Zuikaku would fight on until the Battle of Leyte Gulf when, as flagship of the Imperial Japanese Navy with Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa on board, she was attacked and sunk by US carrier aircraft, taking 800 men with her, along with the light carrier Zuiho.
The entire task force consisted of the aircraft carrier Zuikaku, the light aircraft carriers Zuihō, Jun'yō and Ryūjō, the heavy cruisers Maya, Takao, Myōkō, Haguro and Nachi, the light cruisers Abukuma, Kiso and Tama, and 15 destroyers.