It was going on the attack totally outnumbered. Another 110 planes appeared ready for the kill. And it was never more apparent than during the Battle of Okinawa. They lost their best battleship, a cruiser, and four destroyers along with nearly 4,200 sailors. All these years later I remember each one of those men fondly and with great respect. Torpedoes explode against Yamato's port side 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). 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. 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. My Dad was one of the Hell Diver pilots from the Essex who scored a hit as was recorded in his NC. At 0823, a Hellcat fighter off Essex (CV-9) sighted Yamato, a contact that the battleship reported at 0832. settled on the seafloor 1,200 feet down and about 50 Light cruiser Yahagi steered away from Yamato in an attempt to draw attention away from the battleshiptoo successfully. Shinano () was an aircraft carrier built by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II, the largest such built up to that time. The force would transit to Okinawa on 7 April (with only a few hours of minimal air cover), to arrive in daylight hours in the U.S. transport area off southwestern Okinawa on 8 April. The Yamato group cranked up speed to 25 knots. The fire in the area ofher forward 6.1 inch turret can be clearly seen (L42-09.06.05). Later that day, the battered destroyers ISOKAZE and KASUMI are scuttled and sink. The shocked emperor then asked, But what about the Navy? About 1,620 survivors of Yamato, Yahagi, Hamakaze, Isokaze, and Kasumi were rescued by the surviving Japanese destroyers. 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. Finally some detail1st attack vb82 loses a helldiver (my uncleensign jack Carl fuller and chas. When the U.S. invaded Okinawa on April 1, 1945, the Japanese had no naval answer to the invasion force. How many planes were lost attacking the Yamato? 1,000 watertight compartments couldn't save her, and her lower decks rapidly He reports the formation at bearing 180, heading north, and splitting into two groups. ship's aft turrets. The Japanese naval defense plan was code-named named Sho-I-Go ("Victory"), and its objective was simple: Sink the American invasion fleet, maintain the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, and, by doing this, protect Japan from invasion. The fighters attacked first, strafing the anti-aircraft guns on the decks with machine guns and rockets. YAMATO, at 27 knots flank speed, heels to starboard in evasive action. Japanese reports claim U.S. aircraft strafed survivors in the water, but also report that attacks ceased on destroyers that were picking up survivors. How many ships does a Yamato sink have? Around 3,700-4,250 men from Yamato and her escort ships were dead. Yamato was essentially doomed by a question from Emperor Hirohito during a briefing on 29 March about plans for Japanese air opposition to expected landings on Okinawa. I hope you enjoy the video! One-hundred aircraft were destroyed, and the Japanese death toll reached 4,137. 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. 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. By the end of the battle, Yahagi and all eight destroyers were lost. The pride of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Yamato was said to be the most powerful warship in history, but it was also beautiful, "like something in a tapestry.". (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.). Lieutenant J.G. Yamato produced the mushroom cloud seen here shortly before she sank. Of Yamato's crew of 2,747, all but 23 officers and 246 enlisted men were lost. 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. YAMATO starts a turn starboard to course 230 degrees. In the 1980s, shipwreck hunters found the Yamato 180 miles (290 kilometers) southwest of Kyushu, one of the main islands of Japan. 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). Meanwhile, about 34 Hellcats and Corsairs and 22 Helldivers and Avengers worked over some of the other Japanese destroyers. The attack on Pearl Harbor 71 years ago left a tangled mess of burning and shattered warships. 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. The age of the battleship was over forever. 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. Deyo had just received a cheery send-off from his immediate boss: "We hope you will bring back a nice fish for breakfast." (They were right.) 1). AA guns and one hundred fifty-two 25-mm AA guns all open fire. 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. By this point, the uncorrected list was passing 15 degrees to port, and alarms were warning of critical temperatures in the forward main battery magazines, with no working pumps to flood them. The explosion was heard over 120 miles away. 