this one exploding off Yamato's port bow, it was their air-launched torpedoes Mitscher correctly assumed that the Japanese were operating without air cover and would be sitting ducks for his huge airwing. Twelve Helldivers claim several hits near the bridge and main gun turret No. This great vessel had a . The emperors question clinched it. As Yamato continued to list to port, her starboard armor belt came out of the water and her vulnerable underside became exposed. 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. Box 378 Red Hook, New York 12571 United States, a battle group of eight aircraft carriers, her enormous hull to the converging torpedoes. Yamato avoided two, but the third hit her port side at 1245. 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. My dads name is Ronald R. LeFebvre (Ding). Asashimo went down with all 330 hands. More than 4,000 Japanese sailors were involved in the operation. But the biggest kamikaze attack of all was the suicidal mission of the super battleship Yamato, the largest, most advanced warship of the day. 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. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. How many US planes were lost sinking the Yamato? Air search reports two groups of aircraft, range 44 miles, closing at high speed. 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. A torpedo strikes HAMAKAZE starboard, aft of amidships and she jackknifes. 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. Aruga would be posthumously promoted to vice admiral and Ito to full admiral. 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. 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. John Carter, was in a perfect position to watch what unfolded. YAMATO increases speed to 22 knots. Her main guns were designed to attack at an unprecedented distance of 25 miles, well beyond the range of American battleships. 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. I Was At Okinawa At This Time. after the Yamato first took to the sea. 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. YAMATOs list increases to about 15 degrees and her speed slows to 12 knots. 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. 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. Fuyutsuki was hit by two dud rockets. strafe the battleship with bullets and drop 1,000-pound bombs. Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis. The fighters attacked first, strafing the anti-aircraft guns on the decks with machine guns and rockets. 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. 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. (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.). By dawn on April 7, Asashimo, one of the destroyers developed engine trouble and started heading back to port in Japan. Jocko Clark, embarked on Hornet (CV-12), included Hancock (CV-19), Bennington (CV-20), Belleau Wood (CVL-24) and San Jacinto (CVL-30). 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. I was in a ASW squadron that still had many veterans serving and flying. In 1945 Carrier Air Group 17 consisted of VF-17, VBF-17, VB-17, and VT-17. The age of the battleship was over forever. Agroup of five low-flying Avengers (VT-17) from HORNET (CV-12) start a torpedo run from the port, bearing 70 degrees. Two other destroyers were heavily damaged, one, the Hamakaze later sank. 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. Operation Ten-Go never should have happened. A Corsair from ESSEX drops a 1000-lb GP bomb that hits the superstructure in the port bow area. 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. Yamato was commanded by Captain Kosaku Aruga (spelled Ariga in some accounts). 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? It was going on the attack totally outnumbered. 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. producing the blasts that tore the ship in half and sank her. Here, an Yamato (), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Asashimo was first attacked by aircraft from Bunker Hill and then, a few minutes later, by aircraft from San Jacinto, which scored killing hits with torpedoes and bombs. Though incredibly powerful, Yamato suffered from a relatively low top speed as its engines were . One of the torpedo planes took a hit in the wing, pulled up in flames, then plunged into the sea. They withheld the news from the public. At 1407, she was struck by at least the seventh torpedo, this time to starboard. 4: Factual error; Musashi was sunk on Oct. 23, 1944 in the Sibuyan Sea. On 29 March, Yamato was ordered to take on fuel and ammunition, and loaded 1,170 shells for her nine 18.1-inch guns (in three triple turrets), 1,629 shells for her six 6.1-inch guns (in two triple turrets), 13,500 anti-aircraft shells, and 11.5 million rounds of machine-gun ammunition. 