Kidō Butai
| Kidō Butai (gallery) |
|---|
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| Akagi |
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| Kaga |
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| Hiryu |
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| Zuikaku |
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| Shōkaku |
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| Here |
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| Kirishima |
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| Chikuma |
Kidō Butai ( Japanese 機動 部隊 , dt. "Mobile troop") was the name of the largest sea-based intervention fleet at the beginning of the Second World War in the Pacific . It was formed by the Imperial Japanese Navy through the establishment of the 1st Navy Air Fleet on April 10, 1941. The core of this fleet were the seven aircraft carriers at that time with their 474 combat aircraft .
Later, the carrier division 5 with the Shōkaku and the Zuikaku , the carrier division 1 with the Akagi and the Kaga , the carrier division 2 with the Sōryū and the Hiryū were added. From now on they formed the core of the Kidō Butai. This included smaller escort carriers and a number of battleships , cruisers and destroyers . This concentrated force sent Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku east to carry out the attack on Pearl Harbor . The commander of the 1st Navy Air Fleet was Vice Admiral Nagumo Chūichi at the time .
The ships of the Kidō Butai operated partly independently of each other. During the Battle of Midway from June 4 to 6, 1942, the fleet suffered the loss of four aircraft carriers. This marked the beginning of the end of the superior strength of the Japanese Navy in the Pacific.
The other aircraft carriers continued to participate in the battles of the Pacific War and were often referred to as Kidō Butai. Especially the Shōkaku and Zuikaku, who took part in the Battle of the East Solomon Islands and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in August and October 1942, were named with this name.
Ships of the Kidō Butai
Status: end of November 1941
Aircraft carrier
- Akagi - sunk on June 4, 1942
- Kaga - sunk on June 5, 1942
- Hiryū - sunk on June 5, 1942
- Sōryū - sunk on June 4, 1942
- Zuikaku - sunk on October 25, 1944
- Shōkaku - sunk on June 19, 1944
- Taiyō - sunk on August 17, 1944
Battleships
cruiser
- Tone - sunk in Japanese port in 1945
- Chikuma - sunk off Samar on October 25, 1944
- Abukuma - sunk on October 26, 1944
destroyer
- Akebono - sunk on November 14, 1944
- Tanikaze - sunk on June 9, 1944
- Urakaze - sunk on November 21, 1944
- Isokaze - sunk on April 7, 1945
- Hamakaze - sunk on April 7, 1945
- Kasumi - sunk on April 7, 1945
- Arare - sunk on July 5, 1942
- Kagerō - sunk on May 8, 1943
- Shiranui - sunk on October 27, 1944
- Akigumo - sunk on April 11, 1944
- Ushio
- Kikuzuki - sunk on May 5, 1942
- Uzuki - sunk on December 12, 1944
- Shiokaze
- Hokaze - sunk on July 6, 1944
- Oboro - sunk on October 17, 1942