#24: IJN Akagi: The Flagship of the Pearl Harbor Strike Force
IJN Akagi served as Admiral Nagumo's flagship on December 7, 1941, leading the six-carrier strike force that devastated Pearl Harbor and thrust the United States into World War II. Her aircraft helped sink or damage eight battleships, destroy 188 aircraft, and kill 2,403 Americans in a two-hour attack that remains one of the most consequential surprise strikes in military history.
Originally laid down as a battlecruiser, Akagi was converted to a carrier under the Washington Naval Treaty and eventually carried up to 66 aircraft. She was distinctive for her unusual port-side island, most carriers place theirs to starboard. After Pearl Harbor, Akagi's air group raided Darwin, Australia, and struck targets across the Indian Ocean. Her career ended at Midway on June 5, 1942, when a single bomb from a Douglas SBD Dauntless struck among armed and fueled aircraft on her hangar deck, starting fires that consumed the ship. Her wreck was discovered 18,000 feet below the Pacific in 2019.
