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On 3 June 1942, along with Ryūjō, she launched airstrikes against Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island. On 5 June she launched further strikes and was attacked by United States bombers but was not damaged.Following the loss of four Japanese fleet carriers in the battle of Midway, Junyō was one of only four large carriers in the Japanese Navy (the others were Zuikaku, Shōkaku, and Hiyō ). This made Junyō an important ship, and great efforts were made to use her as a fleet carrier, even though she was slower and had a smaller air group than the purpose-built fleet carriers, Shōkaku and Zuikaku.
In mid-November 1942, she played a covering role in the three-day-long Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. In Spring 1943, her planes were sent to Rabaul, with those of other Japanese carriers, for land-based attacks on the Allied forces gathering at Guadalcanal. In June 1943, Junyō helped protect an important convoy sent to reinforce the Japanese garrison on Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands.
On 3 November 1944 she was attacked by the submarine USS Pintado near Makung but her escort destroyer Akikaze deliberately intercepted the torpedoes and sank with no survivors.On 9 December 1944, Junyō was carrying 200 survivors of Musashi and was accompanied by the battleship Haruna and the destroyers Suzutsuki, Fuyutsuki, and Maki. The task force was attacked at midnight by the American submarines Sea Devil, Plaice and Redfish. Junyō was hit by three torpedoes, killing 19 men. Several compartments were flooded, giving her a 10°–12° list to starboard, but she was able to make way on one engine. Maki was also damaged by a torpedo. By 04:00 the Japanese task force entered shallow waters where the American submarines could not follow.Junyō was drydocked at Kure, but repairs were abandoned in March 1945. The lack of materials, fuel and carrier planes meant that there was no need for fleet carriers. Junyō remained moored at Sasebo until the end of the war. She was scrapped in 1947.
-- Wikipedia
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