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 fires on board the carrier. However, the Japanese had already launched a sixty-five aircraft strike against the American task force. Through a ring of antiaircraft fire and the carriers fighter cover, the Japanese dive and torpedo bombers registered a number of hits on the . By 9.30am the carrier was dead in the water, but planes from the Hornet had also located the Japanese and six bombs struck the deck of the "Shōkaku", effectively removing the carrier from the battle. Some of dive-bombers from the "Hornet" attacked the heavy cruiser , which was damaged so severely that it was forced