They lost their best battleship, a cruiser, and four destroyers along with nearly 4,200 sailors. He asked what the Japanese navy was doing. The sinking of the Yamato on April 7 conclusively signaled the end of the "all-big-gun" battleship era of naval warfare. During the night, this plan morphed into sending six new battleships detached from TF 58 into blocking position. The first torpedoes pass by harmlessly, but the remaining two strike her port amidships. *Lighting a path to truth* Former Navy JAG Worldwide U.S. Military Defense. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ , When the U.S. invaded Okinawa on April 1, 1945, the Japanese had, So, the admirals concocted what they termed, Operation Ten-Go (Operation Heaven One). DANFS - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Permitting Policy and Resource Management, The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks: 20 Years Later, "Ex Scientia Tridens": The U.S. Where is the wreck of the Yamato? By the end of the battle, Yahagi and all eight destroyers were lost. Flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, she was lead ship of the Yamato class. As soon as the Japanese fleet left port on April 6 at 1600 hours, and proceeded through the Bungo Strait, (many WWII film buffs will recall the strait from Run Silent, Run Deep), they were immediately picked up by two American submarines (Hackleback and Threadfin). The fire in the area ofher forward 6.1 inch turret can be clearly seen (L42-09.06.05). Eight Japanese destroyers and one cruiser, the Yahagi (left), tried to assist Yamato in fending off her attackers. The Japanese also noted eight Hellcats circling the force with impunity because of no Japanese fighter cover, and remaining outside anti-aircraft range. The Americans lost a total of only 10 aircraft four Helldivers, three Avengers, and three Hellcats and 12 men. My dad was soldier (Tsgt) at Okinawa and my father in law was a bosunsmate aboard the USS Gunston Hall. 2023 The SOFREP Media Group. At 1232, lookouts in the Yamato force sighted the first incoming strike wave. Also sunk were a light cruiser and four destroyers, with an additional destroyer severely damaged. This Is A Great Article Of An Historic Event. At 1000, Task Group 58.1 and Task Group 58.3 commence launching a 280-plane strike wave (132 fighters, 50 bombers, and 98 torpedo planes). They would launch the worlds largest battleship, the Yamato with its enormous 18-inch guns, one light cruiser, and eight destroyers against the enormous American fleet. Japanese reports claim U.S. aircraft strafed survivors in the water, but also report that attacks ceased on destroyers that were picking up survivors. Thanks!!! Her secondary armament was significantly altered during the war by removing two of her four triple 6.1-inch turrets in favor of increased anti-aircraft armament, which, by 1945, included 12 dual 5-inch gun mounts, 54 25-mm triple mounts (162 guns), and smaller machine guns. Of the just over 3,000 men aboard the Yamato on the morning of April 7, 1945, fewer than 300 were alive at days end. . The second and third waves of the American attacks pummeled Yamato. Though incredibly powerful, Yamato suffered from a relatively low top speed as its engines were . The loss of these ships shocked the British government, and helped change procurement and employment strategies in both the United States and the United Kingdom. At 0840, the Japanese reported seven Hellcats orbiting around the force. When Yamato sank, marking the last Japanese naval action of the war, she took 2,747 men with herall but 269 of her crew. YAMATO is hit by two AP bombs. The final phase of the Pacific war during World War II saw a terrible new tactic: massed kamikaze attacks on American ships by Japanese planes. One Helldiver is shot down, another is damaged badly. One strikes her port side near the forward windlass room. Instead, military leaders decided to build a secret weapon that could engage many enemy ships at once. two Japanese aircraft carriers Deep sea explorers have found two Japanese aircraft carriers that were sunk in battle in World War Two. This time all the attacks are concentrated against the battleship. Yamato (), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. There were few Japanese survivors. VA-25 (1959) Air Group VI (6) None of the captains was afraid to diethey just objected to the sheer folly of attacking in daylight without air cover, believing that they wouldnt get anywhere close to Okinawa. after the Yamato first took to the sea. TG 58.1 and 58.3 were quickly on station. Two eyewitness accounts of Yamato's last battle. Deployment: In the fall of 1941,. So, the admirals concocted what they termed, Operation Ten-Go (Operation Heaven One). VA-65 (1948) Air Group II (2) Her remaining air search radar reports the approach of a second attack wave. The task force was spotted south of Kyushu by US submarines and aircraft, and on 7 April 1945 she was sunk by American carrier-based bombers and torpedo bombers with the loss of most of her crew. Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. A near miss on Hamakaze disabled her starboard shaft and then, at 1247, torpedo hits amidships blew her in half. Everyone of them, enlisted and officers, were a true gentleman. The destroyer Isokaze rushed to aid Yahagi and take off Rear Admiral Komura, but got pummeled by bombs before she got close. Later that day, the battered destroyers ISOKAZE and KASUMI are scuttled and sink. On May 6, 1945, a twin-engine kamikaze plane's bomb exploded beside the destroyer Luce, part of the radar picket ship screen surrounding Okinawa, and ripped her starboard side "like a sardine. YAMATO opens fire with her two forward main turrets and AA guns. The first explodes in the crews quarters abaft the Type 13 radar shack. After a dozen torpedo hits, even the Yamato's This particular image was taken during an earlier battle with American carrier aircraft on October 24, 1944 as Yamato transited the Sibuyan Sea. I have his flight logs (as he never talked about the war except the death of his brother and his friends) so it is nice to get the big picture of this action. At 1322, an Essex Corsair hit Yamato in the port bow with a 1,000-pound general-purpose bomb. the Japanese were aware of Yamato's poor anti-aircraft defense and . This would be carried out in conjunction with a mass aerial kamikaze attack by over 350 airplanes ( Kikusui No. In total, the U.S. lost 12 men. heaviest and most powerful battleship ever built, carrying the most formidable Meanwhile, the dead-in-the-water Yahagi had soaked up at least 12 bombs and seven torpedo hits before she finally capsized and sank at 1405. The execute order for Operation Ten-ichi-go (Heaven Number One) was intercepted on 26 March 1945 and decrypted. She rolls slowly over her port side on her beam ends. The Yamato group cranked up speed to 25 knots. Of the Japanese destroyers, Asashimo was sunk with all hands (about 330) and Hamakaze sank with a loss of 100 crewmen and 45 wounded (257 were rescued). Spruance gave orders to Rear Admiral Morton Deyo, commander of the Bombardment Force, to take his six old battleships and set up a blocking force northwest of Okinawa (as Yamato was circling around in that direction with the intent to stay as far from TF 58 as possible). burning just prior to disappearing beneath the waves. (The actual U.S. landings on Okinawa commenced 1 April 1945, but carrier strikes and shore bombardment began a week earlier and the landings on the small islands of the Kerama-shtto group just southwest of Okinawa occurred on 27 March.). The extremely large number of antiaircraft guns, added during a refit, were meant to keep the ship afloat in the face of American airpower until it could close within striking range of enemy. Constructed from 1937 1940 and formally commissioned in late 1941, Yamato served as the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto throughout 1942, first sailing as part of the Combined Fleet during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Thirty-four Hellcats, 22 Helldivers and one Corsair attack YAMATOs escorts. . The attack on Pearl Harbor killed 2,403 U.S. personnel, including sailors, soldiers and civilians. American aviators received orders to drop their But even as Deyo was deploying his force, Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, the commander of Task Force 58 (TF 58), acting completely on his own without orders from Spruance, launched a massive airstrike using all eight of his carriers to attempt to strike a deathblow. At 1243, five Hornet Avengers came in from port, while 14 F4U Corsairs from Bunker Hill were strafing and hitting Yamato with rockets that caused little damage to the ship, but were deadly to the gunners. They truly were the Greatest Generation. In addition, sick sailors and also the oldest sailors were sent to shore. Most of the battles in the Pacific dont mention anything about the small carriers that were involved. At 1302, Yamatos remaining air search radar detected a second inbound wave. She was blasted by 15 bomb hits and eight torpedoes. 1). Of Yamato's crew of 2,747, all but 23 officers and 246 enlisted men were lost. Thus, its possible Aruga was selected, but not yet promoted. In keeping with Japanese practice of posthumous promotion for death in battle, he was promoted to vice admiral after Yamato was sunk, that much is fact. Additionally, 1,178 people were wounded. [5] The smoke from the explosionover 4miles (6.4km) highwas seen 100miles (160km) away on Kysh. Thank you to all the brave men and women of the US armed forces! The Avengers drop three torpedoes. Spruance was informed of it only after the aircraft had taken off. These One bomb exploded in crews quarters, but the other bomb exploded near the aft command station and knocked out one of her two air search radars, the aft secondary gun director, several 25-mm gun mounts, and started a fire that killed all but one crewman in the after secondary (6-inch) gun turret and that couldnt be put out. A 500-pound general-purpose bomb hit Suzutsuki and blew off her bow. Ito was posthumously promoted to full admiral. Since Yamato could not get to the landing area before 8 April, there wasnt a big rush and Deyo convened a planning conference on his flagship Eldorado (AGC-11) at 1030 with plans to sortie TF 54 from the bombardment area at 1530. Sources include: NHHC Dictionary of American Fighting Ships (DANFS) for U.S. ships and combinedfleet.com for Japanese ships. Rather than targeting specific vessels, Stump ordered his air group to attempt to cripple as many Japanese ships as possible. At 1115, Yamatos radar indicated the two air groups were at 44 miles and closing rapidly. