The Strike Force
On November 26, 1941, the day the Hull note was received from United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull, which the Japanese leaders saw as an unproductive and same old proposal, the carrier battle group under the command of then Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, already assembled in Hitokappu Wan in the Kurile Islands, sortied for Hawaii under strict radio silence.
The Kido Butai, the Combined Fleet's main carrier force of six aircraft carriers carriers (at the time, the most powerful carrier force with the greatest concentration of air power in the history of naval warfare), embarked 359 airplanes, organized as the First Air Fleet. The carriers Akagi (flag), Kaga, Sōryū, Hiryū, and the newest, Shōkaku and Zuikaku, had 135 Mitsubishi A6M Type 0 fighters (Allied codename "Zeke", commonly called "Zero"), 171 Nakajima B5N Type 97 torpedo bombers (Allied codename "Kate"), and 108 Aichi D3A Type 99 dive bombers (Allied codename "Val") aboard. Two fast battleships, two heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, nine destroyers, and three fleet submarines provided escort and screening. In addition, the Advanced Expeditionary Force included 20 fleet and five two-man Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarines, which were to gather intelligence and sink U.S. vessels attempting to flee Pearl Harbor during or soon after the attack. It also had eight oilers for underway fueling.
Read more about this topic: Events Leading To The Attack On Pearl Harbor
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