Career
Ordered:
Laid down:	December 12, 1937
Launched:	June 1, 1939
Commissioned:	August 8, 1941
Fate:	Sunk by US submarine Cavalla on 19 June 1944
Struck:
General Characteristics
Displacement:	25,675 tons (standard), 32,105 (fully loaded)
Length:	257.5 m
Beam:	26 m
Draught:	8.8 m
Propulsion:	Kanpon geared turbines, 4 screws, 160,000 hp (119 MW)
Speed:	34.2 knots (63.3 km/h)
Range:	9,700 nautical miles at 18 knots (18000 km at 33 km/h)
Complement:	1,660
Armament:	Sixteen 5 inch (100 mm) guns Up to 96 25 mm guns
Aircraft:	84

Shokaku (Japanese: 翔鶴 shōkaku meaning "flying crane") was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the lead ship of her class. Along with her sister ship Zuikaku, she is most famous for taking part in many key engagements of the World War II Pacific Theatre, including the battles of Pearl Harbor and the Coral Sea. Photo of Japanse aircraft carrier Shokaku from Naval Historical Center. ... Japanese naval ensign adapted from Flags of the World. ... December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... USS Cavalla (SS/SSK/AGSS-244), a Gato-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the cavalla, a salt water fish of the pompano family inhabiting waters off the eastern coast of the Americas from Cape Cod to Rio de la Plata. ... June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 195 days remaining. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... An aircraft carrier is a warship whose main role is to deploy and recover aircraft—in effect acting as a sea-going airbase. ... Ensign of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ... The lead ship is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. ... Zuikaku (Japanese: 瑞鶴, meaning fortunate crane) was a Shokaku-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ... Attack on Pearl Harbor Conflict World War II, Pacific War Date December 7, 1941 Place Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Result Japanese victory On the morning of December 7, 1941, planes and midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy commanded by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, carried out a surprise assault on the... The Battle of the Coral Sea, in early May 1942, was one of the major turning points of the Pacific War. ...

Shokaku was laid down at Yokosuka Dockyard on December 12, 1937, launched on June 1, 1939, and commissioned on August 8, 1941. The Shokaku class were part of the same program that also included Yamato-class battleships. With an efficient modern design, a displacement of about 30,000 tons, and a top speed of 34 knots (63 km/h), Shokaku could carry 70 to 80 aircraft, more than any other aircraft carrier in the world in performance and capability, until the wartime development of the American Essex-class aircraft carrier. Her enhanced protection compared to contemporary Allied aircraft carriers enabled Shokaku to survive serious battle damage during Coral Sea and Santa Cruz, although she met her end from submarine torpedoes. Categories: Cities in Kanagawa Prefecture | Japan geography stubs ... December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Categories: Stub | Ship classes ... The United States Navys ten aircraft carriers of the Essex class, with the thirteen directly-related Ticonderoga-class carriers (often these are classified as Essex class vessels and their development was intertwined with the Essex class) and the Oriskany (CV-34), a highly modified sister-ship that was the...

She and her sister ship Zuikaku, forming the Japanese 5th Carrier Division, acquired their aircraft shortly before the Pearl Harbor attack and were ready just in time for it. Zuikaku (Japanese: 瑞鶴, meaning fortunate crane) was a Shokaku-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ...

With Zuikaku, Shokaku joined the Kido Butai (Pearl Harbor attack force) and participated in Japan's series of early wartime naval offensives, including an attack on Rabaul in January 1942, and the Battle of the Coral Sea in May. The Battle of Rabaul, around the main town of Rabaul on the island of New Britain, in early February 1942, represented a strategically-significant defeat of Allied forces by Japan, in the Pacific campaign of World War II. Following the capture of Rabaul, Japanese forces turned it into a major... The Battle of the Coral Sea, in early May 1942, was one of the major turning points of the Pacific War. ...

In the Indian Ocean raid of March 1942, she joined the aircraft carriers Akagi, Zuikaku, Soryu, and Hiryu in raiding Colombo. There Admiral Chuichi Nagumo succeeded in extensively damaging support facilities. Indian Ocean raid Conflict World War II Date 31 March 1942 – 10 April 1942 Place Indian Ocean and Ceylon Result Japanese victory The Indian Ocean raid was a naval sortie by the Fast Carrier Strike Force of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 31 March to 10 April 1942 against Allied... Akagi (Japanese: 赤城, meaning red castle, a volcano in the Kanto region of Japan) was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ... Soryu (Japanese: 蒼龍 sōryū, meaning blue (or green) dragon) was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ... Hiryu (Japanese: 飛龍, meaning flying dragon) was a Soryu-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ... Towers of downtown Colombo Colombo (derived from Sinhalese name Kola-amba-thota which means harbour with mango trees, altered by the Portuguese to honour Christopher Columbus), population 737,396 (Colombo metropolitan area: 2,234,289) (2001), is the largest city and commercial capital of Sri Lanka. ... Chuichi Nagumo Chuichi Nagumo (南雲 忠一, Nagumo ChÅ«ichi March 25, 1887 - July 6, 1944) was an admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ...

