The wreck of IJN Kaga rests more than 17,000 feet deep in the Pacific Ocean northwest of Midway Atoll, where she was discovered in 2019 by the research vessel Petrel. She lies upright on the seabed with her massive hull still largely intact, clearly showing her original aircraft carrier shape. Her flight deck is largely destroyed, leaving exposed structural beams and fragments scattered across the wreck site. The bow shows heavy blast damage, and debris including structural wreckage surrounds the hull. Her island superstructure is heavily damaged or missing, likely destroyed by explosions and fire, but her lower hull remains stable and preserved in the cold, dark deep sea environment.
IJN Kaga was fatally damaged on June 4, 1942, during the Battle of Midway when dive bombers from USS Enterprise (CV 6) struck her with multiple bomb hits.
The explosions ignited aviation fuel and armed weapons on her hangar decks, causing uncontrollable fires and internal destruction. The fires burned for hours, leaving her disabled and forcing the crew to abandon ship.
On June 5, 1942, the Japanese destroyer Hagikaze fired torpedoes into her hull to scuttle her and prevent capture, and she sank stern first into the deep ocean, taking around 800 crewmen with her.