 Within six minutes , Sōryū and Kaga were ablaze from stem to stern , as fires continued to spread through the ships . Akagi , having been struck by only one bomb , took longer to burn , but the resulting fires quickly expanded and soon proved impossible to extinguish ; she too was eventually consumed by the flames and had to be abandoned . All remained temporarily afloat , as none had suffered damage below the waterline , other than the rudder damage to Akagi caused by the near miss close astern . Despite initial hopes that Akagi could be saved or at least towed back to Japan , all three carriers were eventually abandoned and scuttled . 