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the largest and heaviest battleships ever constructed, displacing 72,800tonnes at full load, and armed with nine 46cm (18.1inch) main guns. 1100 hour YAMATOs Type 13 air search radar operator reports contact with a large aircraft formation at his sets maximum range of 63 miles. Asashimo was first attacked by aircraft from Bunker Hill and then, a few minutes later, by aircraft from San Jacinto, which scored killing hits with torpedoes and bombs. 7, 1945 south of Kyushu. Aruga would be posthumously promoted to vice admiral and Ito to full admiral. John Carter, was in a perfect position to watch what unfolded. Shinano () was an aircraft carrier built by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II, the largest such built up to that time. More than 4,000 Japanese sailors were involved in the operation. Adam Brown: A SEALs Life of Courage and Redemption, Complete List: Ticonderoga-class Missile Cruisers To Retire By 2027, Nuclear Close Calls That Nearly Caused World War III, Russian Sausage Millionaire and Putin Critic Falls to His Death in India, Deadly Russian Rifle Brigade Wiped Out During War in Ukraine. Her waterline armor belt was 16 inches thick. The Japanese fighters were unable to make contact before they left at 1000. Living Conditions. Japanese lookouts spotted the American air armada at 1232 hours and soon opened fire with Yamatos 18-inch guns firing San Shiki anti-aircraft shells that were wildly inaccurate. For executive producer Keiko Bang, making this film was cathartic. As later described by the captain of Yahagi, Captain Tameichi Hara, the meeting was quite contentious. The Japanese battleship Yamato in the late stages of construction alongside of a large fitting out pontoon at the Kure Naval Base, Japan, 20 September 1941.The aircraft carrier Hsh is visible at the extreme right.The store ship Mamiya is anchored in the center distance.Note Yamato's after 460mm main battery gun turret, and superfiring 155mm secondary battery gun turret. In viewing cite, this the first time I have seen any mention of the carrier Langley. The Japanese opened up with everything they had, which looked terrifying, but U.S. pilots quickly figured out that Japanese anti-aircraft fire was wildly inaccurate. A lookout spots American planes 25 degrees to port, levation 8, range 4,375 yards, moving to port. The battleship and its sister, Musashi, were the only battleships ever constructed with 18.1" guns. [25][26] Damage to the battleship, however, was light,[25] due in part to the base being defended by elite veteran Japanese fighter instructors flying Kawanishi N1K Shiden or George fighters. Design commenced in 1934, construction began in 1937 (in great secrecy) and Yamato was commissioned in December 1941 just after Pearl Harbor. 276 men are rescued including Rear Admiral Morishita Nobuei, Chief of Staff, Second Fleet (and former YAMATO skipper). He suggests the order to abandon ship be given. 1,000 watertight compartments couldn't save her, and her lower decks rapidly YAMATO and YAHAGI open fire, increase speed to 24 knots and commence a series of sharp evasive maneuvers. Hit by at least 11 torpedoes and six bombs, Yamato was sunk, along with Yahagi and four of the destroyers. They pounced on her like sharks in the water. 3s upper powder magazine. One of the largest battleships ever built, Yamato entered service with the Imperial Japanese Navy in December 1941. The age of the battleship was over forever. Musashi and her sister ship, Yamato, were by a wide margin the largest battleships ever built. She lists about seven degrees to port. TG 58.2 was in the act of refueling and wouldnt get there in time. YAMATO stops zigzagging and increases speed to 24 knots. Praesidus brings homage to the military watch tradition. But the Americans also had a battle group of eight aircraft carriers (Hornet, Bennington, Belleau Wood, San Jacinto; TG 58.3 Essex, Bunker Hill, Hancock, and Bataan) that were covering the landings. Destroyer SUZUTSUKI wreathed in black smoke, burns furiously. I stumbled on this article and I finally know a little about this battle. As waves of kamikazes took to the sky to defend the island, Yamato was ordered to sea on a mission to emulate the suicide planes and take out as many American ships as possible. Combined with Yamato, about 4,242 Japanese sailors gave their lives for the emperor on 7 April. Ito's last order was to cancel the operation and have the remaining destroyers rescue whoever they could before he joined the 3,055 of 3,332 crewmen who went down with Yamato. 10 aircraft Yamato was still more than 300 nautical miles from Okinawa when she went down. At 1107, Yamatos Type 13 air search radar detected a large aircraft formation inbound at the radars maximum range of 63 nautical miles, and noted the aircraft formation was splitting into two groups. The desperate measure worked, but, with insufficient time to give warning, several hundred Yamato crewmen were drowned as a result, and the ship was slowed to 10 knots, which made her an easier target. The Americans lost 10 aircraft, while one aircraft carrier, one battleship, and one destroyer were damaged. More U.S. aircraft may have been knocked down by the magazine explosion than by Japanese anti-aircraft fire. The escorts cannot defend the flagship either. The ship was split in two and was found resting at a depth of 1,120 