complete hull was ordered to be converted to an aircraft carrier following Japan's disastrous loss of four of its original six fleet carriers at the Battle of Midway in mid-1942. Kyushu K11W1 Shiragiku (1942) monoplane advanced operations trainer, 798 built Once the existence of Shinano was discovered, Enright was credited with her sinking and awarded the Navy Cross. In the face of this failure, IJN Ryujo was taken over for a radical reconstruction in 1934-36. A few minutes later, Shinano turned south, exposing her entire side to Archerfisha nearly ideal firing situation for a submarine. With over 420 embarked planes, these ships constituted by far the most powerful carrier task force ever assembled. The hangar was much larger, draft and its width larger but length unchanged. Crew: 2,400. Aircraft: 22 Nakajima E4N or 12 Yokosuka E5Y. Show more Show more A. Is climate change killing Australian wine? However conversion was never completed. [19], Even though Shinano's avgas tanks were protected by armor that could resist a 155-millimeter (6.1in) shell, the IJN attempted to isolate the tanks from the rest of the ship with a cofferdam. Their maximum range was 4,800 meters (5,200yd). The terrifying scream of the dive bombers reached me first, followed by the crashing explosion of a direct hit, he wrote after the war. As the area of operation stretched out fast, the 1st air fleet was thinned out. Yokosuka D4Y (1942) codename Judy diver bomber, 2,038 built, Mitsubishi G3M (1935), 1,048 built, long range twin engine navy land-based bomber, codename Nell. Their operational career was quite rich, since after Pearl Harbor, these two ships were were engaged during the battle of the Coral Sea, Shokaku being badly damaged in May 1942, then again in October during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, and ultimately torpedoed and sunk by USS Cavalla during the Battle of the Philippines on June 19, 1944. IJN Nitta Maru and Yawata Maru being of the same type, it was decided to requisition them in turn, and to transform them the same way, giving a class of three ships. IJN Hiryu will pay for this, around 5 pm, when a wave of Navy aircraft from USS Hornet and Yorktown, which Yamaguchi thought was out of action, hit Hiryu bad. This month's discoveries came after weeks of searching by crew members based on the research vessel Petrel. Read about our approach to external linking. Technically she was a seaplane tender, so not a carrier, therefore these auxiliaries will not be covered here. [1] In 1911 aircraft began to be successfully launched and landed on ships with the successful flight of a Curtiss Pusher aboard USSPennsylvania. The advanced state of her construction prevented her conversion into a fleet carrier, so the IJN decided to convert her into a carrier that supported other carriers. Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h) IJN planes preparing to take off from Akagi before the attack on Pearl Harbour, IJN Shokaku in 1941, colorized by Irootoko Jr. Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, Torpedoed US warship found, solving 75-year-old cold case, Bodies of US WW2 troops found on Pacific island, Searching for Burma's forgotten World War Two heroes, Midway - decisive battle of the Pacific war, MasterChef Australia host Jock Zonfrillo dies, Banana artwork in Seoul museum eaten by visitor, Trevelyan relative 'would consider' famine payment, NFL player's daughter, aged two, drowns in pool, Four dead after suspected pigeon racer dispute, Ding becomes China's first male world chess champion, Indian 'killer' elephant relocated to tiger reserve. Their ship was just found. Dimensions: 257,50 m long, 26 m wide, 8,87 m draft It was supposed to be the third and last in the line of Yamato-class battleships, but after the Battle of Midway saw two-thirds of Japan's carriers lost to American naval power, the Japanese switched gears and made Shinano an aircraft carrier. In June 1942, Midways losses prompted the high command to convert her into an aircraft carrier. Machinery: 2 steam turbines, 4 boilers, 26,000 hp. She received air bomb damage north of Tassafaronga in October (Battle of Cape Esperance) and was sent in November to Truk, used in 1943 as fast transport between Japan, and Truk-Rabaul. At the same time he received new, more powerful machines, his speed gaining two tenths of a knot. Dimensions: 219.3 m long, 26.7 m wide, 8.15 m draft Hiryu was attacked by waves of American planes at about 5 p.m., Fuchida wrote. Conversion work started at Sasebo in November and she had two lift servicing a single hangar. By March 1942, with Chitose her planes damaged USS Pope, and the destroyer was latter reported to Ryj and Ashigara and Myk which finished her off. , and a shed expanded and refitted. A Second Kk Sentai (Sry, Hiry) was added to the 23rd Kuchikutai (Destroyer Unit), and later a fourth Kk Sentai (Ryj), and more destroyers in August. [8], As