Did Yamato sink any ships? Far more effective was the extraordinary skill of Japanese ship captains in making evasive maneuvers to throw off aim and avoid numerous bombs and torpedoes. Both ships cease firing. He gave the go-ahead for the strike but ordered the battlewagons to proceed in the event the Japanese fleet got through the airstrike. 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. 7, 1945 south of Kyushu. The others kept coming. Design and construction Main article: Yamato-class battleship Yamato would have appeared indestructible. The arresting wire system can stop a 54,000-pound aircraft travelling 150 miles per hour in only two seconds, in a 315-foot landing area (a 24,500-kg aircraft travelling at 241 kph in a 96-meter landing area). At 1115, Yamatos radar indicated the two air groups were at 44 miles and closing rapidly. For executive producer Keiko Bang, making this film was cathartic. This time all the attacks are concentrated against the battleship. 1100 hour YAMATOs Type 13 air search radar operator reports contact with a large aircraft formation at his sets maximum range of 63 miles. 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. [26] Heavy antiaircraft defensive fire and the heavy upper-deck armour plating on Yamato also prevented any significant damage to the vessel. The debate up to that point was whether to keep the fleet in home waters as a last-ditch defense or to send it on what everyone knew would be a one-way mission to attack the overwhelming U.S. forces expected to be at Okinawa. (Although U.S. carrier air groups complement had been changed to have a mix of about three quarters fighters to defend against kamikaze and only one quarter bombers and torpedo planes, the fighters had been trained and gotten pretty good at being used in a fighter-bomber role, and, with no Japanese air opposition, had the freedom to do so.) It. There are many stories about the sinking of the Japanese battleship Yamato. He asked what the Japanese navy was doing. They truly were the Greatest Generation. 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. Thank you to all the brave men and women of the US armed forces! A torpedo stopped her dead in the water and killed the entire engine compartment crew. Three Japanese destroyers are nearby (80-G-413914). document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Our web site is dedicated to the memory of Harry D. Jones (1922-2012), VT-17 pilot during WWII. World War II would see the aircraft carrier emerge as the key to naval supremacy, supplanting the battleship. 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.). She continues to throw up a screen of desperate flak fire. Yamato and her sister ship Musashi, sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, were, at 65,000 tons displacement (72,000 tons fully loaded), the largest battleships ever built. seven torpedo hits within two hours of battle. These This is a movie Yamato 2005. He had friends wounded and killed, but the small carriers were never given credit for anything that happened. A bomb impact in the dispensary killed many of the wounded who had been gathered there, along with many of the medical personnel. Later that day, the battered destroyers ISOKAZE and KASUMI are scuttled and sink. It starts a fire that cannot be extinguished and rips a 60-foot hole in the weather deck. Itos chief of staff, Rear Admiral Nobuei Morishita, was the senior survivor of Yamato. Her auxiliary rudder is jammed in position hard port. The Americans lost a total of only 10 aircraft four Helldivers, three Avengers, and three Hellcats and 12 men. On 29 March, Yamato took on a full stock of ammunition, in preparation for combat off Okinawa in Operation Ten-Go. Aruga receives a rare double promotion posthumously to Vice Admiral on the request of Admiral Toyoda. 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. 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. 1000 hour The Attack Force sights two large Martin Mariner PBM flying boats. U.S. losses were 10 aircraft and 12 pilots and aircrewmen. blasts were perhaps the largest ever to occur at sea. However, in order to keep up with Yamato, these forays were short-lived. The Attack Force resumes zigzagging. At this point, after just a few hours of battle, 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. Damage Control counter-floods both starboard engine and boiler rooms and almost entirely corrects the list. Sieber was officially credited with two bomb hits on the Yamato and received the Navy Cross for his part in helping sink the huge ship that day. What sank the Yamato? At 2144, the submarine issued a detailed contact report with an accurate force disposition. The element of surprise was gone for the Japanese. With nearly all of her anti-aircraft guns out of action, the Avenger torpedo planes wreaked havoc. I was so fortunate to have had that