The History of WWII Podcast · Ray Harris Jr

Episode 612-Death of a Carrier

March 23, 2026·26 min·2 clips

Hamilton's 1,000-pound bomb lands dead center on Shoho's flight deck.

The fight is out of joint from the start. On May 7th, Admiral Tagagi sends aircraft south in search of an enemy carrier. They find only an oiler and a destroyer escort. Fletcher is working through bad information too, reacting to a false report before learning that a real enemy carrier is just south of where his aircraft went. Farther south-southeast of Rabaul's search area, Crace's task force has already been seen, so TF 17.3 is under pressure by mid-afternoon. The first attack is torpedoes. Twelve G3M Type 96 attack bombers arrive at 2 p.m., but they launch too far out. That gives Crace space, and he uses it. The host has him barking orders as the force dodges every torpedo and shoots down five aircraft. Then the bombers come back. Thirty minutes later, nineteen more G3Ms arrive with high-altitude bombs. They drop and miss. It is a bad exchange for the attackers: TF 17.3 stays afloat, while ship handling and AA guns keep taking a bite out of the strike. The report that follows is pure fog of war. Japanese pilots leave claiming a battleship sunk, a cruiser sunk, another battleship heavily damaged, and a second cruiser lightly damaged. None of it happened. The host lingers on that distance between claim and reality, especially after Japanese success against Prince of Wales and Repulse. Meanwhile, Shoho is gone. Admiral Inouye delays the Port Moresby landings by two days and moves the invasion force north, beyond carrier-plane range. He considers a night attack from surface ships off Russell Island, sees the risk, cancels it, and has Rear Admiral Gotoh split the cruiser force: one group stays with the main force, the other heads for the carrier striking force.

As heard by us

Shoho's loss bends the Port Moresby operation as mistaken reports deepen the Coral Sea's fog of war.

The loss of Shoho is framed as a case study in how fast a naval operation can come apart. The episode tracks the Battle of the Coral Sea through Admiral Tagagi's misdirected search, Fletcher's reaction to a false report, and the late realization that an enemy carrier was close…

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You want to follow the Shoho's loss as false reports send aircraft hunting the wrong targets.

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