Altogether more effective were Japan's aerial suicide weapons. At 1107, Yamatos Type 13 air search radar detected a large aircraft formation inbound at the radars maximum range of 63 nautical miles, and noted the aircraft formation was splitting into two groups. [25][26] Damage to the battleship, however, was light,[25] due in part to the base being defended by elite veteran Japanese fighter instructors flying Kawanishi N1K Shiden or George fighters. 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. One Avenger is shot down. She continues to throw up a screen of desperate flak fire. A heartfelt salute from myself, a navy vet in the 70s! (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.). Around 3,700-4,250 men from Yamato and her escort ships were dead. This would be carried out in conjunction with a mass aerial kamikaze attack by over 350 airplanes ( Kikusui No. [28] An estimated 2,498 of the 2,700 crew members on Yamato were lost, including Vice-Admiral Seiichi It, the fleet commander.[1]. One fire can be observed amidships from the initial strike, but no list has developed at this point. Thank you to all the brave men and women of the US armed forces! Orders to Commit Suicide The Yamato had unbelievable orders. naval action of the war, she took 2,747 men with herall but 269 of her crew. Additionally, 1,178 people were wounded. With robust designs and vintage classic style, discover the heritage of military timepieces today! The chief of staff of the Combined Fleet, Vice Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka, flew in from Tokyo to ensure that Ito would comply with Admiral Toyodas orders. 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. Have we no more ships?. The Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Ito, orders the mission cancelled and directs the remaining ships to pick up as many survivors as possible. Deployment: In the fall of 1941,. The first torpedoes pass by harmlessly, but the remaining two strike her port amidships. She lists about seven degrees to port. 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. torpedoes such that they would penetrate Yamato below the waterline near Yahagi lost 446; Asashimo lost 330; the seven destroyers, 391 officers and men. 2023 The SOFREP Media Group. 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 Americans lose 10 aircraft and 12 crewmen. after the Yamato first took to the sea. 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. After all, she was the The result was arguably the largest suicide mission in history. Yahagi was a relatively small light cruiser (6,600 tons) completed in 1943 and intended for use as a destroyer flotilla leader. miles southwest of Kyushu, Japan. The Americans lost 10 aircraft, while one aircraft carrier, one battleship, and one destroyer were damaged. 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. Itos chief of staff, Rear Admiral Nobuei Morishita, was the senior survivor of Yamato. Yamato (, lit. 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. At 1017, Yahagi commenced jamming the Mariners communications, but by then it was too late. Vice Admiral Ito retired to his stateroom to go down with the ship. Light cruiser YAHAGI, hit by 12 bombs and seven torpedoes sinks exactly one minute after the last bomb hits. The second and third waves of the American attacks pummeled Yamato. 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. Lagging behind the main force, destroyer ASASHIMO is attacked and sunk by aircraft from SAN JACINTO. The light cruiser Yahagi was the first hit, less than fifteen minutes after the firing began. The loss of ten aircraft and 12 men led to the sinking of four destroyers and two other vessels. heaviest and most powerful battleship ever built, carrying the most formidable Jan 6, 2019 Conan White, Guest Author. Asashimo went down with all 330 hands. Thirty-four Hellcats, 22 Helldivers and one Corsair attack YAMATOs escorts. Some who were shot down were later picked up by seaplanes or submarines. To buck up morale, many captains of capital ships received a accelerated promotion to rear admiral in 1944. The first attack wave retires. They were also instructed to 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. Between then and 1000, a total of 14 Zekes would provide cover. 1). 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. The Yamato group cranked up speed to 25 knots. 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. 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. About 1,187 crewmen of Yahagi and the four destroyers were lost. 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. I was in a ASW squadron that still had many veterans serving and flying. The fighter issued a contact report at 0832. Twelve Helldivers claim several hits near the bridge and main gun turret No. Another 110 planes appeared ready for the kill. Rather than targeting specific vessels, Stump ordered his air group to attempt to cripple as many Japanese ships as possible. Everyone of them, enlisted and officers, were a true gentleman. Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis. 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 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. 