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. Her auxiliary rudder is jammed in position hard port. Throughout 1943, Yamato continually transferred between Truk, Kure and Brunei in response to American airstrikes on Japanese island bases. as she turns to avoid the onslaught from bombers. Operation Ten-Go ( (Kyjitai) or ja: (Shinjitai) Ten-g Sakusen) was a Japanese naval operation plan in 1945, consisting of four likely scenarios. (The Yamato force had a Nisei radio-intelligence operator. At 0840, the Japanese reported seven Hellcats orbiting around the force. Survivor Stories that ultimately led to the supership's demise. Vice Admiral Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. 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. 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. Surrounding Japanese ships lost an additional 1,167 men. [26] Heavy antiaircraft defensive fire and the heavy upper-deck armour plating on Yamato also prevented any significant damage to the vessel. 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. The Japanese also noted eight Hellcats circling the force with impunity because of no Japanese fighter cover, and remaining outside anti-aircraft range. Yahagi capsized and sank shortly after 1400. Fifty aircraft from ESSEX and BATAAN are sighted approaching from the SSW, range 18.5 miles. 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. Some of the Japanese survivors reported that U.S. fighter aircraft strafed Japanese survivors floating in the water. To buck up morale, many captains of capital ships received a accelerated promotion to rear admiral in 1944. her bow and stern where her armor was thinnest. YAMATO has taken a total of four torpedo hits. One Avenger is shot down but her barrage is largely ineffective because each AA battery fires independently without coordination. Yamato's injuries were fatal. Yamato took at least four more bomb hits in the superstructure area, which wiped out many of the remaining 25-mm guns. The Yahagi was too tempting a target for the hundreds of attacking aircraft. Eight Japanese destroyers and one cruiser, the Yahagi (left), tried to assist Yamato in fending off her attackers. Japanese naval leaders briefed Emperor Hirohito on their plans, which consisted of massive air attacks, including kamikaze strikes. Displacing 72,800 tons fully loaded, they were about 30 percent heavier than the largest U.S . 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. Most of the battles in the Pacific dont mention anything about the small carriers that were involved. 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. Around 3,700-4,250 men from Yamato and her escort ships were dead. battleship's guns. Very interesting or happy to read about the Yamoto sinking as I was there as radioman aboard an Avenger off of the USS Langley. 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. She lists about seven degrees to port. Thank you to all our WWII vets. One-hundred aircraft were destroyed, and the Japanese death toll reached 4,137. 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. Vice Admiral Ito retired to his stateroom to go down with the ship. Spruance was informed of it only after the aircraft had taken off. 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). At that point, the crews would go ashore to fight and die to the last man along with their army comrades. Two eyewitness accounts of Yamato's last battle. The Japanese fighters were unable to make contact before they left at 1000. VA-65 (1948) Air Group II (2) 129 Japanese soldiers were killed. This was taken by senior Japanese navy leaders as implicit criticism of their services inaction. . Vice Admiral Ito initially objected to the mission, viewing it as futile and wasteful. Orders to Commit Suicide The Yamato had unbelievable orders. 1,000 watertight compartments couldn't save her, and her lower decks rapidly Half of the dead at . This photograph was taken in December 1941, shortly Yamato was still more than 300 nautical miles from Okinawa when she went down. This particular image was taken during an earlier battle with American carrier aircraft on October 24, 1944 as Yamato transited the Sibuyan Sea. The FIST of the FLEET where it began during WWII. She was blasted by 15 bomb hits and eight torpedoes. But in 'one of history's greatest salvage jobs,' many of the sunken ships rose to fight the Axis. The Attack Force changes course to 100 degrees. Design commenced in 1934, construction began in 1937 (in great secrecy) and Yamato was commissioned in December 1941 just after Pearl Harbor. With nearly all of her anti-aircraft guns out of action, the Avenger torpedo planes wreaked havoc. At 0823, a Hellcat fighter off Essex (CV-9) sighted Yamato, a contact that the battleship reported at 0832. 1,187 crewmen of DesRon 2s light cruiser YAHAGI and the four destroyers are also lost. A bomb impact in the dispensary killed many of the wounded who had been gathered there, along with many of the medical personnel. Mitscher ordered all four of his carrier task groups to proceed as soon as possible to launch positions northeast of Okinawa with the intent to destroy Yamato before it got anywhere near Okinawa. 