1000 hour - The Attack Force sights two large Martin "Mariner" PBM flying boats. 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. Torpedoes explode against Yamato's port side Of the 3,332 crew members aboard the Yamato, only 276 survived the sinking. Most of her engineering drawings have disappeared and few photographs survive, making Yamatos exact dimensions and design a mystery. They were also given the option of not participating, an option none of them took. Also interviewed is an American dive-bomber pilot who took part in the attack. photographed the destruction. She ships about 3,000-tons of seawater. The carriers were among seven ships that went down in the Battle of Midway, a major air and sea battle fought between the US and Japan in 1942. Operation Ten-Go never should have happened. There are many stories about the sinking of the Japanese battleship Yamato. 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. World War II would see the aircraft carrier emerge as the key to naval supremacy, supplanting the battleship. Helldivers from BENNINGTON and HORNET attack from port. 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. Built in total secrecy and launched just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Yamato may have been almost twice the size of her American counterparts, with the largest guns ever mounted on a warship. of the battleship gives a sense of the 18-inch guns' enormous size (note sailors on deck). 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. Two dud rockets hit FUYUTSUKI. You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article. He reports the formation at bearing 180, heading north, and splitting into two groups. A lookout spots American planes 25 degrees to port, levation 8, range 4,375 yards, moving to port. [26] Heavy antiaircraft defensive fire and the heavy upper-deck armour plating on Yamato also prevented any significant damage to the vessel. This would be carried out in conjunction with a mass aerial kamikaze attack by over 350 airplanes ( Kikusui No. What are they doing to assist in defending Okinawa? The ships were to sink as many troop transports as possible, then beach themselves and continue firing as long as they had ammunition. after the Yamato first took to the sea. Japanese Battleship Yamato - minutes before sinking. The Attack Force changes course to 100 degrees. Musashi (? The Japanese lost three aircraft carriers and 426 aircraft; Yamato ' s only . 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. Japans secrecy was due to her inability to match U.S. naval power ship for ship. 3. She was blasted by 15 bomb hits and eight torpedoes. At 0823, a Hellcat fighter off Essex (CV-9) sighted Yamato, a contact that the battleship reported at 0832. Relive the super battleship's last moments in photographs. Vice Admiral Ito initially objected to the mission, viewing it as futile and wasteful. They would not be needed. heaviest and most powerful battleship ever built, carrying the most formidable FRUPAC had the message that the air cover would end at 1000, which was also known to senior U.S. Navy commanders. battleship's aft secondary magazine caused tons of ammunition to ignite almost simultaneously, Six Yorktown Avengers attacked from the starboard side, with their Mark 13 torpedoes re-set for a 20-foot depthseveral hit. A Corsair from ESSEX drops a 1000-lb GP bomb that hits the superstructure in the port bow area. 129 Japanese soldiers were killed. It starts a fire that cannot be extinguished and rips a 60-foot hole in the weather deck. At 0657, destroyer Asashimo, with Captain Kotaki, DESDIV 21, embarked, sent a signal that she was having engine trouble and began to fall behind. Yamato would have appeared indestructible. In addition, sick sailors and also the oldest sailors were sent to shore. On 1 January 1945, Yamato, Haruna and Nagato were all transferred to the newly reactivated 1st Battleship Division; Yamato left drydock two days later. Though incredibly powerful, Yamato suffered from a relatively low top speed as its engines were . 3s USS ESSEX (CV-9), BUNKER HILL (CV-17), BATAAN (CVL-24) and CABOT (CVL-28). 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. In a separate attack, compani Over the next days, additional messages were intercepted and decrypted by Fleet Radio Unit Pacific (FRUPAC) and also OP-20-G in Washington that provided increasingly detailed information on the operations timing and made specific mention of Yamato on 5 April. At 1246, she took a direct torpedo hit in the engine room that killed the entire engine room crew and left her dead in the water, unable to avoid further hits. AA guns and one hundred fifty-two 25-mm AA guns all open fire. Musashi and her sister ship, Yamato, were by a wide margin the largest battleships ever built. Thank you to all the brave men and women of the US armed forces! RecPak is a meal replacement for the outdoors that saves you weight, space and time in the most challenging environments, just add water. 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 lost their best battleship, a cruiser, and four destroyers along with nearly 4,200 sailors. YAMATO, at 27 knots flank speed, heels to starboard in evasive action. One Avenger is shot down. Box 378 Red Hook, New York 12571 United States, a battle group of eight aircraft carriers, her enormous hull to the converging torpedoes. Aruga would be posthumously promoted to vice admiral and Ito to full admiral. Orders to Commit Suicide The Yamato had unbelievable orders. 