On 19 June 1944, "Taihō" was one of nine Japanese aircraft carriers involved in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. At 07:45 she turned into the wind to launch her contribution (16 Zeros, 17 "Judy" dive bombers and nine "Jill" torpedo bombers) to Ozawa's second attack wave. As "Taihō"s planes circled overhead to form up, American submarine , which had spotted Ozawa's carriers earlier that morning, reached an ideal attack position and fired a spread of six torpedoes at the carrier. One of "Taihō"s strike pilots, Warrant Officer Sakio Komatsu, saw the torpedo wakes, broke formation and deliberately dived his plane into the path of one torpedo; the weapon detonated short of its target and four of the remaining five missed. The sixth torpedo, however, found its mark and the resulting explosion holed the carrier's hull on the starboard side, just ahead of the island. The impact also fractured the aviation fuel tanks and jammed the forward elevator between the flight deck and upper hangar deck.