5th Carrier Division (Imperial Japanese Navy)

The Fifth Carrier Division (第五航空戦隊, Dai-Go Kōkū-Sentai) was an aircraft carrier unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy's First Air Fleet. At the beginning of the Pacific Campaign of World War II, the Fifth Carrier Division consisted of the fleet carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku. These two ships participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor, using their aircraft to strafe airfields and provide fighter protection for bombers. On the way back to Japan after Pearl Harbor, the 5th Carrier Division was used to protect the main fleet from American submarines suspected of following the fleet.

Additional campaigns in which the 5th Carrier Division took part included the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Indian Ocean raid of 1942. The division experienced success with its aircraft sinking one British carrier and two British cruisers, as well as the American carrier the USS Lexington. During the Coral Sea battle, Shōkaku was damaged and needed extensive repairs, and both carriers' aviation units took heavy losses, taking the division out of action for several months. As a result, the division was not present at the Battle of Midway. After the Japanese defeat at Midway, Shōkaku and Zuikaku, along with light carrier Zuihō, were redesignated as the First Carrier Division and the Fifth Carrier Division was permanently dissolved.