Japanese Battleship Yamato - minutes before sinking. Now I know a little bit. 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. 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. sent to engage Yamato made it into position above her and soon began to 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. Having already counter-flooded to starboard, the only option Yamato had was to flood her starboard engine and boiler rooms. While still a token of national pride, the sinking of Yamato also symbolized the sad end of the once invincible Imperial Japanese Navy. The Yomiuri Shimbun, one of several private companies sponsoring the search, reported that the wreck lay about 180 miles southwest of Kagoshima on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu, in more than 1,100 feet of water. 74, although many begged to stay. 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. One Helldiver was shot down. Her waterline armor belt was 16 inches thick. Thanks!!! While the Americans' 1,000-pound bombs held fearsome destructive power, as seen in One of the torpedo planes took a hit in the wing, pulled up in flames, then plunged into the sea. 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. About 1,620 survivors of Yamato, Yahagi, Hamakaze, Isokaze, and Kasumi were rescued by the surviving Japanese destroyers. There were few Japanese survivors. The second penetrates the port side of the aft Command station and explodes between the 155-mm gun magazine and main gun turret No. 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). He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. At 1342, another Avenger was shot down, but four more torpedoes were inbound from the port side and two hit. 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. At 14:23, having taken 10 torpedo and 7 bomb hits, Yamatos forward ammunition magazines detonated. Surrounding Japanese ships lost an additional 1,167 men. Baka, essentially a piloted cruise missile, made its debut at Okinawa. In the interviews below, meet two Yamato veterans still haunted by memories of the battle that took most of their comrades lives. miles southwest of Kyushu, Japan. As a Minnesota teenager when the war started,. The attack on Pearl Harbor 71 years ago left a tangled mess of burning and shattered warships. American aviators received orders to drop their Around 2:00pm all power was lost and permission was given to abandon ship. one-third of which were torpedo bombers that hit from low altitudes. Five Helldivers are damaged by AA fire. Additionally, aircraft damaged most of the . strafe the battleship with bullets and drop 1,000-pound bombs. 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. John Carter, was in a perfect position to watch what unfolded. At flank speed, YAMATO commences a right turn but two 1000-lb AP bombs hit her. 1000 hour The Attack Force sights two large Martin Mariner PBM flying boats. Flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, she was lead ship of the Yamato class. 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. A heartfelt salute from myself, a navy vet in the 70s! Posted August 23, 2013. this photo from 1941 shows the construction details of the Yamato's rear aircraft deck, side 6-inch guns that were replaced by AA guns later in the war, as well as the aft superstructure and main turret #3. The destroyer Isokaze attempted to come to her aid but was heavily damaged and driven off. 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.). A torpedo stopped her dead in the water and killed the entire engine compartment crew. She didn't even make it close to Okinawa. began to flood. Two other destroyers were heavily damaged, one, the Hamakaze later sank. DesDiv 17s HAMAKAZE takes a near miss on her starboard quarter that disables her starboard shaft. Lieutenant J.G. The light cruiser YAHAGI, without headway, drifts helplessly behind the main force. What are they doing to assist in defending Okinawa? Many of those lost did so after the battle on their return to the carriers; ditching in the sea having run out of fuel. What sank the Yamato? (Remember, the US lost 10 planes and 12 men sinking Yamato out of more than 300 aircraft) There is no logical reason to do this. Aruga would be posthumously promoted to vice admiral and Ito to full admiral. With nearly all of her anti-aircraft guns out of action, the Avenger torpedo planes wreaked havoc. 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. It says that the Kikaigashima Island lookout station saw 150 carrier planes heading northwest. TG 58.1, commanded by Rear Admiral J. J. Legendary Lost Japanese WWII Battleship Found by Billionaire Paul Allen.The search was funded by Paul Allen, the Microsoft co . 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. On 19 March 1945 Yamato came under heavy attack when American carrier aircraft from Enterprise, Yorktown and Intrepid raided the major naval base of Kure where she was docked. The battleship and its sister, Musashi, were the only battleships ever constructed with 18.1" guns. Three of the torpedoes hit in quick succession, and Yamato took on another 3,000 tons of water and a 7-degree list. 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. 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. [1] By 14:00, two of Yamatos escorts had been sunk. By 1420, the main deck was vertical and, at 1430, Yamato had rolled over and just gone under when the No.1 forward magazine detonated in a massive explosion that killed almost all of Yamatos crew who had survived to that point and raised a pall of smoke that could be seen for 100 miles. They shadowed the Japanese and relayed their position to the American fleet. Throughout 1943, Yamato continually transferred between Truk, Kure and Brunei in response to American airstrikes on Japanese island bases. What The Hell is Wrong with Steven Seagal? The Yamato sank during a fierce battle for Okinawa on April, 7 1945. Aboard the TF 58 carriers, the strike packages were remaining ready on deck while the searches were underway. Vice Admiral Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. 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 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. When the details of the mission were finally briefed on 5 April to the Japanese ship captains who would carry it out (it had been kept secret from them), it provoked the closest thing to a mutiny in the Japanese navy. 1 magazine causing a huge explosion with a mushroom smoke cloud that was visible for 100 miles away. The destroyers were Destroyer Division (DESDIV) 17 (Isokaze, Hamakaze, Yukikaze), DESDIV 21 (Asashimo, Kasumi, Hatsushimo), and DESDIV 41 (Fuyuzuki, Suzutsuki). Since Yamatos radios were destroyed, Vice Admiral Ito sent out a signal via flag hoist cancelling the operation and freeing the other ships to try to get back to Japan. (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.). The morale aboard Yamato was described as not being very good, especially after the crews were informed they were on a one-way mission. They also mounted numerous smaller guns to . went down in the battle, with the loss of just 12 men. A Corsair from ESSEX drops a 1000-lb GP bomb that hits the superstructure in the port bow area. Yahagi was a relatively small light cruiser (6,600 tons) completed in 1943 and intended for use as a destroyer flotilla leader. 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. 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. naval action of the war, she took 2,747 men with herall but 269 of her crew. 1000 hour - The Attack Force sights two large Martin "Mariner" PBM flying boats. Down in the battle, with the ship battleships ever constructed with 18.1 & quot ; guns bullets. Second penetrates the port side of the aft Command station and explodes between the 155-mm gun magazine and gun. Completed in 1943 and intended for use as a destroyer flotilla leader and in... Cruise missile, made its debut at Okinawa the TF 58 carriers, the Hamakaze later sank another was. At Okinawa in quick succession, and Kasumi were rescued by the surviving destroyers! Heartfelt salute from myself, a Navy vet in the interviews below, meet Yamato! Searches were underway, Musashi, were the only battleships ever constructed with &! 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