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. (Although some accounts say that, according to the plan, the ships were only given enough fuel to reach Okinawa, they actually received as much fuel as was available to give. One Avenger is shot down. Many of those lost did so after the battle on their return to the carriers; ditching in the sea having run out of fuel. Yamato took at least four more bomb hits in the superstructure area, which wiped out many of the remaining 25-mm guns. With nearly all of her anti-aircraft guns out of action, the Avenger torpedo planes wreaked havoc. At 14:23, having taken 10 torpedo and 7 bomb hits, Yamatos forward ammunition magazines detonated. This would be carried out in conjunction with a mass aerial kamikaze attack by over 350 airplanes (Kikusui No. [5] The smoke from the explosionover 4miles (6.4km) highwas seen 100miles (160km) away on Kysh. 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. 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). 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. Most of the battles in the Pacific dont mention anything about the small carriers that were involved. 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.. Yamato would have appeared indestructible. Two other destroyers were heavily damaged, one, the Hamakaze later sank. The age of the carrier was now confirmed. I am fortunate to be living as long as I have , I know us WWII vets are living on borrowed time, but glad to be of sound mind yet and can remember incidents like this. seven torpedo hits within two hours of battle. 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. 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. By 1408, Yamato had clearly begun to capsize and the ship was being abandoned. Stetsons crewmen reset their Mark 13 torpedoes running depth to 20 feet. The Japanese lost three aircraft carriers and 426 aircraft; Yamato ' s only . The destroyer Isokaze attempted to come to her aid but was heavily damaged and driven off. 1). At 1407, she was struck by at least the seventh torpedo, this time to starboard. Thanks for watching. 4: Factual error; Musashi was sunk on Oct. 23, 1944 in the Sibuyan Sea. two Japanese aircraft carriers Deep sea explorers have found two Japanese aircraft carriers that were sunk in battle in World War Two. The execute order for Operation Ten-ichi-go (Heaven Number One) was intercepted on 26 March 1945 and decrypted. VA-6B (1946) He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. The Japanese fighters were unable to make contact before they left at 1000. 1 magazine explodes and sends up a cloud of smoke seen 100 miles away. They had already lost the battles of the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf, and Iwo Jima. It was going on the attack totally outnumbered. At 1000 hours he launched a total of 386 aircraft consisting of fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers. A lookout spots American planes 25 degrees to port, levation 8, range 4,375 yards, moving to port. By this point, Yamato was firing main-battery beehive shells set to detonate after one second (about 3,000 yards) from the ship, which U.S. aircraft just blew through. 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. Yamato carried only enough fuel to reach Okinawa, as the fuel stocks available were insufficient to provide enough fuel to reach Okinawa and return. All these years later I remember each one of those men fondly and with great respect. 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). 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 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. Yamato produced the mushroom cloud seen here shortly before she sank. At 1333, another 110 aircraft from TG 58.4 (Yorktown, Intrepid, and Langley), which had launched after the first wave of 280 aircraft, commenced their attack on Yamato. One Avenger was shot down, but three torpedoes went into the water. (The Yamato force had a Nisei radio-intelligence operator. 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. John Carter, was in a perfect position to watch what unfolded. The Yamato group cranked up speed to 25 knots. When Yamato sank, marking the last Japanese Musashi and her sister ship, Yamato, were by a wide margin the largest battleships ever built. (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.). Cloud cover precluded accurate firing of the Then radar reports the closing aircraft have turned towards the force. The attack of hundreds of US air force against Japan made Japan's biggest battleship Yamato sink. 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 saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. 3s upper powder magazine. Updated on July 03, 2019. Yamato was hit with three more torpedoes. Asashimo went down with all 330 hands. The Attack Force turns to course 205, towards Okinawa. The commander in chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Soemu Toyoda, resolved to send what was left of his force out in a blaze of glory. Support Veteran Journalism . As she came under attack on that April morning, the Relive the super battleship's last moments in photographs. Was the Bismarck bigger than the Yamato? However, three-quarters of these (128 boats) were lost during the conflict, a proportion of loss similar that experienced by Germany's U-Boats. The Yamato, completed in Kure in December 1941, was the largest battleship in the world at the time. Turret #1 can also be seen upfront. Her main armament consisted of three triple 18.1-inch gun turrets that could hurl a 3,200-pound shell (compared to 2,700 pounds for the U.S. 16-inch shells) to a range of just over 22 miles. By this time, there wasnt much left of the Japanese navy that was still operational, and fuel was in critically short supply. The loss of these ships shocked the British government, and helped change procurement and employment strategies in both the United States and the United Kingdom. TG 58.2 was in the act of refueling and wouldnt get there in time. YAMATO, despite hits by two bombs and one torpedo, maintains flank speed. Of Yamato's crew of 2,747, all but 23 officers and 246 enlisted men were lost. 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. She slips under followed by an underwater explosion. Vice Admiral Ito initially objected to the mission, viewing it as futile and wasteful. that ultimately led to the supership's demise. How many ships does a Yamato sink have? How many US planes were lost sinking the Yamato? 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. Having already counter-flooded to starboard, the only option Yamato had was to flood her starboard engine and boiler rooms. 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. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. They eventually fell in line when informed that this was what the emperor wanted, that the force would serve to support the mass kamikaze air attack, and that it was an order. April 7, 1945 Sinking of the Battleship Yamato. settled on the seafloor 1,200 feet down and about 50 Aboard the TF 58 carriers, the strike packages were remaining ready on deck while the searches were underway. Three Japanese destroyers are nearby (80-G-413914). At this point, after just a few hours of battle, This image About 1,187 crewmen of Yahagi and the four destroyers were lost. (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. H-044-3: Operation Heaven Number One (Ten-ichi-go)the Death of Yamato, 7 April 1945. They were also instructed to Thirty-four Hellcats, 22 Helldivers and one Corsair attack YAMATOs escorts. 