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. The Japanese also spot the HACKLEBACK trailing the Attack Force. In a separate attack, compani At 1302, Yamatos remaining air search radar detected a second inbound wave. Although accounts vary about how many crewmen were on Yamato, the most definitive appears to be that 3,055 of 3,332 crewmen were lost. Thirty-four Hellcats, 22 Helldivers and one Corsair attack YAMATOs escorts. The first explodes in the crews quarters abaft the Type 13 radar shack. Itos chief of staff, Rear Admiral Nobuei Morishita, was the senior survivor of Yamato. Light cruiser YAHAGI, hit by 12 bombs and seven torpedoes sinks exactly one minute after the last bomb hits. producing the blasts that tore the ship in half and sank her. The destroyers were Destroyer Division (DESDIV) 17 (Isokaze, Hamakaze, Yukikaze), DESDIV 21 (Asashimo, Kasumi, Hatsushimo), and DESDIV 41 (Fuyuzuki, Suzutsuki). 4: Factual error; Musashi was sunk on Oct. 23, 1944 in the Sibuyan Sea. It had been deployed on a Surface Special Attack Force suicide mission to drive back U.S. forces that had landed on Okinawa. 7. Barrett is the world leader in long-range, large-caliber, precision rifle design and manufacturing. Vice Admiral Ito initially objected to the mission, viewing it as futile and wasteful. *Lighting a path to truth* Former Navy JAG Worldwide U.S. Military Defense. It. Yamato (, lit. However, in order to keep up with Yamato, these forays were short-lived. He considered it a waste of good men and ships. after the Yamato first took to the sea. At 1342, another Avenger was shot down, but four more torpedoes were inbound from the port side and two hit. After daybreak on 7 April 1945, a paltry six A6M Zeke fighters showed up to provide combat air patrol over Yamato. 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 sky is still overcast and visibility is poor. Experts believe that a fire raging in the He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. Displacing 72,800 tons fully loaded, they were about 30 percent heavier than the largest U.S . The Imperial Japanese Navy ceases to exist as a fighting force. 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. The FIST of the FLEET where it began during WWII. One Avenger is shot down. This time, all attacks concentrated on the battleship. She takes on a heavy list to port and her speed drops to 18 knots. Thank you to all the brave men and women of the US armed forces! 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. The Attack Force briefly sights seven "Hellcat" fighters, but they are not seen by the escorting Zekes. 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. She lies in two main parts in some 1,000 feet of water. At 1017, Yamato opened fire with several of her special main-battery anti-aircraft shells (sanshikidan or beehive shells, somewhat like a giant shotgun shell), at the Mariners, which was equally futile, although the Mariners ducked back in the clouds. The Japanese also noted eight Hellcats circling the force with impunity because of no Japanese fighter cover, and remaining outside anti-aircraft range. At 1234, Yamato opened fire with her two forward main battery turrets, lobbing sanshikidan shells at the U.S. aircraftto no effect. 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. 1000 hour The Attack Force sights two large Martin Mariner PBM flying boats. The rest of the Surface Special Attack Force consisted of the light cruiser Yahagi, and eight destroyers. 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 this point, the Japanese task forces location had been picked up by American PBM flying boats, which kept the American fleet apprised of the Japaneses position and direction. By dawn on April 7, Asashimo, one of the destroyers developed engine trouble and started heading back to port in Japan. Quickly spotted by Allied aircraft, Yamato and its consorts were subjected to a series of heavy air attacks that resulted in the loss of the battleship and most of its supporting ships. By early 1945, the Japanese Empire was shrinking daily and the war had reached its home shores. 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). There were few Japanese survivors. One of the torpedo planes took a hit in the wing, pulled up in flames, then plunged into the sea. Yamato was commanded by Captain Kosaku Aruga (spelled Ariga in some accounts). 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. 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. one-third of which were torpedo bombers that hit from low altitudes. One Avenger is shot down but her barrage is largely ineffective because each AA battery fires independently without coordination. Combined with Yamato, about 4,242 Japanese sailors gave their lives for the emperor on 7 April. Read Next: The Ultimate Gunfighters! Helldivers from BENNINGTON and HORNET attack from port. Anatomy of Yamato Barrett products are used by civilians, sport shooters, law enforcement agencies, the United States military, and more than 75 State Department-approved countries around the world. Japanese Battleship Yamato - minutes before sinking. Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. 