was the second and last built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before the beginning of the Pacific War. Zuikaku was one of the most modern Japanese aircraft carriers when commissioned, and saw successful action throughout numerous battles during the Pacific War; usually operating alongside her sister ship Shōkaku.
Zuikaku started the war as part of Kidō Butai. Her aircraft struck airfields during the attack on Pearl Harbor that formally brought the United States into the war, 7 December 1941. She attacked land positions to cover the Japanese invasions of New Guinea, before she participated in the Indian Ocean raid from 5-9 April 1942 where her aircraft helped to sink the light carrier HMS Hermes and the cargo ship SS Sagaing, alongside damaging others and destroying land facilities. Zuikaku and Shōkaku were sent to support Operation Mo later that May, the invasion of Port Moresby, during which she assisted Shōkaku in sinking the aircraft carrier and helped to sink the fleet oilier USS Neosho at the Battle of the Coral Sea; however heavy airgroup losses and damage to Shōkaku resulted in both carriers missing the Battle of Midway. Zuikaku fought US aircraft carriers at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and helped to cripple the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, and again at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands where she helped to sink the aircraft carrier . Zuikaku also sank the destroyer USS Meredith and the submarine USS Grayback on separate occasions.
During the Battle of the Philippine Sea Zuikaku was damaged for the first time by dive bombers from US carriers, and finally sunk at the battle of Leyte Gulf, 25 October 1944.Zuikaku @ www.history.navy.mil
Zuikaku was one of six carriers to participate in the Pearl Harbor attack and was the last of the six to be sunk in the war (, , , and in the Battle of Midway; in the Battle of the Philippine Sea; and Zuikaku in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.)
A memorial for the fallen personnel of the Zuikaku is located at the grounds of Kashihara Shrine, located in the city of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, Japan.
Service history
Zuikaku was laid down on 25 May 1938, launched on 27 November 1939, and formally commissioned on 25 September 1941. On the day of commissioning, Zuikaku departed on her maiden voyage from Kobe to Kure. Under the command of Captain Yokokawa Ichibei, Zuikaku departed for Oita Bight on 7 October, arriving at her destination the next day where for the first time she joined her sister ship . Both ships made up the 5th Carrier Division.
Attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequent activities On 26 November 1941, she left Hitokappu Bay for the attack on Pearl Harbor as part of the Kidō Butai ("Mobile Force"). Her aircraft complement consisted of 18 Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighters, 27 Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers, and 27 Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers. On 7 December, she launched two waves of aircraft against American military installations on the island of Oahu. In the first wave, 25 Val dive bombers attacked Wheeler Army Airfield and five Zero fighters attacked the airbase at Kāneʻohe, Hawaii. In the second wave, 27 high-level Kate bombers attacked the airbase at Hickam Field. During the attack, Zuikaku lost no aircraft to enemy action, but two reconnaissance planes were forced to ditch after losing track of the carriers.On the 24th of December, Zuikaku arrived back at Kure alongside Shōkaku, , and ( and having previously departed to attack Wake Island), and she was drydocked from the 30th to January 3rd. Meeting Shōkaku on the 5th, they departed Hiroshima Bay on the 8th, arriving at Truk on the 14th. In aid of the Japanese conquest against Pacific islands, on January 20 they launched 19 dive bombers and 6 fighters to attack Rabaul, then the next day struck both Lae and Salamaua, and on the 23rd launched strikes to aid the successful landings on both Rabaul and Kavieng before returning to Truk on the 29th. Zuikaku finally took part in a failed attempt to sweep for allied aircraft carriers on February 1st before departing back to Japan, arriving at Yokosuka on the 13th, where her pilots took part in vigorous training exercises until the 28th.
Indian Ocean Raid Main Article: Indian Ocean Raid
On 17 March, Zuikaku and Shōkaku left Yokosuka and arrived at Staring Bay on the 24th where they met with Akagi, Sōryū, and Hiryū, and an escort of the battleships Kongō, Hiei, Kirishima, and Haruna, 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, and 11 destroyers in preparation for Operation C; a planned carrier raid to destroy British shipping in the Indian Ocean. The force departed Starting Bay on 3 April. The next day, they were spotted by a Catalina flying boat which was shot down by anti-aircraft fire from the destroyer Kagerō and six fighters from Zuikaku, Sōryū, and Hiryū, but not before radioing the presence of Japanese ships to Air Vice-Marshall D'Albiac whom ordered local British warships to sail out of harbor in expectation of an attack.
At 7:30 the next morning, Zuikaku lent 19 D3A "Val" dive bombers to a mass wave of attack aircraft to strike the port of Colombo, joining another 19 Vals from Shōkaku and 53 B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers from Sōryū, Hiryū and Akagi. Zuikaku also contributed 9 A6M "Zero" fighters to a squadron of 36. During the raid, 14 of Zuikaku's Vals first attacked the Colombo airfield and destroyed 9 Hurricane fighters out of a squadron of 30. Zuikaku's remaining dive bombers damaged the 8,012-ton British tanker San Cirilo. In the meantime, Shōkaku sank the armed merchant cruiser HMS Hector and damaged the depot ship HMS Lucia, while Akagi, Sōryū, and Hiryū destroyed several land facilities and sank the destroyer HMS Tenedos while she was docked for refit, then destroyed the 5,834-ton Norwegian tanker Soli. Later in the afternoon, 53 dive bombers from Akagi, Sōryū, and Hiryu sank the heavy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire.
