I heard of this story just a couple of days ago and had to post something on it after talking to my Son about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onVa7jp7hjM
The USS Albacore fired a spread of Torpedo’s at the Taiho. One was intercepted by a Japanese Aircraft that dove on the torpedo before it could strike, Two were never heard from again and assumed lost and one struck.
The Albacore dove and waited through the depth charges and slowly drifted away and they would not learn for Hours that the Torpedo that did hit the Taiho would set off a series of disaster that would result in one of Japans worst Naval disasters in WWII.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Albacore_%28SS-218%29#Sinking_of_Taih%C5%8D
To maximize the odds of a hit, Blanchard fired all six bow tubes. The carrier was in the process of launching an air strike, and one of the pilots (Sakio Komatsu) intentionally dove his plane into a torpedo, setting it off early. Three Japanese destroyers immediately charged Albacore. While the submarine was diving to escape, her crew heard one solid torpedo explosion. About that same time, 25 depth charges began raining down on the submarine. Then Blanchard heard “a distant and persistent explosion of great force” followed by another.[13]
One of Blanchard’s torpedoes had hit the carrier. It was Ozawa’s flagship, Japanese aircraft carrier Taihō, 31,000 tons, the newest and largest in the Japanese fleet. The explosion jammed the ship’s forward aircraft elevator; its pit filled with gasoline, water, and fuel. However, no fire erupted, and the flight deck was unharmed.
The one torpedo hit on Taihō caused little concern on board. Ozawa still “radiated confidence and satisfaction” and by 11:30 had launched raids Three and Four. Meanwhile, a novice took over the damage-control work. He thought the best way to handle gasoline fumes was to open up the ship’s ventilation system and let them disperse. When he did, the fumes spread all through the ship. Unknown to anybody on board, Taihō became a floating time bomb.
About 3:30 that afternoon, Taihō was jolted by a severe explosion. A senior staff officer on the bridge saw the flight deck heave up. The sides blew out. Taihō dropped out of formation and began to settle in the water, clearly doomed. Though Admiral Ozawa wanted to go down with the ship, his staff prevailed on him to survive and to shift his quarters to Japanese cruiser Haguro. Taking the Emperor’s portrait, Ozawa transferred to Haguro by destroyer. After he left, Taihō was torn by a second thunderous explosion and sank stern first, carrying down 1,650 officers and men.
— Clay Blair, [14]
