First ship of Shoukaku class. Because she was built after expiration of the Washington Naval Treaty, Shoukaku is finished as a large aircraft carrier with increased weaponry. By utilising the same bulbous bow design as Yamato, Shoukaku managed to achieve maximum speed of 34 knots. Her 160,000shp engine was the most powerful in the IJN at that time. In terms of defense, the armour surrounding her important sections such as engine room and magazines were thick enough to handle cruiser calibre cannons. Her hull could could also survive a 450kg* (approx 992lbs) torpedo warhead. But in the other hand, her flight deck was unarmoured and a direct hit from 500 kg bomb (approx 1102lbs) could take away all her aircraft launching ability. *The US mark 13 torpedo which was the standard aircraft torpedo throughout WWII had a warhead of 262kg/600lb. The obsolete but still in service mark 10 torpedo used on S-class submarines had a warhead of 225kg/497lbs and the mark 14 torpedo which replaced it had 292kg/643lb warhead. Not a single US torpedo should have been able to pierce her hull, however 3 torpedoes from USS Cavalla managed to cause flooding towards her bow, lose generator power and start fires in her boiler room which caused her to sink when they reached the hangar deck, detonating machine gun ammunition and oxygen bottles on board stored aircraft and severely hampering damage control efforts.

Her first mission after completion is the Attack on Pearl Harbour. Along with Akagi, Kaga, Hiryuu, Souryuu and Zuikaku, they formed the Kidou Butai and launched an attack to the Hawaiian base. Attack with the six aircraft carriers are successful. After that, they became world's strongest fleet and secured flawless victory without losing any ship until the raid on Ceylon Island. After securing victory in the Battle of Coral Sea, Shoukaku and Zuikaku filled the hole left by the loss of Akagi, Kaga, Hiryuu and Souryuu in the Battle of Midway, and followed on through the Pacific War. In the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Shoukaku is stuck by four torpedoes launched by the Gato-class submarine USS Cavalla. Without being able to control the damage, Shoukaku is sunk.

The "archer girl" theme for aircraft carriers are nice aren't they ? Shoukaku had a gentle personality, so assigning her as secretary ship is really soothing. I felt like spending time with her enjoying tea at the porch. But unlike her gentle and trimmed appearance, you can see that boldness from the striped underwear shown when she received medium damage. The gap is just tremendous! I found myself often asking Zuikaku to flip her sister's skirt more often.

Shoukaku / Aircraft Carrier Displacement: 25'675 t Length: 257.5 m Bow: 26 m Output: 160'000 HP Speed: 34.2 knots Armaments: - 12.7 cm high angle guns - 25 mm triple machine guns - 25 mm machine guns Aircraft carried: Fighter, Dive bomber, Torpedo bomber Crew: 1'660 men Participated in: - Battle of the Coral Seas - Battle of the Eastern Solomons - Battle of the Philippine Sea

Hyaa!!?

*surprised*

Sho...Shoukaku-nee.

Major Damage

How did I...