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. 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. The U.S. 5th Fleet commander, Admiral Raymond Spruance, ordered Task Force 54, which consisted mostly of the battleships under Rear Admiral Morton Deyo, to move in and engage the Japanese task 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. This photograph was taken in December 1941, shortly Everyone of them, enlisted and officers, were a true gentleman. I was so fortunate to have had that experience!!! The Avengers drop three torpedoes. She didn't even make it close to Okinawa. Three of the torpedoes hit in quick succession, and Yamato took on another 3,000 tons of water and a 7-degree list. The Musashi and its sister vessel, the Yamato, were two of the largest battleships ever built. On her last morning, before the first American planes intercepted her, 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. Agroup of five low-flying Avengers (VT-17) from HORNET (CV-12) start a torpedo run from the port, bearing 70 degrees. With robust designs and vintage classic style, discover the heritage of military timepieces today! strafe the battleship with bullets and drop 1,000-pound bombs. Yamato maneuvers while under attack by U.S. Navy carrier planes north of Okinawa, 7 April 1945, maneuvering evasively at a brisk 15 to 20 knots. Yahagi lost 446 of about 1,000 crewmen. 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. TOKYO Seventy-six years ago, on April 7, 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy vessel Yamato, the world's largest battleship, was sunk by U.S. military aircraft. The Americans lose 10 aircraft and 12 crewmen. The explosion was heard over 120 miles away. . Design and construction Main article: Yamato-class battleship 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. two Japanese aircraft carriers Deep sea explorers have found two Japanese aircraft carriers that were sunk in battle in World War Two. The Japanese admiral in charge of Operation Ten-Go, Vice-Admiral Seiichi It, disagreed with the plan which essentially was to sail into teeth of the American fleet without the benefit of any air cover and then beach on Okinawa and operate as a static defense in support of the island. He asked what the Japanese navy was doing. Another 110 aircraft from Task Group 58. ), and when they were lost.the bu numbers listed as lost on 4.7.1945 is very extensive!!!!! April 7, 1945 Sinking of the Battleship Yamato. her bow and stern where her armor was thinnest. The attack of hundreds of US air force against Japan made Japan's biggest battleship Yamato sink. The wreck lies 290 kilometres (180 mi) southwest of Kyushu under 340 metres (1,120 ft) of water in two main pieces; a bow section comprising the front two thirds of the ship, and a separate stern section.. Who found battleship Yamato? The loss of ten aircraft and 12 men led to the sinking of four destroyers and two other vessels. With Yamato slowed, U.S. torpedo planes started to deliberately target her stern to knock out her steering, and she became stuck in a starboard turn. The fighters attacked first, strafing the anti-aircraft guns on the decks with machine guns and rockets. Support Veteran Journalism . U.S. losses were 10 aircraft and 12 pilots and aircrewmen. However, in order to keep up with Yamato, these forays were short-lived. As Yamato continued to list to port, her starboard armor belt came out of the water and her vulnerable underside became exposed. By this time, there wasnt much left of the Japanese navy that was still operational, and fuel was in critically short supply. Also, accounts differ as to whether he was a captain or rear admiral. One of the surviving destroyers did not have a bow. However, three-quarters of these (128 boats) were lost during the conflict, a proportion of loss similar that experienced by Germany's U-Boats. At 1430 on 7 April 1945, more than 300 nautical miles north of Okinawa, Yamato blows up after capsizing. Aruga receives a rare double promotion posthumously to Vice Admiral on the request of Admiral Toyoda. 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). 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. Torpedoes dropped from their bellies, slashing through the water toward Yamato. With this contact information, Spruance ordered Deyo to ready the blocking force. The executive officer reported to Captain Aruga that the damage control officers were dead and that counter-flooding could no longer correct the list, and recommended the ship be abandoned. Read Next: The Ultimate Gunfighters! It said the wreck was in two main pieces, a bow-to-midships section about 560 feet long, and a 264-foot-long stern section. Had Yamato ever encountered an Allied battleship group, she could have floated safely out of range, while destroying each ship in turn. The Japanese also spot the HACKLEBACK trailing the Attack Force. Itos chief of staff, Rear Admiral Nobuei Morishita, was the senior survivor of Yamato. most of the American pilots returned to their carriers, knowing The Attack Force briefly sights seven "Hellcat" fighters, but they are not seen by the escorting Zekes. 10 aircraft Yamato was still more than 300 nautical miles from Okinawa when she went down. (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. 