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. He suggests the order to abandon ship be given. 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. Thank you to all the brave men and women of the US armed forces! He had friends wounded and killed, but the small carriers were never given credit for anything that happened. 1,000 watertight compartments couldn't save her, and her lower decks rapidly Lieutenant J.G. With the steering locked to port and the ship doomed, Admiral Ito at 1402 hours ordered the crew to abandon ship. Of the 3,332 crew members aboard the Yamato, only 276 survived the sinking. 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. 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. 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. 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? One of the final photographs of the supership shows her severely damaged hull The age of the battleship was over forever. YAMATO turns towards the planes and opens fire unsuccessfully as does cruiser YAHAGI. A heartfelt salute from myself, a navy vet in the 70s! It. She lists about seven degrees to port. Hit by at least 11 torpedoes and six bombs, Yamato was sunk, along with Yahagi and four of the destroyers. The others kept coming. 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. 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. This is a movie Yamato 2005. 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). In the interviews below, meet two Yamato veterans still haunted by memories of the battle that took most of their comrades lives. VT-17 (1943-45) In total, the U.S. lost 12 men. 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). 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. He reports the formation at bearing 180, heading north, and splitting into two groups. 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. Yukikaze suffered three dead from strafing and survived the war. What The Hell is Wrong with Steven Seagal? 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. Living Conditions. One Avenger is shot down but her barrage is largely ineffective because each AA battery fires independently without coordination. This was taken by senior Japanese navy leaders as implicit criticism of their services inaction. Only 10. 0800 hour The Attack Force is sighted by a searching Grumman F6F Hellcat from USS ESSEX (CV-9). The Imperial Japanese Navy's super-battleship Yamato, shown here during pre-commission running trials in the Bungo Strait between the Home Islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, 20 October 1941 (NH 73092). The Attack Force changes course due south to 180 degrees. Pearl harbor was attacked on December 7th, 1941,hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. Japanese Battleship Yamato - minutes before sinking. Yamato (), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. 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. The fighters attacked first, strafing the anti-aircraft guns on the decks with machine guns and rockets. Another 110 aircraft from Task Group 58. Their solution was to bolt a shit load of 25mm open AA gun mounts where ever they could which left the sailor's firing them very exposed to enemy MG's. The USN would rake the hell out of just one side of a BB like Yamato and soften up the AAA for the torpedo planes and dive bombers to attack. 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. This photograph was taken in December 1941, shortly The battleship and its sister, Musashi, were the only battleships ever constructed with 18.1" guns. Captain Hara of Yahagi later said the mission would be like throwing an egg against a rock.. Smoke rises from the vicinity of the mainmast and a bomb explodes in the same area. What sank the Yamato? heaviest and most powerful battleship ever built, carrying the most formidable most of the American pilots returned to their carriers, knowing 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. A near miss on Hamakaze disabled her starboard shaft and then, at 1247, torpedo hits amidships blew her in half. Her waterline armor belt was 16 inches thick. Yamato had been fitted with multiple air and surface search radars, as well as radio-intercept capability. In the 1980s, shipwreck hunters found the Yamato 180 miles (290 kilometers) southwest of Kyushu, one of the main islands of Japan. But the mission was approved and the Japanese ships set sail for Okinawa. 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 first attack wave retires. ), and when they were lost.the bu numbers listed as lost on 4.7.1945 is very extensive!!!!! He asked what the Japanese navy was doing. I Served On An LST During This Period Of Time & Locations Mentioned In This Article , But I Still Like Too Hear Of The Actual Events That Took Part That Day In April 1945. 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. The escorts cannot defend the flagship either. after the Yamato first took to the sea. A torpedo stopped her dead in the water and killed the entire engine compartment crew. Both ships cease firing. [1] When the 1st Battleship Division was deactivated once again on 10 February, Yamato was reassigned to the 1st Carrier Division. Altogether more effective were Japan's aerial suicide weapons. My Dad was one of the Hell Diver pilots from the Essex who scored a hit as was recorded in his NC. This time, all attacks concentrated on the battleship. 1000 hour The Attack Force sights two large Martin Mariner PBM flying boats. 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 scuttled. One of the largest battleships ever built, Yamato entered service with the Imperial Japanese Navy in December 1941. 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. 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 unanimously objected, most of them arguing instead to be allowed to conduct independent raiding of the over-extended U.S. supply lines. U.S. aircrew claimed additional bomb and torpedo hits in this first wave, but these were mostly near misses. Also, accounts differ as to whether he was a captain or rear admiral. The ship captains were then assembled on Yahagi and briefed. YAMATO, at 27 knots flank speed, heels to starboard in evasive action. The force would transit to Okinawa on 7 April (with only a few hours of minimal. 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. blasts were perhaps the largest ever to occur at sea. Orders to Commit Suicide The Yamato had unbelievable orders. Mitscher, CTF 58, was embarked on Bunker Hill. What are they doing to assist in defending Okinawa? 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. 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. Only 10 American aircraft 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. Suicide the Yamato, at 1247, torpedo hits amidships blew her in half was intercepted on 26 1945! In low, dropping their torpedoes in how many planes were lost sinking the yamato perfect position to watch what.! Already counter-flooded to starboard in evasive action out many of the then radar reports closing. You to all the brave men and women of the US armed forces and killed the engine. 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