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. Note the fire in one of the Stetsons crewmen reset their Mark 13 torpedoes running depth to 20 feet. In the 1980s, shipwreck hunters found the Yamato 180 miles (290 kilometers) southwest of Kyushu, one of the main islands of Japan. Also interviewed is an American dive-bomber pilot who took part in the attack. Did Yamato sink any ships? [1] By 14:00, two of Yamatos escorts had been sunk. Was the Bismarck bigger than the Yamato? This time, all attacks concentrated on the battleship. The Attack Force changes course to 100 degrees. It would not be enough. While the Americans' 1,000-pound bombs held fearsome destructive power, as seen in Two eyewitness accounts of Yamato's last battle. There were few Japanese survivors. A U.S. PBM Mariner also rescued several Japanese survivors. Japanese Battleship Yamato - minutes before sinking. Vice Admiral Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. Baka claimed its first victim, the destroyer USS Abele, in the seas off Okinawa on April 12. Her remaining air search radar reports the approach of a second attack wave. The morale aboard Yamato was described as not being very good, especially after the crews were informed they were on a one-way mission. of the battleship gives a sense of the 18-inch guns' enormous size (note sailors on deck). At 0823, a Hellcat fighter off Essex (CV-9) sighted Yamato, a contact that the battleship reported at 0832. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. 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. Survivor Stories Mitscher, CTF 58, was embarked on Bunker Hill. With nearly all of her anti-aircraft guns out of action, the Avenger torpedo planes wreaked havoc. 1 magazine causing a huge explosion with a mushroom smoke cloud that was visible for 100 miles away. Yamato took at least four more bomb hits in the superstructure area, which wiped out many of the remaining 25-mm guns. The escorts cannot defend the flagship either. Design commenced in 1934, construction began in 1937 (in great secrecy) and Yamato was commissioned in December 1941 just after Pearl Harbor. 276 men are rescued including Rear Admiral Morishita Nobuei, Chief of Staff, Second Fleet (and former YAMATO skipper). 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 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. Box 378 Red Hook, New York 12571 United States, a battle group of eight aircraft carriers, her enormous hull to the converging torpedoes. 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. They would not be needed. This is a movie Yamato 2005. At 1322, an Essex Corsair hit Yamato in the port bow with a 1,000-pound general-purpose bomb. She was blasted by 12 bombs and six more torpedos. Aruga receives a rare double promotion posthumously to Vice Admiral on the request of Admiral Toyoda. The attack of hundreds of US air force against Japan made Japan's biggest battleship Yamato sink. two Japanese aircraft carriers Deep sea explorers have found two Japanese aircraft carriers that were sunk in battle in World War Two. US warplanes sank the Musashi on 24 October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, believed to be. 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. Musashi (? Yamato was hit with three more torpedoes. 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. Spruance was informed of it only after the aircraft had taken off. She sunk shortly after. Thanks!!! Though many Japanese naval leaders considered Operation Ten-Go to be a waste of their remaining resources, it moved forward on April 6, 1945. 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.. 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. 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. Praesidus brings homage to the military watch tradition. 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. Her waterline armor belt was 16 inches thick. Twenty Avengers make a new torpedo run from 60 degrees to port. sent to engage Yamato made it into position above her and soon began to Many of those lost did so after the battle on their return to the carriers; ditching in the sea having run out of fuel. Hatsushimo suffered only three wounded on 6 April, but, on 20 July, struck a mine and was the last Japanese destroyer sunk in the war. The Yamato, completed in Kure in December 1941, was the largest battleship in the world at the time. They pounced on her like sharks in the water. This is the first wave of 280 aircraft (132 fighters, 50 bombers, 98 torpedo planes) from Task Group 58. I stumbled on this article and I finally know a little about this battle. Both Rear Admiral Komura and Captain Hara survived. 1s USS HORNET (CV-12), HANCOCK (CV-19), BENNINGTON (CV-20), BELLEAU WOOD (CVL-24) and SAN JACINTO (CVL-30) and from Task Group 58. Barrett is the world leader in long-range, large-caliber, precision rifle design and manufacturing. The sky is still overcast and visibility is poor. By this time, there wasnt much left of the Japanese navy that was still operational, and fuel was in critically short supply. [1][5], At 12:32 on 7 April 1945, Yamato was attacked by a first wave of 280 aircraft from Task Force 58, taking three hits (two bombs, one torpedo). 