Zuikaku (Japanese: 瑞鶴, meaning "Auspicious Crane") was the second and last Shōkaku-class aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before the beginning of the Pacific War. Zuikaku was one of the most capable Japanese aircraft carriers of the entire war.
Her aircraft took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor that formally brought the United States into the war, destroying numerous land positions, and saw heavy and successful action throughout numerous battles during the Pacific War, starting with numerous assaults on allied land positions, and her participation in the Indian Ocean raid, where her dive bombers sank or helped to sink several major British warships. Zuikaku's torpedo bombers inflicted the fatal damage to the aircraft carrier USS Lexington at the battle of the Coral Sea, before she fought US carriers at the battle of the Eastern Solomons, and helped to sink the aircraft carrier USS Hornet at the battle of Santa Cruz. She was damaged by carrier attacks during the battle of the Philippine Sea, before being sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Throughout her career, Zuikaku sank or helped to sink at least twelve ships, including the fleet carriers Lexington and Hornet, the light carriers HMS Hermes and USS Princeton, the cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire, the destroyers USS Sims, USS Meredith, and HMS Tenedos, the submarine USS Grayback, the oil tanker USS Neosho, and the cargo ship SS Sagaing.
Zuikaku was one of six carriers to participate in the Pearl Harbor attack and was the last of the six to be sunk in the war (Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, and Sōryū in the Battle of Midway; Shōkaku in the Battle of the Philippine Sea; and Zuikaku in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.) This is a Tamiya 1/700 Scale assembly and painting required plastic model kit of the aircraft carrier Zuikaku, by the time of the Pearl Harbour Attack in December 1941. Model kit features: Kit has weighted waterline hull, multipart superstructure island, 1-piece engraved flight deck, ship boats, filigree cranes and masts plus anti-aircraft batteries. Also includes aircraft: A6M2 Zero fighters (x5), D3A Type 99 aldive bombers (x4) and B5N Type 97 atetorpedo bombers (x4). Completed model is approximately 14.4" long. Painting guide for December 1941 scheme and decals representing flight deck markings, aircraft national insignia and ensign. |
