Japanese aircraft carrier Zuihō

Common card · No. 376301

Zuihō (瑞鳳; "Auspicious Phoenix" or "Fortunate Phoenix") was the name ship of her class of two light aircraft carriers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Originally laid down as the submarine tender Takasaki (Japanese: 高崎, "Tall Cape"), she was renamed and converted while under construction into an aircraft carrier. The ship 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...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Unknown authorUnknown author; assumed official photographer as this a high-quality photo unlikely to be taken by an amateur and the IJN severely restricted professional photography of its ships after…, Public domain