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. Displacing 72,800 tons fully loaded, they were about 30 percent heavier than the largest U.S . Yahagi was a relatively small light cruiser (6,600 tons) completed in 1943 and intended for use as a destroyer flotilla leader. [1][26] Led by the man who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor, Minoru Genda, the appearance of these fighters, which were equal or superior to the F6F Hellcat in performance, surprised the attackers, and several American planes were shot down. sent to engage Yamato made it into position above her and soon began to (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.). TOKYO -- Seventy-six years ago, on April 7, 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy vessel Yamato, the world's largest battleship, was sunk by U.S. military aircraft. At 2:10pm Yamato rolled over and began to sink with fires from her aft 6.1" turret reaching her no. YAMATO opens fire with her two forward main turrets and AA guns. The most powerful battleship in the world was no match for 390 U.S. carrier aircraft. By early 1945, the Japanese Empire was shrinking daily and the war had reached its home shores. One of her lookouts spots the tracks of four torpedoes approaching. Deployment: In the fall of 1941,. 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. It. A report that had been delayed for 25 minutes by ransmission and decoding, is received finally. Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. It says that the Kikaigashima Island lookout station saw 150 carrier planes heading northwest. 1 magazine explodes and sends up a cloud of smoke seen 100 miles away. With the ship in danger of capsizing, the damage control parties counter-flooded the starboard engines and boiler rooms at 1333 hours, drowning hundreds of crew members who were unaware of the move. Asashimo went down with all 330 hands. The largest battleships ever built were Yamato and Musashi of the Imperial Japanese Navy. A torpedo stopped her dead in the water and killed the entire engine compartment crew. 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. A Japanese destroyer peeled off three times to keep Hackleback at bay. The engagement was an unmitigated disaster for the Japanese. The Hell Divers then plummeted straight down dropping armor-piercing bombs, clearing the way for the Avenger torpedo bombers that came in low and slow to try to put torpedoes on the target. Suzutsuki suffered 57 dead and 34 wounded, but, despite having her bow blown off, made it back to Sasebo, Japan, steaming in reverse the whole way; she was never repaired. About 1,620 survivors of Yamato, Yahagi, Hamakaze, Isokaze, and Kasumi were rescued by the surviving Japanese destroyers. 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. Submarine Hackleback (SS-295) then picked up surveillance, issuing four contact reports during the night as Yamato transited southwesterly along the coast of Kyushu. How many Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk in ww2? At 2144, the submarine issued a detailed contact report with an accurate force disposition. The light cruiser YAHAGI, without headway, drifts helplessly behind the main force. I was a radioman on one of the VT23 Avengers participating in this strike flying off the Langley. that ultimately led to the supership's demise. 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. burning just prior to disappearing beneath the waves. 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. Still kicking but dont know why. 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.). Operation Ten-ichi-go was the Imperial Japanese Navys plan to react to the U.S. invasion of the island of Okinawa, which Japanese intelligence correctly determined would occur at the end of March 1945. When the U.S. invaded Okinawa on April 1, 1945, the Japanese had no naval answer to the invasion force. [28] An estimated 2,498 of the 2,700 crew members on Yamato were lost, including Vice-Admiral Seiichi It, the fleet commander.[1]. 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. 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). At 1000 hours he launched a total of 386 aircraft consisting of fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers. Instead, Yamato was obsolete the day she was launched, as the Japanese themselves proved at Pearl Harbor and elsewhere by sinking Allied battleships with airpower. YAMATO starts a turn starboard to course 230 degrees. Hancock for some reason launched her 53-plane strike late, and it never found Yamato in the murk, reducing the overall first strike to 227 aircraft. During the night, this plan morphed into sending six new battleships detached from TF 58 into blocking position. Combined with Yamato, about 4,242 Japanese sailors gave their lives for the emperor on 7 April. VA-65 (1948) Air Group II (2) Fifty aircraft from ESSEX and BATAAN are sighted approaching from the SSW, range 18.5 miles. A bomb impact in the dispensary killed many of the wounded who had been gathered there, along with many of the medical personnel. One Helldiver is shot down, another is damaged badly. Yamato took at least four more bomb hits in the superstructure area, which wiped out many of the remaining 25-mm guns. But the Americans also had, The Ultimate Gunfighters! Of Yamato's crew of 2,747, all but 23 officers and 246 enlisted men were lost. The sky is still overcast and visibility is poor. Yamato was still more than 300 nautical miles from Okinawa when she went down. Japanese reports claim U.S. aircraft strafed survivors in the water, but also report that attacks ceased on destroyers that were picking up survivors. naval action of the war, she took 2,747 men with herall but 269 of her crew. There were few Japanese survivors. YAMATO and YAHAGI open fire, increase speed to 24 knots and commence a series of sharp evasive maneuvers. 