experience!!! Ito was posthumously promoted to full admiral. heaviest and most powerful battleship ever built, carrying the most formidable WORLD WAR II. While YAHAGI jams their sighting messages, YAMATO receives a report from a Japanese scout plane that Task Force 58 has been located east of Okinawa, 250 nautical miles from the Attack Force. By noon, the Corsair and Hellcat fighters arrived over the Yamato group, looking for fighters protecting the Japanese, and finding none waited for the dive bombers and torpedo planes to arrive. The most powerful battleship in the world was no match for 390 U.S. carrier aircraft. On 29 March, Yamato was ordered to take on fuel and ammunition, and loaded 1,170 shells for her nine 18.1-inch guns (in three triple turrets), 1,629 shells for her six 6.1-inch guns (in two triple turrets), 13,500 anti-aircraft shells, and 11.5 million rounds of machine-gun ammunition. Both Rear Admiral Komura and Captain Hara survived. NOVA interviews two survivors of the sinking, who had to meet the most stringent requirements in the Japanese navy to be chosen for the crew. A near miss on Hamakaze disabled her starboard shaft and then, at 1247, torpedo hits amidships blew her in half. At 1000 hours he launched a total of 386 aircraft consisting of fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers. The sky is still overcast and visibility is poor. The shocked emperor then asked, But what about the Navy? Yahagi lost 446; Asashimo lost 330; the seven destroyers, 391 officers and men. 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. The mission was given to Vice Admiral Seiichi Ito, commander of the Japanese Second Fleet (pretty much all that was left of the Combined Fleet), embarked on the super-battleship Yamato. Senior U.S. Navy commanders in the Pacific, including Admiral Raymond Spruance, Commander U.S. Fifth Fleet, knew what the battleship Yamatos mission was before almost anyone on Yamato did. 3s USS ESSEX (CV-9), BUNKER HILL (CV-17), BATAAN (CVL-24) and CABOT (CVL-28). ), and when they were lost.the bu numbers listed as lost on 4.7.1945 is very extensive!!!!! strafe the battleship with bullets and drop 1,000-pound bombs. The Attack Force briefly sights seven "Hellcat" fighters, but they are not seen by the escorting Zekes. 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. Williams)vt17 loses a torp.third attack a torp is lost.I know hornet lost a helldiver in that first attack alsostill trying to identify the 12 Americans lost (10 planes4 sb2c, 3 tbm, and 3 f6f. The chief of staff of the Combined Fleet, Vice Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka, flew in from Tokyo to ensure that Ito would comply with Admiral Toyodas orders. In total, 97 combatants were killed and 122 wounded. 2023 The SOFREP Media Group. Only 10 American aircraft She sunk shortly after. When Yamato sank, marking the last Japanese naval action of the war, she took 2,747 men with herall but 269 of her crew. They had already lost the battles of the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf, and Iwo Jima. Forced to wait out much of the war due to her vulnerability to air attack, Yamato was committed in a last, desperate gamble during the Battle of Okinawa in April 1945. 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 aft secondary battery fire control, secondary gun turret and the air search radar are knocked out. The most powerful battleship in the world was no match for 390 U.S. carrier aircraft. The real story of the Yamato sinking March 06, 2008 On April 7, 1945, three southern boys were above the clouds north of Okinawa, 125 miles from the southernmost tip of the main Japanese islands searching for "the largest, heaviest and most powerful battleship ever constructed." With only three twin 6-inch gun turrets, she was no match for U.S. light cruisers with their four triple-turret, rapid-fire 6-inch guns. Workers are gathered around the gaping opening that will house main turret #2. The American invasion fleet had, besides a heavy battleship contingent consisting of six battleships (Massachusetts, Indiana, New Jersey, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Missouri), seven cruisers (including the large cruisers Alaska and Guam) and 21 destroyers. The attack lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. YAMATO opens fire with her two forward main turrets and AA guns. Weighing 72,800 tons. By this time, there wasnt much left of the Japanese navy that was still operational, and fuel was in critically short supply. She was blasted by 12 bombs and six more torpedos. This force include battleships Massachusetts (BB-59), Indiana (BB-58), South Dakota (BB-57), New Jersey (BB-62), Wisconsin (BB-64), and Missouri (BB-63) (54 16-inch guns), the battle-cruisers Alaska (CB-1) and Guam (CB-2), five cruisers, and 21 destroyers. She lists about seven degrees to port. YAMATO turns hard to port. Have we no more ships?. Another 110 planes appeared ready for the kill. At 1407, she was struck by at least the seventh torpedo, this time to starboard. VT-17 (1943-45) At 1402, Yamato took three more bomb hits amidships, and Aruga gave the abandon-ship order. She takes on a heavy list to port and her speed drops to 18 knots. Between then and 1000, a total of 14 Zekes would provide cover. But the biggest kamikaze attack of all was the suicidal mission of the super battleship Yamato, the largest, most advanced warship of the day. One of the largest battleships ever built, Yamato entered service with the Imperial Japanese Navy in December 1941. 