The 1st Air Fleet (第一航空艦隊, Daiichi Kōkū Kantai), also known as the Kidō Butai ("Mobile Force"), was a name used for a combined carrier battle group comprising...

during World War II. Nagumo led Japan's main carrier battle group, the Kido Butai, in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Indian Ocean raid and the Battle of...

carriers into a single unit known as the 1st Air Fleet or Kidō Butai ("Mobile Force"). In the Kidō Butai, the two Shōkaku-class carriers were superior to any...

unauthorized broadcast. The Kido Butai was constantly receiving intelligence and diplomatic updates. Regardless of whether the Kido Butai broke radio silence...

Sino-Japanese War in the late 1930s. Upon the formation of the First Air Fleet or Kido Butai (Striking Force) in early 1941, she became its flagship, and remained...

with the carriers of the Kidō Butai (機動部隊, "Mobile Strike Force") and so could not sail in company with them. The Kidō Butai would sail into range at...

reconstructed as an aircraft carrier and served with distinction as part of the Kido Butai during the Second World War, participating in the Japanese attack on Pearl...

brief refit, Hiryū and three other fleet carriers of the First Air Fleet (Kido Butai) participated in the Battle of Midway in June 1942. After bombarding American...

invade Midway Island using the four available Japanese carriers of the "Kido Butai" but the Japanese Army overrules them. In February, naval aviator Lieutenant...

1st Air Fleet, also known as the "Mobile Force" or "Kidō Butai." It was the powerful Kidō Butai with its six large fleet carriers and massed airpower...