Aircraft Carrier Kaga

Kaga was laid down in July 1920 at Kawasaki Heavy Industries' Kobe shipyard as the second Tosa-class battleship. Following the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, which limited capital ship construction, Kaga was slated for scrapping. However, the catastrophic Great Kantō earthquake of September 1923 irreparably damaged the battlecruiser Amagi, which had been designated for carrier conversion. Kaga was substituted in her place and conversion work began at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal.

Commissioned in March 1928, Kaga initially had a three-tiered flight deck arrangement. Between 1933 and 1935 she underwent an extensive modernization at Sasebo Naval Arsenal that transformed her profile: the lower flight decks were removed, the flight deck was extended to full length, and new machinery raised her speed slightly, from 27.5 to about 28 knots. Her standard displacement rose to 38,200 tons, making her one of the largest carriers in the world. She could operate approximately 90 aircraft.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1941), Kaga provided air support for operations along the Chinese coast, flying missions over Shanghai and Nanjing. By 1941 she was assigned as a flagship-class unit of the 1st Air Fleet alongside Akagi, Shōkaku, Zuikaku, Hiryū, and Sōryū — the Kido Butai assembled at Hitokappu Bay in the Kuril Islands before departing for Hawaii.

On December 7, 1941, Kaga launched aircraft in both waves of the Pearl Harbor attack. Her airgroups contributed to the destruction of battleships and airfields. She subsequently participated in the raid on Rabaul (January 1942) and the air strike on Darwin (19 February 1942); having damaged her hull on a reef at Palau that February, she returned to Japan for repairs and missed the Indian Ocean raid of April 1942.

At the Battle of Midway (June 4, 1942), Kaga was caught with aircraft armed for a second strike against Midway when dive bombers from USS Enterprise struck. One 1,000-pound bomb and at least three 500-pound bombs hit her in quick succession, detonating fueled and armed aircraft and triggering catastrophic fires. Attempts to save the ship failed, and she was scuttled by torpedoes from the destroyer Hagikaze. She sank northwest of Midway at about 30°23′N 179°17′W. Her wreck was located in October 2019 by the research vessel Petrel.