completed, Shinano had a length of 265.8 meters (872ft 1in) overall, a beam of 36.3 meters (119ft 1in) and a draft of 10.3 meters (33ft 10in). Top Image: The USS Yorktown is hit on the port side by a torpedo launched from a plane off the Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryu during the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942. Ironclads (1865), Assari Shevket class Ct. Ironclads (1868), Bartolomeu Dias class (28-guns) steam frigates, Dom Fernando I e Gloria (50) Sailing Frigate, Dom Joao I class (14 guns) Sailing corvettes, Amiral Baudin class barbette ships (1883), La Galissonire Cent. [4] The last aircraft carrier sunk in wartime was the Japanese aircraft carrierAmagi, in Kure Harbour in July 1945. Gasuden KR-2 (1934), light transport biplane, small prod. These save the honor of the combined fleet as her air group managed to destroy USS Yorktown, the only major American loss of the battle. At 06:00 her list had increased to 20 degrees after the starboard boiler room flooded, at which point the valves of the port trimming tanks rose above the waterline and became ineffective. The IJN decided on the latter, albeit with a reduced work force which was expected to be able to launch the ship in one year. -In 1939 also first flew the Nakajima LXD-1, transport four-engined prototype. As seaplane tenders they srved nevertheless during the second sino-Japanese war and the early Pacific War and naturally were converted after the Battle of Midway at Sasebo Naval Yard. The blazing ship was soon abandoned and sank several hours later, taking 700 men and the skipper down with it. IJN Soryu took part in the campaign in China when it entered service, and then went on squadrons exercises until December 1941, when her group was sent to Pearl Harbor with the Kido Butai (2nd division). Machinery: 2 propellers, 2 diesels, 15 200 hp. IJN Akagi was eventually completed in 1927 and Kaga in 1928, but with the Hosho, this gave the IJN a way to create and experiment new doctrines and operating procedures. Naval Forces in Japan, said in a statement. Dimensions: 149 x 20.4 x 8.4 (488 x 67 x 28 ft) Below it was a strake of armor that tapered in thickness from 200 millimeters (7.9in) to 75millimeters at its bottom edge. The commission was to promote aviation technology and training and at first centrated on non-rigid airships, before swapping to aircraft. They were commissioned in May 1942 (Unyo) and November 1942 (Chuyo). Researchers haven't found the USS Hammann either. More than 250 men were lost. [3] She was laid down on 4 May 1940 at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal to a modified Yamato-class design: her armor would be 1020 millimeters (0.40.8in) thinner than that of the earlier ships, as it had proved to be thicker than it needed to be for the desired level of protection, and her heavy anti-aircraft (AA) guns would be the new 65-caliber 10cm Type 98 dual-purpose gun, as it had superior ballistic characteristics and a higher rate of fire than the 40-caliber 12.7cm Type 89 guns used by her half-sisters. 2 = Maiden revenue-earning voyage. This path was followed nearly up to WW2, and French, American, British and German models were purchased all along the interwar in small quantities, with the exception of licence-built models. Advertisement At 03:15 Archerfish fired six torpedoes before diving to 400 feet (120m) to escape a depth charge attack from the escorts. His aircraft made two assaults before Admiral Yamamoto decided to cancel the third, believing that the surprise effect no longer played in their favor. Kawanishi H8K (1941) codename Emily, main long-range aquad-engine, 167 built Nakajima E14Y (1939), shipboard recce floatplane, 126 built [13], The ship was originally scheduled for completion in April 1945, but construction was expedited after the defeat at the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944 as the IJN anticipated that the United States would now be able to bomb Japan with long-range aircraft from bases in the Mariana Islands. But in the 1930s, many air strike at targets beyond the range of the fleets guns demonstrated the potential of a new generation of carried-borne attack planes. Later that mmonth she was near-missed by USS Sculpin east of Kokoda. Armament: 8 x 127 mm cannons, 38 x 25 mm AA guns, 31 planes As a measure of how important Shinano was to the naval command, Abe was slated for promotion to rear admiral once the fitting-out was complete. