Task Force (film) footage documenting the rise of naval aviation as well as Technicolor footage filmed during the war in the Pacific, including the Battle of Midway, the Japanese attack on and a kamikaze attack on USS "Franklin". Encouraged by the offer of support from the U.S. Navy, when the production received permission to proceed with a film, a decision was made to shoot the first segments in black-and-white to merge into the original footage of the , the first American aircraft carrier, and . Principal photography began in late 1948 on the escort carrier, to replicate USS "Langley", as well as Naval
Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku In May 1942, she was assigned along with "Shōkaku" to support Operation Mo, the invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea. Alerted by intercepted and decrypted Japanese naval messages, the Americans dispatched the carriers and to stop this operation. On 8 May 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea, the main carrier forces located one another and launched maximum-effort raids, which passed each other in the air. Hidden by a rain squall, "Zuikaku" escaped detection, but "Shōkaku" was hit three times by bombs and was unable to launch or recover her aircraft. In return, torpedo and dive bombers from both