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Description
――Since the time of World War I, the world's great powers have been competing for the expansion of the navy and the naval arms race, just as `the one who controls the sea controls the world`.
――However, with the end of World War I, Britain couldn't bear the financial burden and made a noise, and the United States and Japan became unreasonable due to domestic circumstances. The London Naval Treaty is coming into effect.
――The Japanese Navy insisted on 70% of the United States and Britain, but could not enter it, and had to settle for 60%.
--For this reason, major restrictions were placed on battleships and aircraft carriers, and in the end, only four large aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Shokaku, and Zuikaku and two medium-sized aircraft carriers Soryu and Hiryu were allowed to own. ..
――Of course, the Japanese Navy was dissatisfied with this result.
――Therefore, a measure was taken to anticipate diversion from other ship types such as large commercial ships, seaplane tenders, submarines, and refueling ships.
--Hiyaka and Junyo are examples of modifications from large commercial ships, and Shoho and Zuiho are examples of modifications from other ship types.
――By the way, Shoho was originally planned as a refueling ship Kenzaki, and was launched at the Yokosuka Arsenal in June 1935.
――However, we started to convert it to a submarine tender during the fitting work, and it was completed as a submarine tender in January 1939.
――However, since the London Naval Treaty expired from time to time, in just two years in January 1941, the renovation work began again, transforming it into an aircraft carrier.
――Since it was originally a submarine tender, construction progressed smoothly, and it will be reborn as an aircraft carrier with a flat deck in January 1942, with a construction period of 1 year.
――It seems that the flat deck was used to shorten the construction period by diverting the equipment of Kenzaki's bridge to some extent.
――In December, prior to the completion, the ship name was changed from Kenzaki to Shoho.
――When Shoho was completed, it was transferred to the 1st Air Fleet and the 4th Carrier Division on the same day.
――By the way, the Japanese army will start the second stage operation for long-term endurance because the first stage operation such as the attack on Hawaii in December 1941, the capture of Singapore, the capture of the Philippines, etc. went smoothly. ..
――The beginning is the Port Moresby strategy and MO strategy aimed at blocking the United States and Australia. For this operation, Shokaku and Zuikaku-based MTFs for 1st and 5th voyages will be assigned, and Shoho will be assigned to the 6th Squadron Aoba and Kako-based fleets to capture Port Moresby. Was accompanied by the role of hanging an air support umbrella.
――On the other hand, the US Navy deciphered the code and detected the attempt to capture Port Moresby of the Japanese fleet, and was waiting in a task force based on two aircraft carriers, Lexington and Yorktown.
――The place is the Coral Sea, on the sea southeast of New Guinea. The time is May 7, 1942.
――For the first time in history, the decisive battle of aircraft carriers will be held in this beautiful sea.
――First of all, the US Navy took the initiative.
――I found a capture unit for one of the heavy cruiser trunks of the Japanese fleet, which is divided into two parts, and since Shoho was accompanied, I decided that this was a mobile unit and made a full attack.
--93 lightning bombers from Lexington and Yorktown departed, all concentrated in Shoho.
――For this reason, 13 bombs and 7 torpedoes hit (a surprising number. This is comparable to Yamato and Musashi later.
――Although the situation is different, you can see how the lion fought hard when you think of the Midway aircraft carrier that became incapable of fighting with just a few bombs. ), Shoho died in the beautiful emerald green sea for a short life of only three and a half months as an aircraft carrier.
--On the other hand, the Japanese Navy launched an attack corps at the same time, but wrecked the refueling ship Neosho, which was mistaken for an aircraft carrier (later sunk), and sank only one destroyer.
――However, the Japanese MTF, which confirmed the position of the enemy fleet at the precious sacrifice of Shoho, made a full-scale attack on May 8, the following day, sank Lexington, and caused great damage to Yorktown.
――However, the Japanese side also suffered damage that Shokaku was damaged by the attack of the US Navy aircraft.
――This battle caused great damage to the onboard aircraft in both Japan and the United States, and the aircraft carrier was also injured, so it was not possible to thoroughly expand the results of the battle, but the battle itself should be said to be a draw of Japan's dominance.
――However, because Shokaku was injured and Zuikaku also lost his aircraft, he had to use four aircraft carriers for the June Midway attack, which caused him to lose all four aircraft carriers. When I think about it, I regret that Shokaku's sacrifice is not fully utilized.
――The loss of Shoho was the first loss of an aircraft carrier in the Pacific War.
