Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (March 2022) |
Zuikaku at Kobe on 25 September 1941 after commissioning
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History | |
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Empire of Japan | |
Name | Zuikaku |
Builder | Kawasaki Shipyards |
Laid down | 25 May 1938 |
Launched | 27 November 1939 |
Commissioned | 25 September 1941 |
Stricken | 26 August 1945 |
Fate | Sunk by air attack in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, 25 October 1944 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | Shōkaku-class aircraft carrier |
Displacement | 29,800 normal tons, 32,000 tons full load |
Length | 257.5 m (844 ft 10 in) |
Beam | 26 m (85 ft 4 in) |
Draft | 8.9 m (29 ft 2 in) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 34.5 knots (63.9 km/h) |
Range | 7,581 mi (6,588 nmi) at 18 kn (21 mph; 33 km/h) Fuel: 4100 tons |
Complement | 1,660 |
Armament |
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Aircraft carried |
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Zuikaku (Japanese: 瑞鶴 "Auspicious Crane") was the second and last Shōkaku-class aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before the beginning of the Pacific War. Zuikaku was one of the most capable Japanese aircraft carriers of the entire war.
Her aircraft took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor that formally brought the United States into the war, destroying numerous land positions, and saw heavy and successful action throughout numerous battles during the Pacific War, starting with numerous assaults on allied land positions, and her participation in the Indian Ocean raid, where her dive bombers sank or helped to sink numerous major British warships. Zuikaku's torpedo bombers inflicted the fatal damage to the aircraft carrier USS Lexington at the battle of the Coral Sea, before she fought US carriers at the battle of the Eastern Solomans, and helped to sink the aircraft carrier USS Hornet at the battle of Santa Cruz. She was damaged by carrier attacks during the battle of the Philippine Sea, before being sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.[2]
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 Zuikaku in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.)Service history
In 1941, Zuikaku, under the command of Captain Yokokawa Ichibei, and her
Zuikaku's aircraft also attacked the
Battle of the Coral Sea
In May 1942, she was assigned along with Shōkaku to support Operation Mo, the invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea. On the 7th, a large US naval force was located by spotters from the heavy cruisers Furutaka and Kinugasa, prompting both ships to launch their planes, fearing US carriers in the area. However, once attacked, it was discovered to only be a US convoy. Not wanting their efforts to go to waste, planes from both Zuikaku and Shōkaku combined to sink the destroyer Sims and the oil tanker Neosho.[3][4]: 189–190
Alerted by intercepted and decrypted Japanese naval messages, the Americans dispatched the carriers USS Yorktown and Lexington to stop the operation. On the same day as the carrier's initial attack, the US planes located the light carrier Shoho, where Lexington's aircraft crippled Shoho, before Yorktown's aircraft finished her off. Both Zuikaku and Shōkaku sent out plane squadrons to scout for the US carriers, but failed to make contact on the 7th.[4]: 198–206
On the 8th, a spotter plane from Lexington located both Zuikaku and Shōkaku and both carriers attacked with their air groups. Hidden by a rain squall, Zuikaku escaped detection, but Shōkaku was hit three times by bombs and was unable to launch or recover her aircraft. In return, Zuikaku's planes located the American carriers, and proceeded to wreak havoc on both ships. First, Zuikaku's torpedo bombers, commanded by Shigekazu Shimazaki caught Lexington in a pincer attack, hitting the flat top with two torpedoes, cutting her speed to 24 knots and punching through the gasoline storage tanks, leaking gas fumes throughout the ship. Her dive bombers, commanded by Tamotsu Ema then attacked and crippled Yorktown with a bomb hit that caused severe damage to her hanger bay and aviation storage rooms and over a dozen near misses. Shōkaku's dive bombers then hit Lexington with three bombs to her flight deck, starting a large fire.[5][6][4]: 198–206
Damage control efforts quickly persisted on Lexington, putting out the fires from Shōkaku's bomb hits. However, gas fumes from Zuikaku's torpedo hits leaked throughout the ship. When the fumes reached electric motors, a chain reaction of explosion after explosion riddled Lexington with fatal damage. Lexington began to sink, as her crew was evacuated and to make sure she hit the ocean floor and wasn't captured by Japanese forces, Lexington was scuttled by escorting destroyers.[6]
Zuikaku was undamaged in the battle, but sustained severe losses in aircraft and aircrew. This required her to return to Japan with her sister ship for resupply and aircrew training, and neither carrier was able to take part in the Battle of Midway in June 1942, where every carrier that participated in the Pearl Harbor attack besides the two Shōkaku class ships was sunk by American carrier-based aircraft.
