Japanese aircraft carrier Shōhō
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 Shōhō is torpedoed by U.S. Navy aircraft in the battle of the Coral Sea, on 7 May 1942. |
|
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 3 December 1934 |
| Launched: | 1 June 1935 |
| Commissioned: | 30 November 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk by air attack on 7 May 1942 |
| Struck: | 20 May 1942 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 14,200 tons (full); 11,262 tons (standard) |
| Length: | 674 ft 3 in (205.51 m) |
| Beam: | 59 ft 9 in (18.21 m) |
| Draught: | 21 ft 7 in (6.58 m) |
| Propulsion: | Geared turbines, 52,000 hp (38.8 MW), 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 28.2 knots (52.2 km/h) |
| Range: | 7,800 nmi. at 12 knots (14,400 km at 22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 785 |
| Armament: | Eight 5 inch (100 mm) guns Eight 25 mm guns Twelve 13.2 mm guns Eight 28-barrel rocket launchers (from 1943) |
| Aircraft: | 30 |
Shōhō (Japanese: 祥鳳 shōhō, meaning "auspicious phoenix") was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the lead ship of her class. She and her sister ship Zuihō were laid down in 1934 with a flexible design that could be completed as an oil tanker, submarine tender, or aircraft carrier as needed. Shōhō was launched in 1935 as the submarine tender Takasaki. She began to be converted to an aircraft carrier in 1940 and she was renamed Shōhō on 26 January 1942.
In World War II, she joined Carrier Division 4 under the command of Captain Izawa Ishinosuke on 30 November 1941.
In April 1942 she was assigned to Operation MO, the invasion of Port Moresby in New Guinea, sailing with the cruisers Aoba, Kinugasa, Furutaka, and Kako of Cruiser Division 6 under the command of Rear Admiral Goto Aritomo.
After covering the landings on Tulagi on 3 May 1942 she entered the Coral Sea. In the battle of the Coral Sea on 7 May 1942 she was attacked at 07:55 by fifty-three scout-bombers, twenty-two torpedo planes and eighteen fighters from USS Lexington and USS Yorktown. Hit by seven torpedoes and thirteen bombs, she foundered quickly, sinking at 08:35 with the loss of 631 men. Captain Izawa and 202 men were rescued by the destroyer Sazanami.
Shōhō was the first Japanese aircraft carrier to be sunk in the Pacific War.
