　航空母艦「翔鶴」は、昭和12（1937）年に発表された第三次艦船補充計画（通称③計画）によって、大和型戦艦や陽炎型駆逐艦と共に計画され、同年12月12日に横須賀工廠にて起工、同計画3号艦として建造が進められ昭和14（1939）年6月1日に進水、昭和16（1941）年8月8日に竣工しました。「翔鶴」は球状艦首（バルバス・バウ）を採用した帝国海軍の軍艦の中では最初に竣工した艦（起工は大和が最初）でした。機関出力は大和型戦艦を上回る16万馬力に達し、これにより最大速力約34ノットの高速性を得た「翔鶴」は、高速性と充実した装備を持つ大型空母として完成しました。姉妹艦「瑞鶴」と共に第五航空戦隊を構成し、日米戦の端緒となる真珠湾攻撃に始まり、セイロン沖海戦、珊瑚海海戦、第二次ソロモン海戦、南太平洋海戦、ろ号作戦等に参加し、日本海軍機動部隊の主力として活躍しました。しかし昭和19（1944）年6月19日、あ号作戦（マリアナ沖海戦）中に、米潜水艦「カヴァラ」の放った魚雷3ないし4本が命中。「翔鶴」は被雷後も航行を続けたため被害が拡大、最終的には艦内に充満した気化ガスに引火し大爆発炎上し、壮絶な最期を遂げました。
　本作品は、両艦隊が互いに相手の艦を視界内に入れず、なおかつ航空母艦を主戦力として行われた歴史上最初の海戦「珊瑚海海戦」のワンシーンをイメージして描きました。昭和17（1942）年5月8日、既に空母「祥鳳」を敵の空襲により喪失していた日本側は、敵空母部隊の発見に躍起となっていました。そんな中「翔鶴」から発艦した4機の97式艦上攻撃機の内、菅野兼蔵飛曹長・後藤継男一飛曹・岸田清次郎一飛曹が搭乗する機が第17任務部隊を発見。「敵空母見ユ」の信号を打電後、艦種、速度、位置、風向、天候、雲量を発見電から10分後に完璧に送信し、敵戦闘機の迎撃をかいくぐりながら五航戦攻撃隊出撃まで敵情を送信し続けました。その後、菅野機は帰投中に味方攻撃隊69機と合流し、反転して同部隊を第17任務部隊へ誘導。母艦に戻る量の燃料しか既に無かった菅野機にとって、これは敵空母を確実に屠るための決死の行動だったのです。これにより日本側は米空母「レキシントン」を撃沈。辛くも戦術的な勝利を納めたのでした。
　絵の中で波濤をついて進む「翔鶴」から発艦するのは、菅野兼蔵飛曹長が指揮する97式艦上攻撃機。自機の生還を捨て、「レキシントン」撃沈に味方を導いた「帰らぬ偵察機」の出撃の雄姿に、先人たちが戦いの中に示した覚悟に思いを馳せてみてください。

The aircraft carrier Shokaku was planned together with the Yamato class battleship and the Kagero class destroyer under the Third Ship Replenishment Plan (commonly known as the ③ Plan) announced in 1937, and construction began at Yokosuka Arsenal on December 12 of the same year. She was launched on June 1, 1939 and completed on August 8, 1941. The Shohaku was the first warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy to be completed with a bulbous bow (Yamato was the first to be built). The engine output reached 160,000 horsepower, more than that of the Yamato class battleships, and this gave the Shohaku a maximum speed of about 34 knots, making it a large aircraft carrier with high speed and extensive equipment. Together with her sister ship Zuikaku, she formed the 5th Air Squadron and participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor, which marked the beginning of the war between Japan and the United States, as well as the Indian Ocean raid, the Battle of the Coral Sea, the naval Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, and Operation Ro-Go, and was a major force in the Imperial Japanese Navy task forces. However, on June 19, 1944, during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the U.S. submarine Kavala fired and hit 3 or 4 torpedoes at the Shokaku. She continued to navigate after being hit by the torpedoes, resulting in extensive damage and eventually igniting the vaporized gas that filled the ship, causing it to explode into flames and sunk.
This work is inspired by a scene from the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval battle in history in which both fleets kept their opponents' ships out of sight and used aircraft carriers as their main force. On May 8, 1942, the Japanese, who had already lost the aircraft carrier Shoho to an enemy air raid, were eager to find the enemy carrier force. Among the four Type 97 aircraft that departed from the Shokaku, one commanded by Chief Petty Officer Kenzo Kanno spotted the Task Force 17. After striking the signal "Enemy carrier sighted", it transmitted ship type, speed, position, wind direction, weather, and cloud cover perfectly 10 minutes after the detection signal, and continued transmitting enemy information while evading interception by enemy fighters until an attack group was launched from carriers of the 5th Carrier Division.
Later, while returning to the ship, the Sugano aircraft met up with 69 aircraft of a friendly attack group, reversed, and guided the group to the Task Force 17. With only enough fuel to return to the carrier, this was a desperate move by Sugano to ensure the slaughter of the enemy carrier. As a result, the Japanese sank the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Lexington. It was a tactical victory. Departing from the Shokaku, which is advancing through the surging waves in the picture, is a Nakajima B5N carrier-based torpedo bomber commanded by Chief Petty Officer Kenzo Kanno. In the heroic figure of the "Reconnaissance Aircraft that Never Returns", which abandoned the survival of its own aircraft to lead its allies in the sinking of the "Lexington," please ponder the resolve shown by our predecessors in the battle.