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. The FIST of the FLEET where it began during WWII. Before getting underway, the Surface Special Attack Force put ashore 67 recently arrived midshipmen of the Etajima Naval Academy Class No. Fifty aircraft from ESSEX and BATAAN are sighted approaching from the SSW, range 18.5 miles. as she turns to avoid the onslaught from bombers. Six Yorktown Avengers attacked from the starboard side, with their Mark 13 torpedoes re-set for a 20-foot depthseveral hit. Thank you to all our WWII vets. Legendary Lost Japanese WWII Battleship Found by Billionaire Paul Allen.The search was funded by Paul Allen, the Microsoft co . Throughout 1943, Yamato continually transferred between Truk, Kure and Brunei in response to American airstrikes on Japanese island bases. 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. They had already lost the battles of the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf, and Iwo Jima. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ 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. Weighing 72,800 tons. It. The American planes release their bombs and torpedoes and strafe the bridge with machine-gun fire. Anatomy of Yamato What sank the Yamato? One bomb exploded in crews quarters, but the other bomb exploded near the aft command station and knocked out one of her two air search radars, the aft secondary gun director, several 25-mm gun mounts, and started a fire that killed all but one crewman in the after secondary (6-inch) gun turret and that couldnt be put out. Surrounding Japanese ships lost an additional 1,167 men. My dads name is Ronald R. LeFebvre (Ding). One of the largest battleships ever built, Yamato entered service with the Imperial Japanese Navy in December 1941. This was taken as a yet another bad omen. 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. Fourteen F4U Chance-Vought Corsairs from BUNKER HILL strafe and rocket YAMATO but cause only minor damage. Below are some of those stories and some links to other web sites with more stories about the ship and its final day, April 7, 1945. The largest battleships ever built were Yamato and Musashi of the Imperial Japanese Navy. At this point, after just a few hours of battle, He just didnt want to talk about the war. A bomb impact in the dispensary killed many of the wounded who had been gathered there, along with many of the medical personnel. TG 58.1 and 58.3 were quickly on station. Additionally, aircraft damaged most of the . 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. 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. 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. 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. In a separate attack, compani The Attack Force resumes zigzagging. 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). Ten minutes later, two more torpedoes strike her port side. It says that the Kikaigashima Island lookout station saw 150 carrier planes heading northwest. 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 Attack Force briefly sights seven "Hellcat" fighters, but they are not seen by the escorting Zekes. The Japanese also noted eight Hellcats circling the force with impunity because of no Japanese fighter cover, and remaining outside anti-aircraft range. Less than three and half years after Pearl Harbor, American industrial might was on full display. You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article. 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. Hit by at least 11 torpedoes and six bombs, Yamato was sunk, along with Yahagi and four of the destroyers. 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. ), U.S. submarines were already waiting for Yamato, with orders to report rather than attack, although with the force transiting at 22 knots and frequently zig-zagging, successful attack in all but the luckiest circumstances was unlikely. According to Morison, there were only 23 officers and 246 enlisted sailors who survived, which doesnt exactly match, but is close. For executive producer Keiko Bang, making this film was cathartic. YAMATOs list increases to about 15 degrees and her speed slows to 12 knots. VA-6B (1946) By dawn on April 7, Asashimo, one of the destroyers developed engine trouble and started heading back to port in Japan. A torpedo stopped her dead in the water and killed the entire engine compartment crew. 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. Sources include: NHHC Dictionary of American Fighting Ships (DANFS) for U.S. ships and combinedfleet.com for Japanese ships. Displacing 72,800 tons fully loaded, they were about 30 percent heavier than the largest U.S . (The Yamato force had a Nisei radio-intelligence operator. Photographed from a USS Yorktown (CV-10) plane (NH 62581). The engagement was an unmitigated disaster for the Japanese. One-hundred aircraft were destroyed, and the Japanese death toll reached 4,137. The task force was spotted south of Kyushu by US submarines and aircraft, and on 7 April 1945 she was sunk by American carrier-based bombers and torpedo bombers with the loss of most of her crew. In total, the U.S. lost 12 men. 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