The first and second wave aircraft mix at Pearl Harbor included B5N torpedo and level bombers, D3A dive bombers, and Zero fighters. Shōkaku and Zuikaku supplied extra mass, while Sōryū and Hiryū formed a core of efficiency and experience within the strike. The converted Akagi and Kaga carried veteran groups but were less efficient aircraft-operating platforms than the newer pair. The second wave also shows that combat power depended on which aircraft returned soon enough to be checked, refueled, rearmed, and launched again. The attack was meant to create attrition conditions, but it did not make the US fleet respond in the way Japan wanted.
Notable Point · 55:27-1:02:43
Soryu and Hiryu at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor demonstrated why Soryu and Hiryu's efficient, experienced air groups mattered to Japanese carrier power.