Fujimi Model Ships 1/350 IJN Shokaku Aircraft Carrier 1941 Kit

Shokaku was built at Yokosuka Dockyard, Japan. Completed in Aug 1941, she participated in Japan's early wartime offensives, including the attack on Pearl Harbor, the raid into the Indian Ocean and the Battle of Coral Sea. In the latter action, on 8 May 1942, Shokaku was seriously damaged by dive bombers from USS Yorktown (CV-5), but her modern designed allowed her to limp back to Japan for repairs and fight another day. However, that also meant she was to miss Midway action, where her presence might have tipped the balance of battle in Japan's favor. In Aug 1942, Shokaku took part in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, where she helped in damaging but failed to sink the American carrier Enterprise. In Oct, she participated in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in which she took on battle damage but her aircraft was able to sink the carrier Hornet. In 1943, Captain Hiroshi Matsubara took command of Shokaku. On 15 Jun 1944, she participated in Operation A-Go which led to the Battle of the Philippine Sea of 19 Jun. While refueling, she was hit at 1123 by three or four torpedoes from submarine Cavalla. The ensuing fire exploded a bomb at 1408, which ignited aviation fuel. As the fire grew out of control, she sank, taking 1,272 men to the bottom of the ocean with her. Only 570 men, including Captain Matsubara, survived.