feet (340 m). How many Japanese submarines were lost in ww2? At 1423 as she began to capsize, the raging fires onboard ignited her magazines and the resultant explosion unleashed a huge mushroom cloud that rose to 20,000 feet and took out a few American planes that were overhead. He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. What sank the Yamato? What The Hell is Wrong with Steven Seagal? She had suffered minor damage in the bridge area from a bomb hit by a Helldiver dive-bomber off Intrepid (CV-11) during U.S. carrier strikes on Kure and the Inland Sea on 19 March, but was fully fit for battle. Japanese naval leaders briefed Emperor Hirohito on their plans, which consisted of massive air attacks, including kamikaze strikes. At 2:10pm Yamato rolled over and began to sink with fires from her aft 6.1" turret reaching her no. YAMATO turns towards the planes and opens fire unsuccessfully as does cruiser YAHAGI. See what made the ship both seemingly unsinkable and highly vulnerable to attack. Also interviewed is an American dive-bomber pilot who took part in the attack. 1200 hour A lookout spots three Japanese troopships on bearing 0250 heading for Amami-Oshima. Breaking the news to the Emperor, a Japanese admiral was asked, what about the fleet? The admiral had to admit, the Japanese fleet had ceased to exist as a fighting formation. concentrate their torpedoes on just one of Yamato's sides, an approach Torpedoes explode against Yamato's port side He just didnt want to talk about the war. YAMATO, despite hits by two bombs and one torpedo, maintains flank speed. Yamato produced the mushroom cloud seen here shortly before she sank. U.S. losses were 10 aircraft and 12 pilots and aircrewmen. Eggheads on this subject get "lost in the sauce" going over tables, charts, and math formulas done by researchers after the war shooting rounds into armor plate captured from Japan and Germany,. 74, although many begged to stay. Fuyuzuki suffered light damage from dud rockets, suffered 12 dead and 12 injured, and was repaired, but had her stern blown off by a mine after the August cease-fire. Did Yamato sink any ships? The Imperial Japanese Navy ceases to exist as a fighting force. It's cable. Baka, essentially a piloted cruise missile, made its debut at Okinawa. (Based on erroneous San Jacinto report, Samuel Eliot Morison misidentifies this ship as Hamakaze, but a photo shows a Yugumo-class destroyer, which would be Asashimo, and which was also the one lagging behind.). These behemoths were triple the tonnage of some other battleships of their day and each one had three turrets, with three huge 18.1 guns per turret. Her main armament consisted of three triple 18.1-inch gun turrets that could hurl a 3,200-pound shell (compared to 2,700 pounds for the U.S. 16-inch shells) to a range of just over 22 miles. At 0823, a Hellcat fighter off Essex (CV-9) sighted Yamato, a contact that the battleship reported at 0832. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ A U.S. PBM Mariner also rescued several Japanese survivors. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. The Japanese lost three aircraft carriers and 426 aircraft; Yamato ' s only . In the interviews below, meet two Yamato veterans still haunted by memories of the battle that took most of their comrades lives. At 2144, the submarine issued a detailed contact report with an accurate force disposition. He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. Twelve Helldivers claim several hits near the bridge and main gun turret No. Additionally, aircraft damaged most of the . Although born a U.S. citizen, he had been studying in Japan when the war broke out and had the choice of execution or serving in the Imperial Japanese Navy.). Having already counter-flooded to starboard, the only option Yamato had was to flood her starboard engine and boiler rooms. ), U.S. submarines were already waiting for Yamato, with orders to report rather than attack, although with the force transiting at 22 knots and frequently zig-zagging, successful attack in all but the luckiest circumstances was unlikely. One Avenger is shot down but her barrage is largely ineffective because each AA battery fires independently without coordination. It starts a fire that cannot be extinguished and rips a 60-foot hole in the weather deck. By dawn on April 7, Asashimo, one of the destroyers developed engine trouble and started heading back to port in Japan. 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A bosunsmate aboard the USS Gunston Hall 25 knots morphed into sending six new battleships detached TF... Detected a second inbound wave down with the Imperial Japanese Navy in December 1941 contact before they at! Then, at 1247, torpedo hits amidships blew her in half down, another damaged... Hellcat fighter off Essex ( CV-9 ) sighted Yamato, about 4,242 Japanese sailors were involved in water! Reported at 0832 aircraft and 12 men their comrades lives and wouldnt get there in time down with ship... Exist as a fighting force executive producer Keiko Bang, making this was. Detected a second inbound wave Helldivers and one destroyer were damaged attempt to cripple many! Sunk, along with Yahagi and take off Rear admiral Morishita Nobuei, Chief of Staff, Fleet! In low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam and then at! 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