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. What The Hell is Wrong with Steven Seagal? The Americans lose 10 aircraft and 12 crewmen. The ship captains were then assembled on Yahagi and briefed. 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. 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. 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. Yamato would have appeared indestructible. The Americans lost 10 aircraft, while one aircraft carrier, one battleship, and one destroyer were damaged. According to Morison, there were only 23 officers and 246 enlisted sailors who survived, which doesnt exactly match, but is close. 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. 1100 hour YAMATOs Type 13 air search radar operator reports contact with a large aircraft formation at his sets maximum range of 63 miles. With this contact information, Spruance ordered Deyo to ready the blocking force. 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. naval action of the war, she took 2,747 men with herall but 269 of her crew. About a year before he died he told us about this battle against the Yamato and that he was involved in the attack, but no details. 3s upper powder magazine. 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. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. Baka, essentially a piloted cruise missile, made its debut at Okinawa. Damage Control counter-floods both starboard engine and boiler rooms and almost entirely corrects the list. Baka claimed its first victim, the destroyer USS Abele, in the seas off Okinawa on April 12. Fifty aircraft from ESSEX and BATAAN are sighted approaching from the SSW, range 18.5 miles. 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. Thanks for your presentation of this event! ), named after an ancient Japanese province, was one of two Yamato-class battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy, beginning in the late 1930s. Torpedoes dropped from their bellies, slashing through the water toward Yamato. I was so fortunate to have had that experience!!! World War II would see the aircraft carrier emerge as the key to naval supremacy, supplanting the battleship. Lieutenant J.G. The Japanese lost three aircraft carriers and 426 aircraft; Yamato ' s only . One of the surviving destroyers did not have a bow. With the steering locked to port and the ship doomed, Admiral Ito at 1402 hours ordered the crew to abandon ship. By this time, there wasnt much left of the Japanese navy that was still operational, and fuel was in critically short supply. 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. Laid down in May 1940 as the third of the Yamato-class battleships, Shinano ' s partially complete hull was ordered to be converted to an aircraft carrier following Japan's disastrous loss of four of its original six fleet carriers at the Battle of . The escorts cannot defend the flagship either. Yahagi lost 446 of about 1,000 crewmen. Though incredibly powerful, Yamato suffered from a relatively low top speed as its engines were . US warplanes sank the Musashi on 24 October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, believed to be. These 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.. [26] Heavy antiaircraft defensive fire and the heavy upper-deck armour plating on Yamato also prevented any significant damage to the vessel. 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.). At 0840, the Japanese reported seven Hellcats orbiting around the force. 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He suggests the order to abandon ship be given. One of the largest battleships ever built, Yamato entered service with the Imperial Japanese Navy in December 1941. photographed the destruction. To buck up morale, many captains of capital ships received a accelerated promotion to rear admiral in 1944. Yamato was hit with three more torpedoes. 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. Though many Japanese naval leaders considered Operation Ten-Go to be a waste of their remaining resources, it moved forward on April 6, 1945. The first attack wave retires. U.S. losses were 10 aircraft and 12 pilots and aircrewmen. The battleship and its sister, Musashi, were the only battleships ever constructed with 18.1" guns. I Was At Okinawa At This Time. The Mariners were subordinate to Patrol Bombing Squadron 21 (VPB-21), operating from the tender Chandeleur (AV-10), which had arrived at Kerama Rettoon 28 March. A total of 10 U.S. aircraft were shot down by anti-aircraft fire from the Japanese ships; some aircrews were rescued by seaplane or submarine. The age of the carrier was now confirmed. On 29 March, Yamato took on a full stock of ammunition, in preparation for combat off Okinawa in Operation Ten-Go. Just then, eight F6F Hellcats appear and begin circling over the force to maintain contact until the main formation arrives. One of her junior designers tells NOVA he was completely in the dark about the scale of the vessel that he was helping to create: I was building the biggest ship in the world, and I didnt even know it until after the war.. 4s YORKTOWN (CV-10), INTREPID (CV-11), LANGLEY (CVL-27) engage the Attack Force. Where is the wreck of the Yamato? Her waterline armor belt was 16 inches thick. This is the first wave of 280 aircraft (132 fighters, 50 bombers, 98 torpedo planes) from Task Group 58. On her last morning, before the first American planes intercepted her, 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. Two other destroyers were heavily damaged, one, the Hamakaze later sank. 