Numerous Helldivers from Bennington and Hornet attacked from Yamatos port side and numerous near misses splashed all around the battleship, which was moving at flank speed (27 knots), before she was finally hit by two 1,000-pound armor-piercing bombs at 1240. What is not mentioned above is that this mission was considered a potential suicide mission for the American aviators due the distance they were required to fly. How many ships does a Yamato sink have? 7. Torpedoes explode against Yamato's port side All ships increase speed to 25 knots and commence a simultaneous turn. This was taken as a yet another bad omen. There were few Japanese survivors. Two dud rockets hit FUYUTSUKI. YAMATOs No. World War II would see the aircraft carrier emerge as the key to naval supremacy, supplanting the battleship. Where is the wreck of the Yamato? Yamato took at least four more bomb hits in the superstructure area, which wiped out many of the remaining 25-mm guns. The big carriers got all the credit. 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. 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. This Is A Great Article Of An Historic Event. 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. On 1 January 1945, Yamato, Haruna and Nagato were all transferred to the newly reactivated 1st Battleship Division; Yamato left drydock two days later. A torpedo strikes HAMAKAZE starboard, aft of amidships and she jackknifes. 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. Combined with Yamato, about 4,242 Japanese sailors gave their lives for the emperor on 7 April. 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,. They were also given the option of not participating, an option none of them took. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. 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. 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. At 1830, destroyer Isokaze sighted Threadfin on the surface. Design commenced in 1934, construction began in 1937 (in great secrecy) and Yamato was commissioned in December 1941 just after Pearl Harbor. TG 58.3, commanded by Rear Admiral Frederick Ted Sherman, embarked on Essex (CV-9), included Bunker Hill (CV-17), Bataan (CVL-24), and Cabot (CVL-28). Her main guns were designed to attack at an unprecedented distance of 25 miles, well beyond the range of American battleships. 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 age of the carrier was now confirmed. 1,000 watertight compartments couldn't save her, and her lower decks rapidly Operation Ten-Go never should have happened. A Curtiss Helldiver bomber like the one seen at right (The Yamato force had a Nisei radio-intelligence operator. Yamato lies on the floor of the East China Sea, 200 miles north of Okinawa, blown apart by one of the most massive explosions ever to occur at sea. Just then, eight F6F Hellcats appear and begin circling over the force to maintain contact until the main formation arrives. heaviest and most powerful battleship ever built, carrying the most formidable Smoke rises from the vicinity of the mainmast and a bomb explodes in the same area. the Japanese were aware of Yamato's poor anti-aircraft defense and . Captain Hara of Yahagi later said the mission would be like throwing an egg against a rock.. Displacing 72,800 tons fully loaded, they were about 30 percent heavier than the largest U.S . For executive producer Keiko Bang, making this film was cathartic. When the U.S. invaded Okinawa on April 1, 1945, the Japanese had no naval answer to the invasion force. A 500-pound general-purpose bomb hit Suzutsuki and blew off her bow. Throughout 1943, Yamato continually transferred between Truk, Kure and Brunei in response to American airstrikes on Japanese island bases. According to the plan, Yamato, light cruiser Yahagi, and eight destroyers would form a Surface Special Attack Force (the term special attack was understood to mean suicide) and sortie on 6 April 1945. 1000 hour The Attack Force sights two large Martin Mariner PBM flying boats. The submarine radio traffic transmitted in the clear, reporting Yamato by name, and reported by Japanese radio intelligence, did nothing to improve the sense of foreboding felt by the senior officers on Yamato. (Video: Reuters) When the Japanese fleet approached Midway, the Americans were lying in wait. Yamato was commanded by Captain Kosaku Aruga (spelled Ariga in some accounts). Musashi (? One Helldiver was shot down. 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. 1). The Attack Force briefly sights seven Hellcat fighters, but they are not seen by the escorting Zekes. He asked what the Japanese navy was doing. At flank speed, YAMATO commences a right turn but two 1000-lb AP bombs hit her. This is a movie Yamato 2005. The battleship received a 30-minute time-late report from an observation post on a small Japanese island north of Okinawa that 150 U.S. planes were headed in Yamatos direction. ), and when they were lost.the bu numbers listed as lost on 4.7.1945 is very extensive!!!!! Having already counter-flooded to starboard, the only option Yamato had was to flood her starboard engine and boiler rooms. seven torpedo hits within two hours of battle. But in 'one of history's greatest salvage jobs,' many of the sunken ships rose to fight the Axis. Behind the Scenes What The Hell is Wrong with Steven Seagal? Of firing 3,220-lb shells over 26 miles pilots and eight aircrewmen were missing and presumed dead how many planes were lost sinking the yamato. American aviators received orders to drop their Most of her engineering drawings have disappeared and few photographs survive, making Yamatos exact dimensions and design a mystery. The fire in the area ofher forward 6.1 inch turret can be clearly seen (L42-09.06.05). 