Japanese aircraft carrier Shōkaku

History
Shōkaku upon completion, 23 August 1941
Empire of Japan
Name	Shōkaku
Namesake	翔鶴, "Soaring Crane"
Builder	Yokosuka Naval Arsenal
Laid down	12 December 1937
Launched	1 June 1939
Commissioned	8 August 1941
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk, 19 June 1944
General characteristics (as built)
Class & type	Shōkaku-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	25,675 long tons (26,087 t) (standard) 32,105 long tons (32,620 t) (full load)
Length	257.5 m (844 ft 10 in)
Beam	26 m (85 ft 4 in)
Draft	8.8 m (28 ft 10 in)
Installed power	8 × water-tube boilers 160,000 shp (120,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × shafts; 4 × geared steam turbines
Speed	34.2 kn (63.3 km/h; 39.4 mph)
Range	9,700 nmi (18,000 km; 11,200 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement	1,660
Armament	8 × twin 12.7 cm (5 in) DP guns 12 × triple 25 mm (1 in) AA guns
Aircraft carried	72 (+12 spares) 7 December 1941: 18 × Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zero" fighters 27 × Aichi D3A1 "Val" dive bombers 27 × Nakajima B5N1/2 "Kate" torpedo bombers

Shōkaku (Japanese: 翔鶴; meaning "Soaring Crane") was the lead ship of her class of two aircraft carriers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before the Pacific War. Along with her sister ship Zuikaku, she took part in several key naval battles during the war, including the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Coral Sea, and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, before being torpedoed and sunk by the U.S. submarine USS Cavalla at the Battle of the Philippine Sea.