Product Details

Shoho ("Auspicious Phoenix" or "Happy Phoenix") was a light aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Shoho and her sister Zuiho were designed to be easily modified as an oil tanker, submarine tender, or aircraft carrier as needed. Shoho was built as the submarine support ship Tsurugizaki in the late 1930s and later converted into an aircraft carrier and renamed. Completed in early 1942, the ship supported the invasion forces in Operation MO, the invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea, and was sunk by American carrier aircraft on her first combat operation during the Battle of the Coral Sea on 7 May. Shoho was the first Japanese aircraft carrier to be sunk during World War II.

Please note: Unlike other releases in this series, this particular model ships in a plastic clamshell case only, without a cardboard outer box and without a Japanese language magazine.