First Carrier Division

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First Carrier Division
Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku and two destroyers under attack on 20 June 1944 (80-G-238025).jpg
The First Carrier Division's Zuikaku (center) and two destroyers under attack by U.S. Navy carrier aircraft during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
ActiveApril 1, 1928 – April 10, 1945
CountryEmpire of Japan
AllegianceAxis Powers of World War II
BranchImperial Japanese Navy
TypeNaval aviation unit
RoleAircraft carrier support
EngagementsAttack on Pearl Harbor
Battle of Rabaul
Bombing of Darwin
Indian Ocean raid
Battle of Midway
Battle of the Eastern Solomons
Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
Battle of the Philippine Sea
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Chūichi Nagumo Jisaburo Ozawa

The First Carrier Division (第一航空戦隊, Dai Ichi Kōkū sentai, often abbreviated as 一航戦 Ichikō-sen) was an aircraft carrier unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy's First Air Fleet. At the beginning of the Pacific Campaign of World War II, the First Carrier Division consisted of the fleet carriers Akagi and Kaga. The division participated in the Attack on Pearl Harbor and Indian Ocean Raid. After Akagi and Kaga were sunk at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, carriers Shōkaku, Zuikaku, and Zuihō were redesignated as the First Carrier Division.

Organization (extract)[]

Date Ships
1 April 1928 (original) Akagi, Hōshō and Destroyer Squadron 6 : Ume, Kusunoki
1 December 1931 Kaga, and Destroyer Squadron 2 : Minekaze, Okikaze, Yakaze, Sawakaze
15 November 1934 Ryūjō, Hōshō and Destroyer Squadron 5 : Asakaze, Harukaze, Matsukaze, Hatakaze
1 December 1937 Kaga and Destroyer Squadron 29 : Oite, Hayate, Asanagi, Yūnagi
15 November 1939 Akagi and Destroyer Squadron 19 : Isonami, Uranami, Ayanami, Shikinami
10 April 1941 Akagi, Kaga and Destroyer Squadron 7 : Akebono, Ushio
14 July 1942 Shōkaku, Zuikaku, Zuihō
1 April 1944 Taihō, Shōkaku, Zuikaku
15 August 1944 Unryū, Amagi
15 December 1944 Amagi, Unryū, Katsuragi, Jun'yō, Ryūhō
10 April 1945 dissolved

Commander[]

Rank Name Date
1 R.ADM Sankichi Takahashi 1 April 1928
x Disbanded 10 December 1928
2 R.ADM Sankichi Takahashi 1 April 1929
3 R.ADM 30 November 1929
4 R.ADM 1 December 1930
5 R.ADM Koshirō Oikawa 15 November 1932
6 R.ADM Isoroku Yamamoto 3 October 1933
7 R.ADM 1 June 1934
8 R.ADM 15 November 1935
9 R.ADM Shirō Takasu 1 December 1936
10 R.ADM Jin'ichi Kusaka 1 December 1937
11 R.ADM Boshirō Hosogaya 25 April 1938
12 R.ADM Jisaburō Ozawa 15 November 1939
13 R.ADM Michitarō Totsuka 1 November 1940
14 V.ADM Chūichi Nagumo 10 April 1941
15 V.ADM Jisaburō Ozawa 11 November 1942
16 R.ADM Keizō Komura 1 October 1944
17 R.ADM 10 December 1944
x vacant post 10 February 1945
x dissolved 10 April 1945

The First Carrier Division participated in the largest carrier-to-carrier battle in history, the Battle of the Marianas, and specifically the aircraft carrier Battle of the Philippine Sea (the so-called “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot”) on 19–20 June, where the Japanese naval forces were decisively defeated with heavy and irreplaceable losses to their carrier-borne and land-based aircraft.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ Polmar, Norman (January 24, 2008). Aircraft Carriers: A History of Carrier Aviation and Its Influence on World Events, 1946-2006 (hardcover). II. Washington, D.C: Potomac Books Inc. pp. 377–400. ISBN 978-1574886658. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  • Peattie, Mark R. (1999). Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909-1941. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-664-X.

Further reading[]


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