Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku

Zuikaku at Kobe on 25 September 1941 after commissioning
History
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	29 m (85 ft 4 in)
Draft	8.9 m (29 ft 2 in)
Propulsion	Kampon geared turbines, 8 boilers, 160,000 hp (119 MW), 4 shafts
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	16 × 5 in (127 mm) Type 89 guns 36 × 25 mm Type 96 anti-aircraft guns
Aircraft carried	72 (+12 spares) 7 December 1941: 18 × Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zero" 27 × Aichi D3A1 "Val" 27 × Nakajima B5N2 "Kate"

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.

Throughout her career, Zuikaku sank or helped to sink at least eleven ships, including the fleet carriers Lexington and Hornet, the light carriers HMS Hermes and USS Princeton, the cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire, the destroyers USS Sims, USS Meredith, and HMS Tenedos, the oil tanker USS Neosho, and the cargo ship SS Sagaing.

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 (Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, and Sōryū in the Battle of Midway; Shōkaku in the Battle of the Philippine Sea; and Zuikaku in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.)

Service history

Zuikaku in November 1941.

Zuikaku was laid down on the 25th of May 1938, launched on the 27th of November 1939, and formally commissioned on the 25th of 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 October 7th, arriving at her destination the next day where for the first time she joined her sister ship Shōkaku. Both ships made up Carrier Division 5.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

On 26 November 1941, she left Hitokappu Bay for the attack on Pearl Harbor as part of the Kido Butai ("Mobile Force"). Her aircraft complement consisted of 18 Mitsubishi A6M fighters, 27 Aichi D3A dive bombers, and 27 Nakajima B5N 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 Kaneohe. In the second wave, 27 high-level Kate bombers attacked the airbase at Hickam Field.

Indian Ocean Raid

Zuikaku and the aircraft carrier Kaga preparing to attack Pearl Harbor, December 7th 1941

Zuikaku during Indian Ocean raid.

Zuikaku would play a key role in the Indian Ocean Raid throughout April, where the Kido Butai (excluding Kaga who scraped her hull on a reef) attacked various British warships and positions in a multiple day raid. On the 5th, Zuikaku's air group attacked Columbo in an event since named the Easter Sunday Raid. Her torpedo bombers sank the destroyer HMS Tenedos, while her dive bombers damaged the tanker San Cirilo. Later that night, alongside Shōkaku, her aircraft engaged and sank the heavy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire. On the 9th, Zuikaku and Shōkaku raided Trincomalee, where they destroyed the cargo ship SS Sagaing and damaged the monitor HMS Erebus.

Sinking of HMS Hermes

Later that night, a Japanese floatplane launched from the battleship Haruna managed to locate the light carrier HMS Hermes, and Zuikaku's air group was the first to respond, quickly followed by Shōkaku. Bombers from the pair hit Hermes almost 40 times, smashing the carrier into a burning hulk. The pair were then joined by planes from the fellow aircraft carrier Akagi, who on her own sank the destroyer HMAS Vampire. The floating wreck of Hermes rapidly sank, having only managed to shoot down six attacking planes.

Zuikaku, alongside Shōkaku, was the first aircraft carrier in history to sink an enemy aircraft carrier in combat.

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.

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.

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.

Zuikaku launching a Val dive bomber during the battle of the Coral Sea, May 8th 1942.

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.

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. Both ships returned to Kure, Shōkaku still operating under her own power despite immense damage. On the 21st, Zuikaku was targeted by the submarine USS Pollack, but was not damaged. She spent the rest of June and July transiting to various ports and naval facilities.

Battle of the Eastern Solomons

In August 1942, commanded by Captain Tameteru Notomo, Zuikaku was dispatched as part of the First Carrier Division along with the repaired Shōkaku and their escorts to oppose the American offensive in the Solomon Islands. Their goal was to sink US shipping operating in the Solomons to aid in recapturing Henderson Field, an ex-Japanese air base which was captured by American forces and being used against Japanese shipping to great effect.

On the 24th, a floatplane launched from the heavy cruiser Chikuma spotted a large American task force, consisting of the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise and USS Saratoga, and their escorts, battleship USS North Carolina, four cruisers, and eleven destroyers. Subsequently, both Zuikaku and Shōkaku launched 37 aircraft and attacked the US ships. Due to the haste of Japanese pilots, almost all attacks were focused on Enterprise to heavy results. The effectiveness of US anti aircraft, particularly of North Carolina's part, shot down many attacking aircraft, but in the end, both carriers crippled Enterprise with three bomb hits. They nearly sank her, with a squadron of seven dive bombers, three from Shōkaku and four from Zuikaku, nearly delivering the final blow when North Carolina shot down every single attacking plane.

Neither Zuikaku or Shōkaku were damaged during the battle, although Shōkaku barely avoided being bombed by Enterprise. However, together they lost 25 aircraft out of 37 launched, and planes from Saratoga sank the light carrier Ryūjō, while planes from Henderson Field sank the destroyer Mutsuki and the troopship Kinryu Maru. The battle is considered a US victory as Zuikaku and the other Japanese ships retreated without sinking a single American vessel.

Battle of Santa Cruz

While the US still maintained air superiority through Henderson field, their carrier force was greatly diminished. After her big action, Saratoga was crippled by a torpedo fired from the submarine I-26, putting her out of action, while in September the aircraft carrier USS Wasp was sunk to three torpedo hits fired by the submarine I-19. These actions left USS Hornet as the only American fleet carrier operating in the Pacific, shortly joined by the repaired Enterprise. Taking advantage of this, Zuikaku and the repaired Shōkaku were sent out to attack the remaining US carriers in a decisive battle, now joined by the aircraft carrier Junyō and the light carrier Zuihō and their escorts.

