- Japanese aircraft carrier Zuihō
The nihongo|"Zuihō"|瑞鳳, "fortunate phoenix" was an
aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was first laid down as the high-speed oiler "Takasaki" in 1934. As the Japanese became aware of the importance of carrier aviation the "Takasaki" was converted in January 1940 to the aircraft carrier "Zuihō"."Zuihō" was the sister ship of the "Shōhō". Her aircraft complement consisted of 16
Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighters and 14Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers. "Zuihō" was sunk by American bombers during theBattle of Leyte Gulf .History
*January, 1941: Commissioned into the Japanese fleet and assigned to Carrier Division 3 with the "Hōshō"
*December, 1941: Participates in the attack on the Philippine Islands
*January, 1942: Supported invasion of the Dutch East Indies
*June, 1942:Battle of Midway . Led the Support Fleet and did not engage American carriers directly. Her aircraft complement consisted of 16Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighters and 14Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers. [ [http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq81-6.htm Naval Historical Center: Battle of Midway: 4-7 June 1942: Composition of Japanese Naval Forces] ]
*October, 1942: Assigned to First Carrier Division (with "Shōkaku" and "Zuikaku") during theBattle of Santa Cruz . A bomber from the "Enterprise" disables the Flight deck of the "Zuihō".
*January-February, 1943: Aids in evacuation ofGuadalcanal along with Carriers "Junyō" and "Zuikaku"
*February, 1944: Participates in theBattle of the Philippine Sea .
*24 October 1944 : Participates inBattle of Leyte Gulf along with the Carriers "Chiyoda", "Chitose" and "Zuikaku". During the Battle offCape 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 arrived to finally sink "Zuihō". Carrying very few aircraft, she was sacrificed as a "decoy", to draw the American carrier fleet away from the Japanese main battleship fleet.Commanding Officers
As Submarine Tender
* Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Miki Otsuka - 7 October 1936 - 1 December 1936
* Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Gonichiro Kakimoto - 1 December 1936 - 15 June 1937
* unknown - 15 June 1937 - 15 December 1938
* Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Ryuji Nakazato - 15 December 1938 - unknown
* unknown - unknown - 24 April 1940
* Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Matsuro Eguchi - 24 April 1940 - 15 October 1940As CVL
* Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Tameki Nomoto - 15 October 1940 - 27 December 1940
* Capt. Tameki Nomoto - 27 December 1940 - 20 September 1941
* Capt. Sueo Obayashi - 20 September 1941 - 5 December 1942
* Capt. Bunjiro Yamaguchi - 5 December 1942 - 5 July 1943
* Capt. Katsuji Hattori - 5 July 1943 - 15 February 1944
* Capt. Kuro Sugiura - 15 February 1944 - 25 October 1944References
External links
* [http://www.voodoo.cz/ww2car/ships/japan/shoho_zuiho.html "Zuihō" statistics]
* [http://www.geocities.com/jwarship/Zuiho.html "Zuihō" history]
* [http://www.combinedfleet.com/Zuiho.htm "Zuihō" TROM from Combindedfleet.com]
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