Alongside the six main aircraft carriers of Kido Butai, Japan had made plans for other ships to be converted to carriers if they needed them. The two ships of the Zuiho class were the prime examples, starting out as submarine tenders before undergoing the conversion process to carriers, entering service just as the war started. While useful with the speed to work alongside the main fleet carriers, they could only carry a small air group. Shoho would not last long as American carrier aircraft sank her at Coral Sea while Zuiho would serve at Midway before participating in the Battle of Santa Cruz in 1942 and the Battle of the Philippine Sea in 1944. She would sortie one last time and succeed in luring the American carriers away from Leyte Gulf before being sunk by American aircraft.