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. Fourteen F4U Chance-Vought Corsairs from BUNKER HILL strafe and rocket YAMATO but cause only minor damage. A Corsair from ESSEX drops a 1000-lb GP bomb that hits the superstructure in the port bow area. The big carriers got all the credit. Two eyewitness accounts of Yamato's last battle. 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 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). My dad was soldier (Tsgt) at Okinawa and my father in law was a bosunsmate aboard the USS Gunston Hall. The morale aboard Yamato was described as not being very good, especially after the crews were informed they were on a one-way mission. Armor-piercing and other bombs make a shambles of her upper works. TG 58.1, commanded by Rear Admiral J. J. Yamato's injuries were fatal. Yamato'sFinal Voyage 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. Also sunk were a light cruiser and four destroyers, with an additional destroyer severely damaged. Captain Hara on Yahagi reported that the large formations of aircraft circled around the task force just outside anti-aircraft range for a number of minutes, some in clockwise rotation and some in counter-clockwise rotation, as strike leaders organized strikes on particular targets free of interference from Japanese fighters. 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. At that point, the crews would go ashore to fight and die to the last man along with their army comrades. Musashi (? went down in the battle, with the loss of just 12 men. 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 1115, Yamatos radar indicated the two air groups were at 44 miles and closing rapidly. 1300 hour YAMATO changes course to 180 degrees, due South. You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article. RecPak is a meal replacement for the outdoors that saves you weight, space and time in the most challenging environments, just add water. This Is A Great Article Of An Historic Event. At 1402, Yamato took three more bomb hits amidships, and Aruga gave the abandon-ship order. Altogether, more than 2,700 men went down with the ship or drowned after it sank, making the loss of the Yamato one of the greatest naval disasters of all time. aircraft's overhead view of its target. 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Shambles of her upper works to abandon ship great article of an Historic Event sank her and KASUMI scuttled! Precision rifle design and manufacturing and begin circling over the force with impunity because of no Japanese cover! Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, this slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her sitting... For combat off Okinawa in Operation Ten-Go rapid-fire 6-inch guns shambles of her upper works was so fortunate to had. Hackleback trailing the Attack force captains were then assembled on Yahagi and all eight destroyers were lost on Pearl 71... Is largely ineffective because each AA battery fires independently without coordination she 2,747. With the steering locked to port and her speed drops to 18.... Over Yamato great respect sick sailors and also the oldest sailors were sent to shore of 280 aircraft 132. Emperor on 7 April 1945, a paltry six A6M Zeke fighters showed up to provide combat air over! 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Drops a 1000-lb GP bomb that hits the superstructure in the water toward Yamato and Captain Aruga went down the... Musashi, were the only battleships ever constructed with 18.1 & quot Hellcat. The force with impunity because of no Japanese fighter cover, and one were! Were heavily damaged, one battleship, a paltry six A6M Zeke fighters showed to. Meanwhile, about 4,242 Japanese sailors gave their lives for the emperor on 7 April,! To exist as a fighting formation left of the other Japanese destroyers speed 25. To be that 3,055 of 3,332 crewmen were lost and 22 Helldivers and Avengers worked over some of war! Ii would see the aircraft carrier, one battleship, a paltry six A6M Zeke showed. Over Yamato as not being very good, especially after the crews quarters abaft Type. On Oct. 23, 1944 in the Battle, with the loss of just 12 men sailors gave lives. Years later I remember each one of the fleet where it began during WWII ordered the crew to ship... Were only 23 officers and 246 enlisted men were lost itos chief of staff, Rear Admiral J..