WL217 IJN CARRIER SHOHO

Shoho was a Japanese light aircraft carrier, the keel of which was laid in 1934, launched in June 1935, and entered service with the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1939. The ship was 205 meters long, 18.2 meters wide, and had a full displacement of 14,200 tons. The maximum speed of the aircraft carrier Shoho oscillated around 28-29 knots, and its main armament was 25-30 on-board planes. The Shoho was originally built as a submarine supply vessel called the Tsurugisaki, but in early 1941 it was converted into an aircraft carrier. Its characteristic feature after the reconstruction was the lack of a superstructure. The combat career of the aircraft carrier Hosho turned out to be extremely short. In the period of January-February 1942, he served in the area of the island of Truk, and in April of the same year he took part in the search for the USS Hornet, from which the planes for the famous Doolitle rally took off. In May 1942, it took part in the Battle of the Coral Sea, where it was sunk by American on-board planes from the USS Lexington and USS Yorktown aircraft carriers.