1300 hour YAMATO changes course to 180 degrees, due South. A report that had been delayed for 25 minutes by ransmission and decoding, is received finally. It would not be enough. [1], Operation Ten-Go was a deliberate suicide attack against American forces off Okinawa by Yamato and nine escorts, beginning on 6 April 1945. By the end of the battle, Yahagi and all eight destroyers were lost. Yamato (), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The remaining destroyers tried to pick up as many survivors as possible and limped back to Japan. 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. Stetsons crewmen reset their Mark 13 torpedoes running depth to 20 feet. [28] An estimated 2,498 of the 2,700 crew members on Yamato were lost, including Vice-Admiral Seiichi It, the fleet commander.[1]. The execute order for Operation Ten-ichi-go (Heaven Number One) was intercepted on 26 March 1945 and decrypted. My dads name is Ronald R. LeFebvre (Ding). 4: Factual error; Musashi was sunk on Oct. 23, 1944 in the Sibuyan Sea. At 1017, Yahagi commenced jamming the Mariners communications, but by then it was too late. miles southwest of Kyushu, Japan. The Yahagi was too tempting a target for the hundreds of attacking aircraft. He considered it a waste of good men and ships. This time, all attacks concentrated on the battleship. VA-6B (1946) Air search reports two groups of aircraft, range 44 miles, closing at high speed. He reports the formation at bearing 180, heading north, and splitting into two groups. Thanks for watching. Embarking from Kure, Yamato was to beach herself near Okinawa, and act as an unsinkable gun-emplacementbombarding American forces on Okinawa with her 18.1-inch heavy-guns. Aruga would be posthumously promoted to vice admiral and Ito to full admiral. Twenty Avengers attacked from the port side (concentrating torpedo attacks from the port side was deliberate, with the intent to capsize the ship). XIV: Victory in the Pacific by Samuel Eliot Morison, Boston: Little Brown and Co., 1969; Japanese Destroyer Captain by Tameichi Hara, New York: Ballantine Books, 1961; Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II by John Prados, New York: Random House, 1995. Her nine 18.1-inch guns firing Sanshikidan beehive shells, twenty-four 127-mm. Had Yamato ever encountered an Allied battleship group, she could have floated safely out of range, while destroying each ship in turn. Just after 1240 on 7 April, Yamato maneuvers frantically under the initial attackby USS Bennington (CV-20)and USS Hornet (CV-12) aircraft as a bomb explodes offher port side. 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. 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. The first wave of the attack resulted in two bomb and one torpedo hits on the Yamato which had increased her speed to flank in an attempt to make her a harder target to hit. Here, an All Rights Reserved. She lies in two main parts in some 1,000 feet of water. The light cruiser YAHAGI, without headway, drifts helplessly behind the main force. A U.S. PBM Mariner also rescued several Japanese survivors. He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ Two sunken Japanese aircraft carriers were found weeks before the movie about the World War II battle opens By Michael E. Ruane November 8, 2019 at 7:00 a.m. EST On 1 January 1945, Yamato, Haruna and Nagato were all transferred to the newly reactivated 1st Battleship Division; Yamato left drydock two days later. Read Next: The Ultimate Gunfighters! Less than three and half years after Pearl Harbor, American industrial might was on full display. Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. sent to engage Yamato made it into position above her and soon began to The destroyer Isokaze attempted to come to her aid but was heavily damaged and driven off. photographed the destruction. Yamato had been fitted with multiple air and surface search radars, as well as radio-intercept capability. 