She sank on 19 June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea due to explosions resulting from design flaws and poor damage control after suffering a single torpedo hit from the American submarine USS Albacore.

Taihō's maximum fuel oil storage of 5,700 short tons (5,200 t) gave her a radius of 10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph).

[3] Taihō was the first Japanese aircraft carrier to feature an armored flight deck, designed to withstand multiple 500 kg (1,100 lb) bomb hits with minimal damage.

The armor varied slightly in thickness between 75–80 mm (3.0–3.1 in) and formed a protective lid over an enclosed upper hangar whose sides and ends were unarmored.

This offered several advantages over wood: it was cheaper, it saved weight, it required fewer man-hours to apply and it was less likely to interfere with air operations in the event of minor damage.

Taihō also had three hydraulically powered crash barriers, designed to abruptly stop any plane failing to catch an arrester wire upon landing.

Fighters were normally stowed in the middle and forward sections of the upper hangar and were raised to flight deck level using the bow elevator to facilitate more rapid handling.

With greater all-up weights and longer take-off runs than the fighters, these planes were brought up to the flight deck using the aft elevator where they could then be spotted as far astern as possible.

Further protection against fire was supplied by a foam spray system fed by two rows of pipes and nozzles running along the walls and ends of the hangars.

However, as the Imperial Japanese Navy had not developed a workable catapult for carrier decks by the time of Taihō's construction, these were eventually deleted from the requirements.

[5] Taihō's single large funnel, built into the island, was angled 26° from the vertical to starboard and carried the ship's exhaust gases well clear of the flight deck.

[12] Taihō's armament comprised 12 of the brand-new 100 mm (3.9 in)/65 caliber Type 98 anti-aircraft guns arranged in six twin-gun turrets: three on the port side and three to starboard.

The 25 mm (1 in) Type 96 cannon was the Japanese Navy's standard small-caliber anti-aircraft weapon from 1936 through the end of the war in 1945 and was an adaptation of a French design.

[14] Additionally, there were 25 portable Type 96 guns which were usually hung on hangar walls and after the plane departed were secured on metal fittings which usually held the aircraft on the deck.

Not until January 1941, when a Japanese naval technical mission arrived in Germany, did the IJN learn that European nations were using pulsed radar for combat purposes.

By 19 June 1944, however, the day the Battle of the Philippine Sea took place, she had already lost nine aircraft due to various causes and had just 56 planes remaining for actual combat.

All three carriers engaged in working up new air groups by practicing launch and recovery operations and acting as targets for mock aerial attacks staged from Singapore airfields by their own planes.

[21] On 15 April, Vice-Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa officially transferred his flag from Shōkaku to Taihō to take advantage of the carrier's extensive command facilities.

Shortly thereafter, the First Mobile Force departed Lingga and arrived on 14 May at Tawi-Tawi off Borneo, where the fleet could directly refuel with unrefined Tarakan Island crude oil and await execution of the planned Kantai Kessen ("decisive battle") known as Operation A-GO.

[22] When American carrier strikes against the Marianas indicated an invasion of Saipan was imminent, the Japanese Combined Fleet staff initiated Operation A-GO on 11 June.

The sixth torpedo, however, found its mark and the resulting explosion holed the carrier's hull on the starboard side, just ahead of the island.

[24] Meanwhile, leaking aviation gasoline accumulating in the forward elevator pit began vaporizing and the fumes soon permeated the upper and lower hangar decks.

They bungled attempts to pump out the damaged elevator well, and failed to cover the fuel with foam from the hangar's fire suppression system.

But this failed to have any appreciable effect and air operations were resumed about noon, requiring the elevator to be periodically raised as aircraft were brought up to the flight deck.