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Mitsubishi K3M (1930), navy trainer and liaison, recce, 625 built, retired 1940s The surprise strike . Dimensions: 215.6 m long, 19.6 m wide, 6.6 m draft The Akagi was taken over for reconstruction between 1923 and 1927. It was not planned to transform it at first, because it is the twin of the Akagi, of the Amagi class, much more advanced in its construction (launched, in completion), which was preferred in order to simplify the studies conversion and for the homogeneity of the fleet, like the American Saratoga class at the same time. San Francisco survived the carnage with 77 crewmen dead, including Callaghan. In operations however, 72 aircraft were actually operational. Yamato was sunk during a one-way trip to Okinawa during. Structural failures caused the two adjacent boiler rooms to flood as well. Propulsion: 4 propellers, 4 steam turbines, 19 Kampon boilers, 133,000 hp, Maximum speed 31.2 knots IJN Junyo, like his twin, saw the installation of forty 25mm AA guns in 1943, and in June 1944, 76. IJN Hiryu in 1939 and 1941 Colorized by irootoko jr. Coming from the 1931-32 program including Soryu, IJN Hiryu was laid down two years later and closely inspired by it. During the floating-out procedure, one of the caissons at the end of the dock that had not been properly ballasted with seawater unexpectedly lifted as the water rose to the level of the harbor. The discoveries, in 17,000 feet of water, were made by the Research Vessel Petrel, in conjunction with the Navy, and are part of an underwater exploration effort started by Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft. Despite the crew pumping 3,000 long tons (3,000t) of water into the port bilges, the list increased to 13 degrees. Never completed during World War II and extensively damaged by retreating Germans. Fuel tanks were dislocated, massed planes exploded in chain, fire spread to the two hangars causing a series of new explosions. Shortly after Midway, both took advantage of their immobilization to pour concrete into existing spaces between bulkheads and fuel tanks. Converted from the submarine tender Taigei 19411942. WW2 Japanese Aircraft Carriers Japan, 1919-45. Much like Taih, the only other Japanese carrier with an armored flight deck, Shinano's flight deck functioned as the ship's strength deck and copied British practice as seen in their Illustrious-class carriers. The official designation of the submarine was Sentoku type Submarine. [26] Abe preferred a daylight passage, since it would have allowed him extra time to train his crew and given the destroyer crews time to rest. He capsized and sank the next day, his crew having delayed the inevitable for more than 33 hours. 3 = Constructive total loss, Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in November 1944, Enright & Ryan, pp. Speed: 15 knots (28 km/h) Armament: 8 guns 127, 8 guns 25 mm AA, 30 aircraft IJN Mizuho was sunk by an American submarine on 2 March 1942. The ship was first blooded in combat on Sept. 14, 1939, two weeks after WWII kicked off with Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, when the ship was attacked by the Kriegsmarine submarine U-39.Luckily, the attack faltered when the torpedoes' magnetic exploders malfunctioned, and the submarine was sunk by Ark Royal's escorting destroyers Faulknor, Firedrake and Foxhound, thus becoming Nazi . https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_sunken_aircraft_carriers&oldid=1146510423. However, he was forced to make a nighttime run when he learned the Navy General Staff could not provide air support. The Japanese aircraft carriers Soryu and Hiryu and cruiser Mikuma are still missing. [15], The ship also carried 105 Type 96 25mm (1in) light AA guns in 35 triple-gun mounts. Naval Technical Mission to Japan noted that Shinano had serious design flaws. Her 100 mm dual-purpose turrets were the new model placed on Akizuki super-destroyers. This represented 212 330 tonnes. Mitsubishi J2M Raiden Jack (1942), 621 built Both had been launched and the completion work was going on. Robert Ballard tried to find Kaga in 1998 when he searched for and found USS Yorktown (CV-5).Kaga, the first Japanese carrier hit at Midway, was the prime target, but even he was unable to locate her final resting place.In 1999 a team from the undersea exploration group Nauticos . For example, the N1K Kyofu (Rex), where N signified floatplane fighter, 1 as it was the first of the factory of this type, and K for Kawanishi. Conversons work implied the fitting of a single hangar, aigmented by an additional 6 feet 7 inches, and a full flight deck serviced by two lifts (see later). The other novelty was a larger offset bridge and an integrated tilted funnel, echoing what was done among the allies. Around 23:22, the carrier was forced to reduce speed to 18 knots (33km/h; 21mph), the same speed as Archerfish, to prevent damage to the propeller shaft when a bearing overheated. Mitsuo Fuchida was aboard Akagi during the June 4 attack on his ship by Navy planes. Propulsion: 4 boilers, 2 geared turbines 7,500 shp (5,600 kW)[1] As in other navies, it was seen as a support for the main battle fleet, not an independent striking weapon. Crew: 1,595. [7] The remainder of the hangar space would have held up to 120 replacement aircraft for other carriers and land bases. The second hit the compartment where the starboard