Country Empire of Japan Type Naval aviation unit | Branch Imperial Japanese Navy | |
Active April 1, 1928 – April 10, 1945 Allegiance Axis Powers of World War II Role Aircraft carrier support | ||
The First Carrier Division (第一航空戦隊, Dai Ichi Kōkū sentai, often abbreviated as 一航戦 Ikkō-sen) was an aircraft carrier unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy's First Air Fleet. At the beginning of the Pacific Campaign of World War II, the First Carrier Division consisted of the fleet carriers Akagi and Kaga. The division participated in the Attack on Pearl Harbor and Indian Ocean Raid. After Akagi and Kaga were sunk at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, carriers Shōkaku, Zuikaku, and Zuihō were redesignated as the First Carrier Division.
Commander
The First Carrier Division participated in the largest carrier-to-carrier battle in history, the Battle of the Marianas, and specifically the aircraft carrier Battle of the Philippine Sea (the so-called “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot”) on 19–20 June, where the Japanese naval forces were decisively defeated with heavy and irreplaceable losses to their carrier-borne and land-based aircraft.