Carrier battle group at the Battle of Midway. In contrast, the United States Navy deployed its large carriers in separate formations, with each carrier assigned its own cruiser and destroyer escorts. These single-carrier formations would often be paired or grouped together for certain assignments, most notably the Battle of the Coral Sea and Midway. By 1943, however, large numbers of fleet and light carriers became available, which required larger formations of three or four carriers. These groups eventually formed the Fast Carrier Task Force, which became the primary battle unit of the U.S. Fifth and Third Fleets. With the construction of the large
Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II "Shōkaku", "Zuikaku", and the new carrier which had an armored-deck, sortied to meet the Americans in the Philippine Sea. The resulting clash was the largest carrier battle in history. The battle did not turn out as the Japanese had hoped. In reality their decisive battle ended in total defeat for the Japanese and resulted in the virtual end of their carrier force. On June 19, a series of Japanese carrier air strikes were shattered by strong American defenses. On the same day, "Shōkaku" was hit by four torpedoes from the submarine and sank with heavy loss of life. The "Taihō"