The force set out on October 11th. On the 15th, a Japanese patrol plane spotted the destroyer USS Meredith towing a barge that carried fuel and bombs for US forces at Guadalcanal. Zuikaku's air group quickly responded, and in a ten minute battle hit Meredith with three torpedoes and a number of bombs, causing the destroyer to roll over and sink. The force continued on, and on the 26th was spotted by a Catalina seaplane, shortly followed by the attacks of both Hornet and Enterprise, just as the Japanese wanted. Dive bombers from Enterprise crippled Zuihō, while dive bombers from Hornet crippled both Shōkaku and damaged the heavy cruiser Chikuma.

In return, the Japanese planes wreaked havoc on American shipping. Fighters from Zuihō shot down an American torpedo bomber, which in a bamboozling series of events launched its torpedo as it crashed in a friendly fire incident that sank the destroyer USS Porter, while Junyō damaged the battleship USS South Dakota and the light cruiser USS San Juan with bomb hits. Zuikaku focused her attacks on Hornet, and hit her with three bombs. Two of her bombers that were shot down proceeded to crash into Hornet, one of which still had its bomb equipped which exploded on impact. Meanwhile, planes from Shōkaku hit Hornet with two torpedoes. The damage from both ships left Hornet dead in the water and heavily listing.

Under tow from the heavy cruiser USS Northampton, damage control efforts attempted to correct the list on the crippled, but not sunk Hornet in an attempt to save the ship. However, further air attacks persisted. A flight of nine torpedo bombers from both Shōkaku and Junyō attacked the flat top, and while Junyō's planes missed, Shōkaku hit Hornet with a fatal torpedo which caused the US to abandon all efforts to save Hornet.

Zuikaku hit Hornet with another bomb, and crippled Enterprise with two bomb hits. Enterprise was forced to evacuate the battle while US destroyers attempted to scuttle Hornet (though due to the quality of US torpedoes, all either missed or failed to explode). Hornet slowly sank, and was listing at a 45 degree angle when she was discovered by the destroyers Akigumo and Makigumo. They fired their torpedoes, claiming three hits. Because of this, they are sometimes credited with sinking Hornet, but she was already sinking to damage from the previous air attacks, and would have sunk regardless of any further damage, meaning it's debatable whether they deserve credit for Hornet's sinking as opposed to the carrier's loss being pinned solely on the Shōkaku twins.

Of the 110 aircraft launched by the Japanese carriers, only 67 returned to Zuikaku. She then returned to the home islands via Truk for training and aircraft ferrying duties.

Zuikaku launching a Kate torpedo bomber in September of 1944.

In February 1943, she covered the evacuation of Japanese ground forces from Guadalcanal. In May, she was assigned to a mission to counterattack the American offensive in the Aleutian Islands, but this operation was cancelled after the Allied victory on Attu on 29 May 1943. Later in 1943, under the command of Captain Kikuchi Tomozo, she was again based at Truk and operated against U.S. forces in the Marshall Islands.

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

Zuikaku and destroyer Wakatsuki underway during U.S. carrier plane attacks. The carrier Zuiho is in the background.

In October 1944, she was the flagship of Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's decoy Northern Force in Operation Shō-Gō 1, the Japanese counterattack to the Allied landings on Leyte. On 24 October, as part of the depleted (just 108 aircraft across four carriers) Third Carrier Division, she launched aircraft along with the light carriers Zuihō, Chitose, and Chiyoda in an ineffective strike against the U.S. Third Fleet. Several of these aircraft were shot down, and the majority of the surviving aircraft did not return to the carriers, instead landing at Japanese land bases on Luzon. However, some of her aircraft made kamikaze attacks and helped sink the light carrier USS Princeton; and most of the others were sent to other surviving carriers and air bases, to later sink the escort carrier USS St. Lo during the Battle off Samar after again using the new kamikaze tactics.

The next day, during the Battle off Cape Engaño, she launched her few remaining aircraft for combat air patrol, search, or to join the aircraft already on Luzon. She then came under heavy air attack and was hit by seven torpedoes and nine bombs. With Zuikaku listing heavily to port, Ozawa shifted his flag to the light cruiser Ōyodo. The order to abandon ship was issued at 13:58 and the naval ensign was lowered. Zuikaku rolled over and sank stern-first at 14:14, taking the lives of Rear Admiral (promoted from captain 10 days earlier) Kaizuka Takeo and 842 of the ship's crew; 862 officers and men were rescued by the destroyers Wakatsuki and Kuwa. Before her loss, Zuikaku was the last surviving Japanese carrier to have attacked Pearl Harbor. She was also the only Japanese fleet carrier (as opposed to a light carrier) to have been sunk by aircraft-launched torpedoes, as all others were sunk by dive bombers or submarine-launched torpedoes.

Gallery

• 
  Sailors winching up the anchor on the quarterdeck of Zuikaku, 26 November 1941.
• 
  A Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" taking off from Zuikaku to attack Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941.
• 
  Zuikaku during the Battle off Cape Engaño, 25 October 1944.
• 
  The crew of the sinking Zuikaku salute as the flag is lowered on 25 October 1944.

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External links

• Tabular record of movement from combinedfleet.com