Construction
Ryūjō (Japanese: 龍驤, "prancing dragon") Laid down by Mitsubishi at Yokohama in November 26, 1929, launched in April 2, 1931 and commissioned in 1933.

Wartime History
In the 1930s she was extensively modified to improve her stability in rough seas, and in 1940 her low forecastle was built up one deck.

In August–December 1937, Ryūjō supported land operations of the Japanese Army in China, as flagship of Carrier Division 1. Her aircraft complement consisted of 12 Nakajima A4N fighters and 15 Aichi D1A dive bombers.

Captain Kato Tadao and was the flagship of Carrier Division 4. The presence of large fleet carriers meant that she was initially assigned to secondary tasks.

Philippines Operations
In December 1941 she supported the invasion of the Philippines, providing air cover for the landings at Davao on 20 December at Jolo on 25 December.

In January 1942 she supported the conquest of Malaya and in February 1942 she attacked American-British-Dutch-Australian forces around Java. On 1 March 1942 she took part in the Battle of the Java Sea, Her aircraft attacked USS Pope DD-225. In March she operated against the Andaman Islands and the coast of Burma.

In early April, as part of the Indian Ocean raid she attacked shipping in the Bay of Bengal. Together with the cruisers Chōkai, Kumano, Suzuya, Mogami, Mikuma, Yura, and four destroyers, she sank 23 merchant ships. On 6 April she launched air strikes against Cocanada and Vizagapatam in India.

Alaska Operations
In June 1942 Ryūjō was part of the Northern Force that attacked the Aleutian Islands. Ryūjō's planes struck Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island on 3 June and 4 June 1942. During this operation, A6M2 Zero 4593 piloted by Koga, crash landed on Akutan. The pilot was killed in the crash, but the aircraft was largely intact. This was the first Zero to fall into the hands of U.S. military intelligence.

After the losses in the Battle of Midway made Ryūjō much more important to the Japanese Navy. In August 1942 she was reassigned to Carrier Division 2, and with Shōkaku and Zuikaku she was dispatched to the Solomon Islands. Ryūjō's role in the operation was to support a convoy of transports that were to reinforce and resupply Japanese troops on Guadalcanal, and to attack the Allied air base at Henderson Field, while the fleet carriers operated against the U.S. Navy's aircraft carriers. This operation resulted in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons.

Sinking History
On August 24, 1942, Ryūjō, escorted by the cruiser Tone and the destroyers Amatsukaze and Tokitsukaze, launched two strikes on Guadalcanal from a position 100 miles north of Tulagi.

At 13:57 she was attacked by dive bombers and torpedo bombers from the USS Saratoga, and was hit by several bombs and one torpedo. The torpedo hit flooded the starboard engine room and Ryūjō began to list. At 15:15 the order to abandon ship was given. At 18:00 she capsized and sank. One hundred twenty of the crew were killed. The survivors, including Captain Kato, were taken off by her escorts.

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