Light Aircraft Carrier: Zuihō Class

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, Light Fleet Carrier Zuihō pictured the day after conmmissioning, moored off Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on December 28th 1940. Originally laid down as Submarine Tender Takasaki, she was renamed and converted while under construction into an Aircraft Carrier. She was completed during the first year of World War II and played a minor role in the Battle of Midway in mid-1942. She participated in the Guadalcanal Campaign during the rest of 1942. Significantly damaged during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in that campaign, after repairs Zuihō covered the evacuation of Japanese forces from Guadalcanal in early 1943...Her aircraft were disembarked several times in mid- to late-1943 and used from land bases in a series of battles in the Southwest Pacific. Zuihō participated in the Battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf in mid-1944. In this last engagement, she mainly served as a decoy for the main striking forces and was sunk by US aircraft during the Battle off Cape Engaño, on October 25th 1944. In between battles, she served as an Aircraft Ferry and a Training Ship.

[Brian James]

Zuihō Class Light Aircraft Carrier Shōhō pictured moored at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on December 25th 1941... Originally built as the Submarine Support Ship Tsurugizaki in the late 1930s, she was converted before the Pacific War into an Aircraft Carrier and renamed. Completed in early 1942, she supported the invasion forces in Operation MO, the invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea, and was sunk by American Carrier aircraft on her first combat operation during the Battle of the Coral Sea on May 7th 1942. Shōhō was the first Japanese Aircraft Carrier to be sunk during World War II.

[Brian James]

Zuihō Class Light Aircraft Carrier Shōhō pictured moored at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on December 20th 1941.