That task completed, the task force found and sank the British carrier Hermes, and two cruisers (Cornwall and Dorsetshire), prior to moving on to the Coral Sea. Here she helped to sink USS Lexington, but was herself severely damaged by USS Yorktown's aircraft in return. HMS Hermes (95) was the first purpose built aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy, and the second in the world after the Imperial Japanese Navys Hosho. ... HMS Cornwall (56) was a 9,750-ton County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy. ... HMS Dorsetshire (pennant number 40) was a heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy, named after the English county (now called Dorset). ... The fourth USS Lexington (CV-2), nicknamed the Gray Lady or Lady Lex, was the second aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. ... // Early Career The third USS Yorktown (CV-5) was lead ship of the Yorktown class aircraft carrier of World War II, sunk at the Battle of Midway. ...

After repairs, Shokaku took part in two further 1942 battles, both in concert with her sister: the battle of the Eastern Solomons, where they damaged USS Enterprise, and the battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, where they sank USS Hornet but Shokaku was once again seriously damaged by dive bombers. Battle of the Eastern Solomons Conflict World War II, Pacific War Date August 24, 1942 – August 25, 1942 Place North of Santa Isabel, United States Japan Commanders William Halsey, Jr. ... USS Enterprise (CV-6) was the sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy and the seventh US Navy ship of that name. ... Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands Conflict World War II, Pacific War Date October 25, 1942 – October 27, 1942 Place Santa Cruz Islands, United States Japan Commanders William Halsey, Jr. ... The seventh USS Hornet (CV-8) of the United States Navy was an aircraft carrier of World War II, notable for launching the Doolittle Raid, as a participant in the Battle of Midway, and for action in the Solomons before being mortally wounded in the Battle of the Santa Cruz...

In 1943 under the command of Captain Matsubara Hiroshi she resumed her role as one of the Japanese Navy's most important fleet carriers. She was assigned to a counter-attack against the Aleutian Islands, but the operation was cancelled after the Allied victory at Attu. For the remainder of 1943 she was based at Truk. From U.S. Naval Historical Center Public Domain Photographs [1] Japanese naval aircraft prepare to take off from an aircraft carrier (reportedly Shokaku) to attack Pearl Harbor during the morning of 7 December 1941. ... Looking down the Aleutians from an airplane. ... The Battle of the Aleutian Islands was a struggle over the Aleutian Islands, part of Alaska, in the Pacific campaign of World War II. A small Japanese force occupied the islands of Attu and Kiska but the remoteness of the islands and the difficulties of weather and terrain meant that... A view of Chuuk Chuuk is an island group that comprises one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), along with Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. ...

In 1944 she was based at Lingga near Singapore. On 15 June 1944 she departed with the Mobile Fleet for Operation A-Go, a counterattack against allied forces in the Mariana Islands. During the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19 June 1944 she was hit at 11:23 by three (possibly four) torpedoes from the U.S. submarine Cavalla (Commander Herman J. Kossler). As Shokaku had been in the process of refueling aircraft and was in an extremely vulnerable position, the torpedoes started fires that proved impossible to control. At 14:08 an aerial bomb exploded, detonating aviation fuel. Shokaku sank quickly, killing 1,272 men. The cruisers Yahagi, Urakaze, Wakatsuki, and Hatsuzuki rescued Captain Matsubara and 570 men. June 15 is the 166th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (167th in leap years), with 199 days remaining. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Mariana Islands (sometimes called The Marianas; up to the early 20th century sometimes called the Islas de los Ladrones or Islands of Thieves) are a group of islands made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the Pacific Ocean. ... The Battle of the Philippine Sea was an air-sea battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II fought between the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy on June 19 and June 20, 1944, off the Mariana Islands. ... June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 195 days remaining. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... USS Cavalla (SS/SSK/AGSS-244), a Gato-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the cavalla, a salt water fish of the pompano family inhabiting waters off the eastern coast of the Americas from Cape Cod to Rio de la Plata. ... The Yahagi light cruiser was a Japanese cruiser sunk in Operation “Ten-Go”. After the giant battleship battleship Yamato came under attack by American planes in the northern Pacific Ocean near Okinawa, commander Seiichi Ito commanded the Yahagi to cover the Yamoto. ...

External links

• US Navy photos of Shokaku
• Tabular record of movement from combinedfleet.com
• Anthony Tully, Jon Parshall and Richard Wolff, The Sinking of Shokaku -- An Analysis