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. 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. After all, she was the A lookout spots American planes 25 degrees to port, levation 8, range 4,375 yards, moving to port. Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. Did Yamato sink any ships? 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. YAMATO stops zigzagging and increases speed to 24 knots. She was blasted by 15 bomb hits and eight torpedoes. 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 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. Another 110 planes appeared ready for the kill. The destroyers were an assortment of different classes (what was left in operation, since the Japanese would lose 120 destroyers during the war), but all were armed with powerful Type 93 Long Lance 24-inch torpedoes. How many US planes were lost sinking the Yamato? 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. The fire in the area ofher forward 6.1 inch turret can be clearly seen (L42-09.06.05). I joined the Navy in 1964. Then it was supposed to beach itself, run aground, and use the ship as a makeshift fort. Yahagi capsized and sank shortly after 1400. The visibility was highly variable, but often not very good due to cloud cover. In 1945 Carrier Air Group 17 consisted of VF-17, VBF-17, VB-17, and VT-17. 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. 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. [1] When the 1st Battleship Division was deactivated once again on 10 February, Yamato was reassigned to the 1st Carrier Division. On 29 March, Yamato took on a full stock of ammunition, in preparation for combat off Okinawa in Operation Ten-Go. She quickly shipped 2,235 tons of water, but the list was soon corrected with effective counter-flooding. Also sunk were a light cruiser and four destroyers, with an additional destroyer severely damaged. Did anyone survive the Yamato sinking? 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. All these years later I remember each one of those men fondly and with great respect. . Yamato's injuries were fatal. One of the surviving destroyers did not have a bow. Workers are gathered around the gaping opening that will house main turret #2. At 0657, destroyer Asashimo, with Captain Kotaki, DESDIV 21, embarked, sent a signal that she was having engine trouble and began to fall behind. her bow and stern where her armor was thinnest. He gave the go-ahead for the strike but ordered the battlewagons to proceed in the event the Japanese fleet got through the airstrike. Deep sea explorers have found two Japanese aircraft carriers that were sunk in battle in World War Two. 1,187 crewmen of DesRon 2s light cruiser YAHAGI and the four destroyers are also lost. Both Rear Admiral Komura and Captain Hara survived. Yamato was still more than 300 nautical miles from Okinawa when she went down. 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. Between then and 1000, a total of 14 Zekes would provide cover. ), 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. At 1017, Yahagi commenced jamming the Mariners communications, but by then it was too late. TG 58.2 was in the act of refueling and wouldnt get there in time. John Carter, was in a perfect position to watch what unfolded. Was the Bismarck bigger than the Yamato? April 7, 1945 Sinking of the Battleship Yamato. Photographed from a USS Yorktown (CV-10) plane (NH 62581). Aircrews were astonished at the size of the ship, which had seen very little naval action during the war. Baka, essentially a piloted cruise missile, made its debut at Okinawa. Though incredibly powerful, Yamato suffered from a relatively low top speed as its engines were . 1 magazine explodes and sends up a cloud of smoke seen 100 miles away. One of the torpedo planes took a hit in the wing, pulled up in flames, then plunged into the sea. In this program, NOVA joins an international team exploring the grave of this magnificent vessel to learn the secrets of her design, her final mission, and the violent events that brought her down. But the Americans also had a battle group of eight aircraft carriers (Hornet, Bennington, Belleau Wood, San Jacinto; TG 58.3 Essex, Bunker Hill, Hancock, and Bataan) that were covering the landings. 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. On April 7, 1945, the Japanese battleship Yamato, one of the greatest battleships of its time, is sunk in Japan's first major counteroffensive in the struggle for Okinawa. 1400 hour Three bombs explode port amidships, five minutes later a torpedo hits her starboard side amidships. 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. 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. Two eyewitness accounts of Yamato's last battle. 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. They had already lost the battles of the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf, and Iwo Jima. 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. US warplanes sank the Musashi on 24 October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, believed to be. Helldivers from BENNINGTON and HORNET attack from port. 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. Lagging behind the main force, destroyer ASASHIMO is attacked and sunk by aircraft from SAN JACINTO. Stetsons crewmen reset their Mark 13 torpedoes running depth to 20 feet. Fuyuzuki suffered light damage from dud rockets, suffered 12 dead and 12 injured, and was repaired, but had her stern blown off by a mine after the August cease-fire. concentrate their torpedoes on just one of Yamato's sides, an approach The Attack Force changes course to 100 degrees. Two dud rockets hit FUYUTSUKI. Vice Admiral Ito initially objected to the mission, viewing it as futile and wasteful. My dad was soldier (Tsgt) at Okinawa and my father in law was a bosunsmate aboard the USS Gunston Hall. Yamato carried only enough fuel to reach Okinawa, as the fuel stocks available were insufficient to provide enough fuel to reach Okinawa and return. In the 1980s, shipwreck hunters found the Yamato 180 miles (290 kilometers) southwest of Kyushu, one of the main islands of Japan. Hit by at least 11 torpedoes and six bombs, Yamato was sunk, along with Yahagi and four of the destroyers. She didn't even make it close to Okinawa. 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. Of the 3,332 crew members aboard the Yamato, only 276 survived the sinking. Surrounding Japanese ships lost an additional 1,167 men. The second and third waves of the American attacks pummeled Yamato. The battleship and its sister, Musashi, were the only battleships ever constructed with 18.1" guns. Isokaze, which had her steering disabled by a near miss, suffered 20 dead and 54 wounded, and had to be scuttled by gunfire from Yukikaze. The battleship received a 30-minute time-late report from an observation post on a small Japanese island north of Okinawa that 150 U.S. planes were headed in Yamatos direction. 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). 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. ), named after an ancient Japanese province, was one of two Yamato-class battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy, beginning in the late 1930s. The massive air group circled just out of range of the anti-aircraft guns of the Japanese. Japans secrecy was due to her inability to match U.S. naval power ship for ship. 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). 10 aircraft Yamato was still more than 300 nautical miles from Okinawa when she went down. [26] Heavy antiaircraft defensive fire and the heavy upper-deck armour plating on Yamato also prevented any significant damage to the vessel. 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