Zuiho
| Country | Japan |
| Ship Class | Zuiho-class Light Carrier |
| Builder | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal |
| Laid Down | 20 Jun 1935 |
| Launched | 19 Jun 1936 |
| Commissioned | 27 Dec 1940 |
| Sunk | 25 Oct 1944 |
| Displacement | 11,443 tons standard; 13,950 tons full |
| Length | 674 feet |
| Beam | 60 feet |
| Draft | 21 feet |
| Machinery | 4 water-tube boilers, 2 geared steam turbines, 2 shafts |
| Power Output | 52,000 shaft horsepower |
| Speed | 28 knots |
| Range | 7,800nm at 18 knots |
| Crew | 785 |
| Armament | 8x100mm (pre-1934), 4x100mm (post-1934), 56,x25mm anti-aircraft |
| Aircraft | 30 operational, 0 in reserve |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseWhen Zuiho and her sister ship Shoho were laid down, they were of a flexible design that could eventually be completed as a light carrier, an oil tanker, or a submarine tender. She was originally launched in 1934 as the oil tanker Takasaki, but was converted to a light carrier in 1941. She was assigned to Carrier Division 3 in Jan 1941 and participated in the Japanese southward expansion in the opening chapters of the Pacific War at the end of that year. In Jun 1942, she carried 12 Zero fighters and 11 D3A dive bombers and sailed with the support fleet during the Midway operation, but did not engage in combat. In Oct 1942, with Carrier Division 1, she participated in the Battle of Santa Cruz and suffered serious flight deck damage by carrier Enterprise's aircraft. In early 1943, she supported the evacuation of Guadalcanal. In Feb 1944, she participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. In Oct 1944, during the Battle off Cape Engaño as a part of Jisaburo Ozawa's decoy fleet, the first wave of American attacks damaged her flight deck, but damage control crew quickly repaired the ship to working condition. However, she was eventually sunk by subsequent waves of American attacks in the same battle.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.
Last Major Revision: Mar 2007
Light Carrier Zuiho Interactive Map
Photographs
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Zuiho Operational Timeline
| 27 Dec 1940 | Zuiho was commissioned into service. |
| 26 Oct 1942 | At the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, US forces achieved victory but saw USS Enterprise, USS South Dakota, and USS San Juan damaged. Aircraft carrier USS Hornet (Yorktown-class) was badly damaged from aerial bombs and torpedoes and then finally hit by three Type 93 torpedoes launched from Japanese destroyers Akigumo and Makigumo which caused her to sink 30 minutes later. On the Japanese side, carriers Shokaku and Zuiho were damaged by dive bombers from USS Hornet and USS Enterprise, respectively. |
| 26 Oct 1942 | Kumano screened the carriers Shokaku, Zuikaku, and Zuiho in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. |
| 28 Feb 1943 | Yugure took on ground support crews of carrier Zuiho and departed Wewak, Australian New Guinea at 1200 hours. |
| 2 Mar 1943 | Yugure arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands at 1300 hours and unloaded support crews of carrier Zuiho. |
| 3 May 1943 | Destroyer Yukikaze departed Truk, Caroline Islands to escort carrier Zuikaku and Zuiho to Japan. |
| 8 May 1943 | Zuikaku, Zuiho, and Yukikaze arrived at Kure, Japan. |
| 25 Oct 1944 | Off northeastern Luzon, Philippines, aircraft from US Navy Task Force 38 attacked the Japanese carrier force consisted of fleet carrier Zuikaku and light carriers Zuiho, Chitose, and Chiyoda in the Battle off Cape Engaño. The Japanese force was escorted by two battleship-carrier hybrids (Hyuga and Ise; aircraft-less on this date), three light cruisers (Oyodo, Tama, and Isuzu), and nine destroyers at about 0830 hours, 26 minutes after those planes were detected by Zuikaku's radar. The overwhelmingly larger American force, under Admiral William Halsey, centered around fleet carriers USS Lexington, USS Intrepid, USS Essex, USS Franklin, USS Enterprise, further bolstered by a great many light carriers, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. Zuikaku was damaged by skilled damage control teams extinguished the fires and corrected the listing by 0850 hours. Chitose was fatally damaged by the first attack wave, sinking at 0937 hours. At 0953 hours, a second attack wave struck, fatally damaging Chiyoda, leaving her dead in the water to be sunk by American destroyers later at 1655 hours. The second wave also damaged Zuiho's flight deck, the last functional flight deck of Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's force; Japanese combat air patrol planes in the air would need to ditch when they ran out of fuel. At 1032 hours, Ozawa transferred his flag from the damaged Zuikaku to Oyodo. At 1308, the Japanese sighted an incoming third wave of American aircraft. Six torpedoes struck Zuikaku, causing massive flooding and several fires in the hangar; the commanding officer addressed the surviving crew, ordered the lowering of the ensign, and gave the abandon ship order at 1358 hours; Zuikaku sank by the stern at 1414 hours. Zuiho suffered two torpedo, two bomb hits, and a great many near-misses during the third attack wave, and she was dead in the water at 1445 hours. At 1455 hours, a fourth wave struck, sealing the doom of Zuiho with ten near-misses, leading to Zuiho's commanding officer giving the abandon ship order; she sank at 1526 hours. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
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» Kondo, Masaichi
» Minami, Yoshimi
Event(s) Participated:
» Invasion of the Philippine Islands
» Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands
» Solomon Islands Campaign
» Mariana Islands Campaign and the Great Turkey Shoot
» Philippines Campaign, Phase 1, the Leyte Campaign
Document(s):
» Japanese Aircraft Carrier Functions
» Japanese Aircraft Carrier Operational Status By Month
» Japanese Aircraft Carrier Specifications
» Japanese Aircraft Carrier Time Operational
Partner Sites Content:
» Zuiho Tabular Record of Movement
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Winston Churchill
23 May 2011 10:20:01 PM
Errata point out.
Zuiho fitted with large caliber AA in 12.7cm (5") 2 x4 guns. Not 10 cm (4") AA guns.
Only *** carriers fitted with 10 cm AA guns is Taiho.