On the 9th, Zuikaku finally came to her own when she first joined the other carriers in raiding the port of Trincomalee. Zuikaku and Shōkaku attacked the 8,000-ton British steamship Sagaing and gouged her with a pair of bomb hits that detonated ammunition stored throughout the ship, killing 5 sailors. They left Sagaing to burn out and drift into the Malay Cove where she was blasted apart by a massive explosion 15 minutes later; earning Zuikaku her first definitive sinking. They also damaged the monitor HMS Erebus with 6 bomb near misses and killed at least 9 of her crew. In turn, Zuikaku lost two Zero fighters during the raid.Shores, Cull & Izawa, Vol. II, pp. 395, 405
Sinking of HMS Hermes At 9:00 a floatplane launched from the Haruna managed to locate the light carrier and the destroyer HMAS Vampire operating 75 miles (120 km) off Trincomalee. In response, Zuikaku launched 14 Val dive bombers to join another 18 from Shokaku, and their combined air group located the enemy ships after 10:30. Their 32 combined dive bombers pulverized Hermes into a floating wreck. Just about every bomb launched hit and punched straight through the flight deck before exploding deep inside the ship. Fires subsequently reached the magazine and lifted the light carrier out of the water with a massive explosion, before a bomb directly smashed into the bridge and killed Hermes's entire command staff. Disabled and set ablaze, Hermes sank 15 minutes later with the loss of 307 men, earning Zuikaku partial credit for sinking the first aircraft carrier sunk to another aircraft carrier in history. Afterwards, dive bombers from Akagi attacked Vampire and scored several damaging near misses that broke the destroyer in half and sank her in 10 minutes with the loss of 8 men. Dive bombers from Sōryū and Hiryū never arrived in time to partake in either sinking, and they instead sank the corvette HMS Hollyhack and the tankers SS British Sergeant and SS Athelstane.
As the carriers and their escorts turned back for the Pacific Ocean on 10 April, Admiral Yamamoto decided that Zuikaku and Shōkaku should detach from the group for a planned invasion of Ports Moresby. Consequently on the 18th, Zuikaku detached from the Kido Butai escorted by the destroyers Maikaze and Hagikaze and arrived at Mako on the same day where she was resupplied. Zuikaku left Mako the next day with an escort of destroyer division 27's Shigure, Shiratsuyu, Ariake, and Yūgure where enroute the plans for Operation Mo was finalized; Zuikaku would join Shōkaku and the light carrier Shōhō in neutralizing Australian airbases - and deal with any allied aircraft carriers in the way - to cover the Japanese invasion convoy for Port Moresby. Zuikaku arrived at Truk on the 25th and remained there for the rest of the month.
Battle of the Coral Sea Main Article: Battle of the Coral Sea
On 1 May, Zuikaku Shōkaku set sail with an escort of the heavy cruisers Myōkō and Haguro and 6 destroyers as the Port Moresby strike force under the command of admiral Takagi who took Myōkō as his flagship. Sailing after them came a secondary group consisting of the light carrier Shōhō, 4 heavy cruisers, and the destroyer Sazanami to attack Tulagi. While underway, the carriers were ordered to deliver 9 A6M Zeros to Truk but these efforts were thwarted by bad weather.
However, in the morning of 7 May at around 5:22, was one of Shōkaku's scout planes located a group of American ships, and at 5:45 "confirmed" the presence of an enemy aircraft carrier and a cruiser. In response, from 6:00 to 6:20 Zuikaku and Shōkaku launched a combined 24 torpedo bombers, 36 dive bombers, and 18 fighters to attack the opposing ships. Over two hours later, the swarm of aircraft found the reported location of the enemy force, only for the reported "aircraft carrier" to turn out to be the fleet oilier USS Neosho, escorted by the destroyer USS Sims. Consequently, the Japanese torpedo bombers were ordered to turn away from the action while the dive bombers scored a pair of easy kills. Zuikaku's 17 dive bombers joined forces with 15 Shōkaku Vals in attacking the Neosho. The first bomb hit the main deck on the port side and started a fire, while the second hit the stack deck and penetrated into the bunker tank before exploding, which ignited an even larger fire. A third bomb hit the port side, then a fourth tore into the fireroom and set off a steam leak that killed her entire stoker crew. Finally three more bombs punched through the ship without exploding but still blew large holes in Neosho's fuel tanks, all the while at least 8 damaging near misses punctured holes below the waterline and spouted splinters and shrapnel that killed many sailors on deck. One Zuikaku D3A piloted by Shigeo Ishizuka was shot down by AA fire from Neosho but managed to release its bomb while ablaze and spinning out. Ishizuka then dove the plane into the fleet oilier and struck her gun no 4, starting a massive fire that turned Neosho's deck into an inferno. The attack left Neosho as a floating wreck listing at 30 degrees to starboard which drifted for the next four days before being abandoned and scuttled with the loss of 150 crew members, leaving 107 to be rescued by the destroyer USS Henley.
In the meantime, four Shōkaku D3As split from the attack on Neosho to single out the Sims, and hit the destroyer with three bombs that broke her apart and rapidly sank the destroyer with the loss of most of her crew. However, almost concurrently with the attack on Neosho and Sims, Shōho was attacked by a wave of warplanes from two actual American aircraft carriers, the USS Yorktown and USS Lexington, and was sunk to a claimed 13 bomb and 7 torpedo hits.