distant support for the 1st Air Fleet attacking Pearl Harbor on 8 December, the division, reinforced by the battleships and and the light carrier , sortied from Hashirajima to the Bonin Islands and returned six days later. Ise had a minor refit at the Kure Naval Arsenal in 19–25 February 1942. Together with the rest of the division, she pursued, but did not catch, the American carrier force that had launched the Doolittle Raid on 18 April. On 11 May Ise had an accident which flooded her No. 2 engine room. While under repair, the ship was fitted with one of the first experimental Type 21 early-warning radar sets in the IJN, but it was removed shortly afterwards. Ise and the rest of the 2nd Battleship Division set sail on 28 May with the Aleutian Support Group at the same time most of the Imperial Fleet began an attack on Midway Island (Operation MI). Commanded by Vice-Admiral Shirō Takasu, the division was composed of Japan's four oldest battleships, including Ise, accompanied by two light cruisers, 12 destroyers, and two oilers. Official records do not show the division as part of the larger Midway operation, known as Operation AL; they were to accompany the fleet under Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, but were only to provide support to the Aleutian task force if needed. Conversion to a hybrid carrier The loss of four Japanese aircraft carriers during the Battle of Midway in June severely limited the ability of the IJN to conduct operations and alternatives were sought. Plans for full conversions of battleships into aircraft carriers were rejected on the grounds of expense and, most critically, time, so the IJN settled on removing the rear pair of turrets from the Ise-class ships and replacing them with a flight deck equipped with two rotating catapults. Ise began her conversion on 23 February 1943 and Takeda was relieved by Captain Hase Shinzaburo on 25 April. The ship's No. 5 and No. 6 turrets were replaced by a hangar surmounted by a flight deck. This was not long enough to permit the launch of aircraft or their recovery. Two catapults were installed and the existing crane was moved to the flight deck. The deck was fitted with an extensive system of rails to link each catapult, the storage positions on the deck and the "T"-shaped aircraft lift that moved aircraft between the flight deck and the