page_title: 1st Air Fleet
section_title: Operations
hierarchical_section_title: 1st Air Fleet / Operations
context_page_description: The 1st Air Fleet also known as the Kidō Butai, was a name used for a combined carrier battle group comprising most of the aircraft carriers and carrier air groups of the Imperial Japanese Navy, during the first eight months of the Pacific War.
  At the time of its best-known operation, the attack on Pearl Harbor, in December 1941, the 1st Air Fleet was the world's largest fleet of aircraft carriers.
  In its second generation, 1st Air Fleet was a land-based fleet of "kichi kōkūtai".
caption: Zuikaku sinking after being hit at the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
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