Battle for Guadalcanal
In August 1942, commanded by Captain Tameteru Notomo, Zuikaku was dispatched as part of the
On 26 October 1942, in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, her aircraft again damaged the repaired Enterprise, and crippled USS Hornet (Hornet was abandoned after a failed scuttling attempt and later sunk by Japanese destroyers). However, Shōkaku and Zuihō were both severely damaged by American air attacks, and Zuikaku had to recover their surviving aircraft in addition to her own. Of the 110 aircraft launched by the three Japanese carriers, only 67 returned to Zuikaku. She then returned to the home islands via Truk for training and aircraft ferrying duties.
In February 1943, she covered the evacuation of Japanese ground forces from
Battle of the Philippine Sea
In 1944 she was based at Singapore. In June she was assigned to Operation A-Go, an attempt to repulse the Allied invasion of the Mariana Islands. On 19 June, in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Taihō and Shōkaku were both sunk by American submarines, leaving Zuikaku, the only survivor of Carrier Division One, to recover the Division's few remaining aircraft. On 20 June, a bomb hit started a fire in the hangar, but Zuikaku's experienced damage control teams managed to get it under control, and she was able to escape under her own power. After this battle, Zuikaku was the only survivor of the six fleet carriers that had launched the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Battle off Cape Engaño
In October 1944, she was the flagship of Admiral
The next day, during the
Gallery
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Sailors winching up the anchor on the quarter-deck of Zuikaku, 26 November 1941.
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A Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" taking off from Zuikaku to attack Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941.
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Zuikaku during theBattle off Cape Engaño, 25 October 1944.
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The crew of the sinking Zuikaku salute as the flag is lowered on 25 October 1944.
Notes
- ^ Bōeichō Bōei Kenshūjo (1967), Senshi Sōsho Hawai Sakusen. Tokyo: Asagumo Shimbunsha, p. 344
- ^ a b Zuikaku @ Archived 18 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine www.history.navy.mil
- ^ "Neosho II (AO-23)". public1.nhhcaws.local. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ ISBN 978-1591144199.
- ISBN 978-1846032486.
- ^ a b "Lexington (CV-2)". public2.nhhcaws.local. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
Bibliography
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- Brown, J. D. (2009). Carrier Operations in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-108-2.
- Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
- Chesneau, Roger (1995). Aircraft Carriers of the World, 1914 to the Present: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (New, Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-902-2.
- Dickson, W. David (1977). "Fighting Flat-tops: The Shokakus". Warship International. XIV (1). International Naval Research Organization: 15–46.
- Gill, G. Hermon (1968). Volume II – Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945. Australia in the War of 1939–1945, Series 2: Navy. Canberra: Australian War Memorial.
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- ISBN 1-55750-432-6.
- Polmar, Norman & ISBN 1-57488-663-0.
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- Shores, Christopher; Cull, Brian & Izawa, Yasuho (1993). Bloody Shambles. Vol. II: The Defence of Sumatra to the Fall of Burma. London: Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-67-4.
- Stille, Mark (2009). The Coral Sea 1942: The First Carrier Battle. Campaign. Vol. 214. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-106-1.
- Stille, Mark (2011). Tora! Tora! Tora:! Pearl Harbor 1941. Raid. Vol. 26. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-509-0.
- Stille, Mark (2007). USN Carriers vs IJN Carriers: The Pacific 1942. Duel. Vol. 6. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-248-6.
- Tully, Anthony P. (September 2010). "IJN Zuikaku: Tabular Record of Movement". Kido Butai. Combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
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External links