Kakuichi Takahashi  Kakuichi Takahashi entered the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1926 and graduated from the 56th class in March 1928. He was commissioned as an Ensign in November 1929. In December 1931, he was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade and was selected for a navy pilot training program at Kasumigaura Training Naval Air Station (NAS), from which he graduated in 1932. In December 1934, he was promoted to full Lieutenant. Takahashi later served on the carrier "Kaga" before he was transferred to the 13th Air Group operating in China. He was eventually promoted to Lieutenant Commander and became Air Group Commander (hikōtaichō) of the carrier "Shōkaku". He led Aichi D3A dive bombers during the Attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and during the Bombing of Rabaul in January 1942. In April 1942, he participated in the Indian Ocean Raid, where he led the strike force that sank the British carrier "Hermes". In May 1942, Lieutenant Commander Takahashi participated in Operation MO to capture Port Moresby, which resulted in the Battle of the Coral Sea. On the morning of 7 May, Japanese scout planes spotted the oiler "Neosho" and the destroyer "Sims" just south of the IJN carrier fleet and misidentified the ships as a carrier and a cruiser respectively. Rear Admiral Chuichi Hara, the tactical commander of carrier division, launched a strike force of 36 Aichi D3A dive bombers, 24 Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers and 18 Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters, under Takahashi's overall command. While the strike force was heading south, the actual US carrier fleet was sighted to the north west of the previous contact. Unsure about the conflicting information from the sightings, and unwilling to break radio silence in case it revealed the presence of his fleet, Hara did not recall the strike force. Upon arrival at the target area at 0915, they could only find an oiler and a destroyer and spent two hours searching for the carriers. Unable to find any, Lieutenant Commander Takahashi ordered the torpedo bombers and the escorting fighters to return home at 1115, while his dive bombers went for "Neosho" and "Sims". Four bombers attacked "Sims" and scored three hits, sinking her almost immediately, while the remaining 32 attacked "Neosho" and scored at least seven hits. After returning to the carriers, Lieutenant Commander Takahashi was selected to lead a late afternoon strike to attack the US carriers, which consisted of 12 Aichi D3A dive bombers and 15 Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers.