IJN
Aircraft Carrier

Dimensions
217m | 23m | 6.6m

Tons
14,200 (full)

Crew
785

Armament
56 × 25mm anti-aircraft
Aircraft: aprox 30

Construction
(瑞鳳) Zuihō means “fortunate phoenix”. She was first laid down as the high-speed oiler Takasaki in 1934. Takasaki was converted in January 1940 to the aircraft carrier Zuihō. Launched December 1940. Comissioned January 1941 and assigned to Carrier Division 3 with the Hōshō

Wartime History
December, 1941: Participates in the attack on the Philippine Islands
January, 1942: Supported invasion of the Dutch East Indies
June, 1942: Battle of Midway. Lead the Support Fleet and did not engage American carriers directly. Her aircraft complement consisted of 12 Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighters and 11 Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers.

October, 1942: Assigned to First Carrier Division (with Shōkaku and Zuikaku) during the Battle of Santa Cruz. A bomber from USS Enterprise disables the Flight deck of the Zuihō.

January-February, 1943 the carrier aided in evacuation of Guadalcanal along with Carriers Junyō and Zuikaku.

During April 1943, Zuihō aircraft flew land based from Rabaul and participated in Operation I-GO.

February, 1944: Participates in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

Sinking History
On October 24, 1944 She participates in Battle of Leyte Gulf along with the Carriers Chiyoda, Chitose and Zuikaku. Carrying very few aircraft, she was sacrificed as a "decoy", to draw the American carrier fleet away from the Japanese main battleship fleet.

On October 25, 1944 during the Battle off Cape Engano, hits are scored on Zuihō's flight deck during an attack by a wave of American bombers. After repairing this damage, three more strike waves arrive and finally sink Zuihō.

Contribute Information