The Grey Ghost That Broke Japan

Video Description

The Japanese called her Kiri no Shōtai, the Grey Ghost. She had haunted them across every campaign since Pearl Harbor, striking hard and vanishing before they could finish her. But in late October 1942, during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, they finally had her in their sights. Bombs screamed down from Aichi D3A dive bombers and slammed into her rear deck. Explosions split the sky. Aboard the carrier Shōkaku, sailors erupted in triumph. After so many near misses, they’d struck her. Twice. The ghost ship was burning. Dive-bombers banked away, convinced they had finally buried the legend beneath the waves. Then, the smoke shifted. Gasps replaced cheers. Through the haze, a silhouette began to stir. The Japanese pilots circled back, sure their eyes were deceiving them. The Grey Ghost had returned.