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. As luck would have it, he said, the big ship was turning to port, thereby exposing the full broadside expanse of her enormous hull to the converging torpedoes.. What sank the Yamato? There are many stories about the sinking of the Japanese battleship Yamato. In the interviews below, meet two Yamato veterans still haunted by memories of the battle that took most of their comrades lives. One Avenger was shot down, but three torpedoes went into the water. Captain Aruga lashed himself to the binnacle to do the same. 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). Box 378 Red Hook, New York 12571 United States, a battle group of eight aircraft carriers, her enormous hull to the converging torpedoes. My dad served on the Langley. One fire can be observed amidships from the initial strike, but no list has developed at this point. This time all the attacks are concentrated against the battleship. 1 magazine causing a huge explosion with a mushroom smoke cloud that was visible for 100 miles away. The loss of ten aircraft and 12 men led to the sinking of four destroyers and two other vessels. The destroyer Isokaze attempted to come to her aid but was heavily damaged and driven off. 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. 10 aircraft Yamato was still more than 300 nautical miles from Okinawa when she went down. ), named after an ancient Japanese province, was one of two Yamato-class battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy, beginning in the late 1930s. At this point, after just a few hours of battle, two Japanese aircraft carriers Deep sea explorers have found two Japanese aircraft carriers that were sunk in battle in World War Two. 7, 1945 south of Kyushu. The Yamato-class ships were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing 72,800 long tons (74,000 t) fully loaded and armed with nine 46-centimetre (18.1 in) main guns. Yahagi lost 446 of about 1,000 crewmen. Though many Japanese naval leaders considered Operation Ten-Go to be a waste of their remaining resources, it moved forward on April 6, 1945. They also mounted numerous smaller guns to . 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. He suggests the order to abandon ship be given. The remaining destroyers tried to pick up as many survivors as possible and limped back to Japan. The destroyers were Destroyer Division (DESDIV) 17 (Isokaze, Hamakaze, Yukikaze), DESDIV 21 (Asashimo, Kasumi, Hatsushimo), and DESDIV 41 (Fuyuzuki, Suzutsuki). Yahagi was commanded by Captain Tameichi Hara (the only Japanese destroyer skipper at the start of the war who was still alive at the end of the war), with Rear Admiral Keizo Komura, commander of Destroyer Squadron 2, embarked. Now I know a little bit. 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. Flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, she was lead ship of the Yamato class. Both the U.S. Fifth Fleet commander, Admiral Spruance, and Vice Admiral Mitscher (commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force, TF 58), who had access to the Ultra communications intelligence and were expecting the sortie, immediately reacted to the submarine reports. The age of the battleship was over forever. The Musashi and its sister vessel, the Yamato, were two of the largest battleships ever built. The Attack Force resumes zigzagging. most of the American pilots returned to their carriers, knowing The destroyers were an assortment of different classes (what was left in operation, since the Japanese would lose 120 destroyers during the war), but all were armed with powerful Type 93 Long Lance 24-inch torpedoes. One Helldiver is shot down, another is damaged badly. They were also instructed to 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. 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. It says that the Kikaigashima Island lookout station saw 150 carrier planes heading northwest. She lies in two main parts in some 1,000 feet of water. The others kept coming. Her secondary armament . A U.S. PBM Mariner also rescued several Japanese survivors. Altogether more effective were Japan's aerial suicide weapons. The attack on Pearl Harbor 71 years ago left a tangled mess of burning and shattered warships. 1400 hour Three bombs explode port amidships, five minutes later a torpedo hits her starboard side amidships. About 1,620 survivors of Yamato, Yahagi, Hamakaze, Isokaze, and Kasumi were rescued by the surviving Japanese destroyers. LtCdr (later Captain) Herbert Houck, the leader of 43 TBM Avengers of VT-9 from YORKTOWN, detaches Lt Thomas Stetsons six Avengers in a final torpedo attack from the ships starboard side. The 40 mm Bofors, with radar guidance and proximity fuses, were marginally effective in shooting down attacking planes. 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). They pounced on her like sharks in the water. A Corsair from ESSEX drops a 1000-lb GP bomb that hits the superstructure in the port bow area. At 1000 hours he launched a total of 386 aircraft consisting of fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers. 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