The first aircraft carrier constructed by the Imperial Japanese Navy, Hosho functioned in the same manner as that of the USS Langley as an experimental ship for the Japanese to learn the capabilities of aircraft carriers. Despite seeing action in China and serving as part of Yamamoto's Main body during the Battle of Midway, Hosho's obsolescence kept her out of the majority of the Pacific War, instead she served as a training carrier. After the war, she served as a repatriation vessel before being scrapped.