Japanese aircraft carrier Shōhō

Shōhō, was a small aircraft carrier used by the Japanese Navy during World War II. An aircraft carrier is a big ship that carries airplanes so they can take off and land at sea. Shōhō was not originally built as a carrier; it started out in the late 1930s as a support ship for submarines called Tsurugizaki, which means “Sword Cape.” Before the war in the Pacific began, the Japanese changed the ship into an aircraft carrier and gave it the new name Shōhō.

The ship was finished in early 1942 and soon joined Japan’s attack on New Guinea in a mission called Operation MO, which aimed to capture a place called Port Moresby. On May 7, during its first battle in the Coral Sea, American airplanes attacked and sank Shōhō. This made Shōhō the very first Japanese aircraft carrier to be sunk during World War II.

Meaning of name, Shōhō: It means “auspicious Phoenix” or “happy Phoenix” in Japanese.

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Category:Aircraft carriers