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The Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Shokaku is most famous for
taking part in the battles of Pearl Harbor and the Coral Sea. She was laid
down at Yokosuka Dockyard in December 1937, launched in mid-1939, and
commissioned in August 1941. With an efficient modern design, a displacement
of about 30,000 tons, and a top speed of 34 knots, Shokaku could carry 70 to
80 aircraft and was well capable of matching it with the best American
carriers of the day.
With her sistership Zuikaku, Shokaku joined the Pearl Harbor attack
fleet, and then participated in Japan's series of early wartime naval
offensives, including an attack on Rabaul in January 1942, the Indian Ocean
raid in March of that year, and the Battle of the Coral Sea in May, where
she helped to sink USS Lexington, but was herself severely damaged by USS
Yorktown's aircraft in return. After repairs, Shokaku took part in two
further 1942 battles, both in concert with her sistership: the Battle of the
Eastern Solomons, where they damaged USS Enterprise, and the Battle of Santa
Cruz, where they sank USS Wasp but Shokaku was once again seriously damaged
by dive bombers.
In 1943 she resumed her role as one of the Japanese Navy's most important
fleet carriers, and was eventually sunk by the US submarine Cavalla (SS-244)
on 19 June 1944, during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
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