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IPTC: Caption
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Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Soryu during builder's trials. Soryu was completed in 1937 and was flagship of Carrier Division 2 of the First Air Fleet. After training in Japan, she operated her aircraft over China during the Sino-Japanese War. She sailed with the Main Striking Force to attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Her first wave targeted battleships USS Nevada (BB-36), USS Tennessee (BB-43), and USS West Virginia (BB-48) with armour-piercing bombs and USS Utah (AG-16), USS Helena (CL-50), USS California (BB-44), and USS Raleigh (CL-7) with torpedoes, as well as attacked grounded aircraft at Barbers Point. Her second wave targeted California, Raleigh, Wheeler Field, Kaneohe and Navy Yard installations. After the attack, Soryu and IJN Hiryu were detached to raid Wake Island, which fell on December 23. She attacked Darwin, Australia, on February 19, 1942, and participated in the Indian Ocean Raids. Her aircraft sank cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire on April 5 and carrier HMS Hermes and her escorting destroyer HMS Vampire on April 9. Soryu was sunk by US Navy Douglas SBD-3 Dauntlesses at 1025 Hours on June 4. Three bombs strike her elevators and detonate armed and fueled aircraft in the hangar deck. After burning for nine hours, her escorts scuttle her with torpedoes. Captain Ryusaku Yanagimoto, her only commander, goes down with ship. 712 other Japanese from Soryu's crew are killed.
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IPTC: Copyright Notice
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Caption ©2007 MFA Productions LLC
Image in the Public Domain
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