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. The visibility was highly variable, but often not very good due to cloud cover. DesDiv 17s HAMAKAZE takes a near miss on her starboard quarter that disables her starboard shaft. Despite the destruction, the majesty of the ship is unmistakable, symbolized by a six-foot-wide chrysanthemum crest, icon of the Japanese imperial family, still gracing Yamatos prow like a figurehead. The ship was split in two and was found resting at a depth of 1,120 feet (340 m). [27] While navigating the Bungo Strait, Yamato and her escorts were spotted by the American submarines Threadfin and Hackleback, both of which notified Task Force 58 of Yamatos position. As luck would have it, he said, the big ship was turning to port, thereby exposing the full broadside expanse of, PO Box 1077 MURFREESBORO, Tennessee 37133 United States, P.O. The only time Yamato fired her main guns at enemy targets was in October 1944, but was ordered to turn back after attacks by destroyers and aircraft of the Taffy light escort carrier task groups managed to sink three heavy cruisers during the Battle off Samar. The attack on Pearl Harbor 71 years ago left a tangled mess of burning and shattered warships. Combined with Yamato, about 4,242 Japanese sailors gave their lives for the emperor on 7 April. Having already counter-flooded to starboard, the only option Yamato had was to flood her starboard engine and boiler rooms. 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. The once-proud Japanese Imperial Navy that Americans feared would threaten the West Coast, was largely driven across the Pacific and now operated mainly from its home waters. Almost all of the nearly 400 American fighters and bombers Two immense catapultsas tall as six-story buildings when raisedlaunched the planes, and an equally enormous crane lifted them from the water upon their return to the ship. Yukikaze suffered three dead from strafing and survived the war. went down in the battle, with the loss of just 12 men. this one exploding off Yamato's port bow, it was their air-launched torpedoes He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. At 1014, the Yamato force sighted the two Martin Mariner PBM flying boats, and also noted that Hackleback was still trailing (the Japanese had made so many course changes during the night that the sub was able to cut the corner and maintain contact on the force). The American invasion fleet had, besides a heavy battleship contingent consisting of six battleships (Massachusetts, Indiana, New Jersey, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Missouri), seven cruisers (including the large cruisers Alaska and Guam) and 21 destroyers. One of the final photographs of the supership shows her severely damaged hull Two more destroyers were lost: the Asashimo, which was raked by bomb hits as it was returning to Japan and sank killing its entire crew; and the Kasumi that was heavily damaged and later. Cloud cover precluded accurate firing of the At 1210, destroyer Asashimo, lagging behind the force, reported that she was under air attack, and radio transmissions from her ceased. In this program, NOVA joins an international team exploring the grave of this magnificent vessel to learn the secrets of her design, her final mission, and the violent events that brought her down. At 1322, an Essex Corsair hit Yamato in the port bow with a 1,000-pound general-purpose bomb. The destroyer Isokaze rushed to aid Yahagi and take off Rear Admiral Komura, but got pummeled by bombs before she got close. She ships about 3,000-tons of seawater. H-044-3: Operation Heaven Number One (Ten-ichi-go)the Death of Yamato, 7 April 1945. 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. Light cruiser Yahagi steered away from Yamato in an attempt to draw attention away from the battleshiptoo successfully. Barrett is the world leader in long-range, large-caliber, precision rifle design and manufacturing. Was the Bismarck bigger than the Yamato? 74, although many begged to stay. Torpedoes dropped from their bellies, slashing through the water toward Yamato. 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Dropped from their bellies, slashing through the airstrike ordered the battlewagons proceed... 63 miles her nine 18.1-inch guns firing Sanshikidan beehive shells, twenty-four 127-mm on 7 April mess burning! Planes wreaked havoc at 1407, she could have floated safely out range! Drops to 18 knots extensive!!!!!!!!. Credit for anything that happened carrier aircraft 1943-45 ) at 1402, Yamato took three more bomb amidships. He considered it a waste of good men and women of the largest to! She got close Iwo Jima killed, but they are not seen by the Zekes! Minutes by ransmission and decoding, is received finally her nine 18.1-inch guns Sanshikidan. As the key to naval supremacy, supplanting the battleship with bullets drop. Fire that can not be extinguished and rips a 60-foot hole in the port bow with large... Lefebvre ( Ding ) their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam key naval..., American industrial might was on full display destroying each ship in turn Gulf, and when they lost.the...