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.

The Aichi D3A (Navy designation "Type 99 Carrier Bomber"; Allied reporting name "Val") [a] is a World War II carrier-borne dive bomber. It was the primary dive bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and was involved in almost all IJN actions, including the attack on Pearl Harbor.

During the Second Battle of the Solomons on 24 August 1942, the Shōkaku and Zuikaku bombers attacked the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, with 27 Kanbaku sorties and dive bombing. USS Enterprise was hit by three bombs. The Enterprise was …

2022年4月22日 · The Aichi D3A was innovative as being a cantilever monoplane, unlike the D1A/D2A “Susie” it replaced. It would be adopted in 1939, battle tested in China, and then produced three times more. The D3A was also the last fixed undercarriage model of the IJN, although it had a fully enclosed cockpit, and folding wingtips.

It comprised 183 aircraft: 89 B5N (49 configured as horizontal bombers, armed with armour-piercing 800 kg bombs, and 40 carrying torpedoes), 52 D3A (26 each of Zuikaku and Shokaku, all armed with a single 242 kg Type 98 Land Bomb for use against Oahu's airfields) and 43 A6M Zero escort fighters.

Delivered to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) as Type 99 Carrier Bomber / Ku Ku Kamba (Kanbaku) / D3A1 Model 11 Val manufacture number 3381. Assigned to Zuikaku Air Group aboard Zuikaku. No known tail code unknown. On May 8, 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea took off on a dive bombing mission against U.S. Navy (USN) aircraft carriers.

Zuikaku (Japanese: 瑞鶴 "Fortunate Crane") was a Shōkaku-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Her complement of aircraft took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor that formally...

Description: Single-engined carrier-borne and land-based dive-bomber (D3A1 and D3A2) or bomber trainer (D3A2-K). All-metal construction with fabric-covered control surfaces. Accommodation: Crew of two in tandem enclosed cockpits.

On April 11, 1943 fourteen D3A Vals armed with 60kg bombs escorted by Zeros attacked shipping in Oro Bay. Inbound to the target, D3A Val piloted by Takahashi (C.O.) aborted the mission, landing at Gasmata Airfield. The rest of the formation plus eight D3A Vals and A6M Zeros from Hyio attacked, claiming two ships sunk.

D3A dive bomber taking off from carrier Akagi, Indian Ocean, 5 Apr 1942; the single vertical red stripe toward the rear end of fuselage identified this aircraft as from Akagi D3A Type 99 dive bomber of either Shokaku or Zuikaku in flight, either en route to attack Neosho and Sims in morning or returning from failed scouting mission in afternoon ...