outboard propeller shaft entered the hull and flooded the outboard engine room. The U.S. lost the carrier Yorktown and the destroyer Hammann, while the carriers USS Enterprise and USS Hornet survived the battle fully intact. The sprawling battle was one of the most epic in naval history, and it left the cream of the Japanese navy as blazing wrecks. Dimensions: 266 m long, 36.3 m wide, 10.3 m draft Each kk sentai was a self-contained tactical unit, with or without destroyer escort, which can be detached or attached to others depending on the mission. The maximum effective rate of fire was only between 110 and 120 rounds per minute because of the frequent need to change the fifteen-round magazines. The battle came after American code-breakers figured out that the Japanese planned a massive attack on American-held Midway. The conversion of the most powerful warship of all time into an aircraft carrier would give the largest and best armoured aircraft carrier of the Second World War. June 1942. At the battle of Midway, IJN Nisshin carried twelve Type A K-hyteki-class midget submarines, for Kure Atoll, to be used as a seaplane base to target Midway. All four were sunk during the war, There was a plan to convert these ships into Aviation Battleships in 1943. gal). Until now only one other ship sunk in this battle had ever been found - the American vessel USS Yorktown, in 1998. Twelve aircraft carriers. Their AA varied during their service, between six and eight 127 mm and six 120 mm for Taiyo, with initially eight 25 mm, then 24 on Taiyo and Unyo, and 22 plus 5 heavy 13 mm machine guns for IJN Chuyo in 1943. The Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Shinano was, at the time of its completion, the largest aircraft carrier in history to that point. ", "Reports of the US Naval Technical Mission to Japan: Ship and Related Targets Article 2: Yamato (BB), Musashi (BB), Taiho (CV), Shinano (CV)", "IJN Shinano: Tabular Record of Movement", National Archives and Records Administration, Japanese naval ship classes of World War II, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Shinano&oldid=1152224246, Aircraft carriers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean, Articles containing Japanese-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Two plans of the ship have been located in the, This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at 23:00. Nakajima/Showa L2D (1939) large navy transport plane codenamed Tabby, DC-3 copy. She was repaired in Yokosuka and joined the Hi-87 convoy to Singapore, but in January 1945, she was heavily damaged in Hong Kong. [12] When firing at surface targets, the guns had a range of 14,700 meters (16,100yd); they had a maximum ceiling of 9,440 meters (30,970ft) at their maximum elevation of 90 degrees. The Midway atoll that gave the June 1942 battle its name is about 1,400 miles northwest of Hawaii. After this U.S. victory came the start of the U.S. island-hopping campaign and the eventual defeat of the Japanese Empire in August 1945. Hiryu was catch with her bridge and hangars loaded with bombs and aviation gasoline in the inter-deck, but she was lucky to be far enough away from the other three at this time to be spared. Dimensions: 198.35 m long, 21.20 m wide, 6.31 m draft Crucial to this, was the location of the enemy fleet before the reverse was true. They formed the backbone of the fleet until more modern carriers were admitted, four purpose-built ones and more conversions. 3. In this battle 800 men of Kagas crew, one third of her complement, were lost., Soryu was hit by three bombs at 10:25 a.m., on June 4, he wrote. Conways all the worlds fighting ships 1922-47 In 1940-41, as a result, pilots had an excellent training, probably among the worlds best, but to the massive cost of gasoline. Later sunk by cruisers, Sunk by torpedo bombers and dive bombers during the, Sunk by aircraft from US Navy Task Force 38 during the. Japanese Aircraft Carriers (IJN) video , Military History visualized about the Kido Butai. Mitsubishi L4M (1939) main twin-engine transport plane, 406 built Top speed: 29 knots The first version of the Akagi, in 1927, was unusual because the buildings had two runways at the front, and a landing lane at the stern, with no island or apparent gangway, and with two double turrets. She made various missions in 1944 before receiving in June fifty 25 mm AA. Yet by 1942, Japan began to realize that it needed aircraft carriers more than battleships. Dimensions: 227.4 m long, 22 m wide, 7.8 m draft All six of Japan's first-line aircraft carriers, Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku and Zuikaku, were assigned to the mission. The 1st air fleet was created in April 1941, the gradual gathering of three carrier divisions called tkk sentai (air flotillas) and a major component of the Combined Fleet (Reng Kantai).

Prievan Zubov Priznaky, Articles J

japanese aircraft carriers sunk in ww2