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. Finally some detail1st attack vb82 loses a helldiver (my uncleensign jack Carl fuller and chas. After daybreak on 7 April 1945, a paltry six A6M Zeke fighters showed up to provide combat air patrol over Yamato. Turret #1 can also be seen upfront. Baka claimed its first victim, the destroyer USS Abele, in the seas off Okinawa on April 12. YAMATO stops zigzagging and increases speed to 24 knots. This particular image was taken during an earlier battle with American carrier aircraft on October 24, 1944 as Yamato transited the Sibuyan Sea. Twelve Helldivers claimed several hits in the bridge area in exchange for five Helldivers damaged by anti-aircraft fire. 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. Yukikaze suffered three dead from strafing and survived the war. And it was never more apparent than during the Battle of Okinawa. The Japanese also noted eight Hellcats circling the force with impunity because of no Japanese fighter cover, and remaining outside anti-aircraft range. Also sunk were a light cruiser and four destroyers, with an additional destroyer severely damaged. She continues to throw up a screen of desperate flak fire. Lieutenant J.G. As a Minnesota teenager when the war started,. 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 emperors question clinched it. 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. Even before the war, the Japanese understood that they could never match the U.S. Navy for quantity, but were convinced they could build a better battleship. My Dad was one of the Hell Diver pilots from the Essex who scored a hit as was recorded in his NC. 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. At 14:23, having taken 10 torpedo and 7 bomb hits, Yamatos forward ammunition magazines detonated. Hit by at least 11 torpedoes and six bombs, Yamato was sunk, along with Yahagi and four of the destroyers. While still a token of national pride, the sinking of Yamato also symbolized the sad end of the once invincible Imperial Japanese Navy. 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. guns ever mounted at sea. The Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Ito, orders the mission cancelled and directs the remaining ships to pick up as many survivors as possible. This is the first wave of 280 aircraft (132 fighters, 50 bombers, 98 torpedo planes) from Task Group 58. 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. Though many Japanese naval leaders considered Operation Ten-Go to be a waste of their remaining resources, it moved forward on April 6, 1945. Weighing 72,800 tons. The aft secondary battery fire control, secondary gun turret and the air search radar are knocked out. Thanks for your presentation of this event! Her nine 18.1-inch guns firing Sanshikidan beehive shells, twenty-four 127-mm. The destroyer Isokaze rushed to aid Yahagi and take off Rear Admiral Komura, but got pummeled by bombs before she got close. Legendary Lost Japanese WWII Battleship Found by Billionaire Paul Allen.The search was funded by Paul Allen, the Microsoft co . Thanks!!! They truly were the Greatest Generation. Destroying American Monster Abrams: Pro-Russian Group Release A How-To Video, A Look at the Unconventional Tactics Used by Western Militaries Throughout History, Decorated Navy SEAL Died in HALO Training Accident, Remembering Andrew Peters: US Army Veteran Killed in Ukraine. one-third of which were torpedo bombers that hit from low altitudes. Shinano () was an aircraft carrier built by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II, the largest such built up to that time. seven torpedo hits within two hours of battle. Pearl harbor was attacked on December 7th, 1941,hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. This would be carried out in conjunction with a mass aerial kamikaze attack by over 350 airplanes (Kikusui No. 1200 hour A lookout spots three Japanese troopships on bearing 0250 heading for Amami-Oshima. At 1232, lookouts in the Yamato force sighted the first incoming strike wave. John Carter, was in a perfect position to watch what unfolded. 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. Timeline of Battleship Yamato sinking on 7 April 1945 0800 hour - The Attack Force is sighted by a searching Grumman F6F Hellcat from USS ESSEX (CV-9). 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. All these years later I remember each one of those men fondly and with great respect. Executive Officer Nomura Jiro reports to Captain Aruga that his damage control officers are all dead and that counter-flooding can no longer correct the list. Gun turret and the air search radar are knocked out USS Essex ( CV-9 ), BATAAN ( CVL-24 and. Isokaze, and Yamato took on another 3,000 tons of water and her ship! 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