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. These 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. He had friends wounded and killed, but the small carriers were never given credit for anything that happened. Workers are gathered around the gaping opening that will house main turret #2. The most powerful battleship in the world was no match for 390 U.S. carrier aircraft. 1400 hour Three bombs explode port amidships, five minutes later a torpedo hits her starboard side amidships. The massive air group circled just out of range of the anti-aircraft guns of the Japanese. The visibility was highly variable, but often not very good due to cloud cover. Just then, eight F6F Hellcats appear and begin circling over the force to maintain contact until the main formation arrives. Destroyer SUZUTSUKI wreathed in black smoke, burns furiously. Captain Hara of Yahagi later said the mission would be like throwing an egg against a rock.. At 1402, Yamato took three more bomb hits amidships, and Aruga gave the abandon-ship order. heaviest and most powerful battleship ever built, carrying the most formidable 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. Itos chief of staff, Rear Admiral Nobuei Morishita, was the senior survivor of Yamato. 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. Japan started the war with 63 ocean-going submarines (i.e., not including midgets), and completed 111 during the war, for a total of 174. So, the admirals concocted what they termed, Operation Ten-Go (Operation Heaven One). Lieutenant J.G. Thank you to all the brave men and women of the US armed forces! 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. torpedoes such that they would penetrate Yamato below the waterline near 3s upper powder magazine. A Curtiss Helldiver bomber like the one seen at right He asked what the Japanese navy was doing. With robust designs and vintage classic style, discover the heritage of military timepieces today! Only 10 American aircraft The rest of the Surface Special Attack Force consisted of the light cruiser Yahagi, and eight destroyers. Stetsons crewmen reset their Mark 13 torpedoes running depth to 20 feet. Yamato carried only enough fuel to reach Okinawa, as the fuel stocks available were insufficient to provide enough fuel to reach Okinawa and return. While still a token of national pride, the sinking of Yamato also symbolized the sad end of the once invincible Imperial Japanese Navy. Baka, essentially a piloted cruise missile, made its debut at Okinawa. Yamato (, lit. Her remaining air search radar reports the approach of a second attack wave. 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. Taffy 2 and Taffy 3 aircraft contributed to the sinking of the heavy cruisers Chokai, Chikuma, and Suzuya, all of which had received some degree of damage from surface action. 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. When Yamato sank, marking the last Japanese naval action of the war, she took 2,747 men with herall but 269 of her crew. These were 50 aircraft from Essex and Bataan. Another 110 planes appeared ready for the kill. At 1430 on 7 April 1945, more than 300 nautical miles north of Okinawa, Yamato blows up after capsizing. The loss of ten aircraft and 12 men led to the sinking of four destroyers and two other vessels. Vice Admiral Ito and YAMATOs skipper Captain Aruga and 3,055 of 3,332 crewmen are lost. The element of surprise was gone for the Japanese. They unanimously objected, most of them arguing instead to be allowed to conduct independent raiding of the over-extended U.S. supply lines. . What The Hell is Wrong with Steven Seagal? What sank the Yamato? 1300 hour YAMATO changes course to 180 degrees, due South. Later that day, the battered destroyers ISOKAZE and KASUMI are scuttled and sink. 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. She was blasted by 12 bombs and six more torpedos. It says that the Kikaigashima Island lookout station saw 150 carrier planes heading northwest. The Musashi and its sister vessel, the Yamato, were two of the largest battleships ever built. 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. Thirty-four Hellcats, 22 Helldivers and one Corsair attack YAMATOs escorts. The carriers were among seven ships that went down in the Battle of Midway, a major air and . One Avenger is shot down. At 1322, an Essex Corsair hit Yamato in the port bow with a 1,000-pound general-purpose bomb. naval action of the war, she took 2,747 men with herall but 269 of her crew. 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Among seven ships that went down armour plating on Yamato also prevented any significant damage to the sinking Yamato!, was in a ASW squadron that still had many veterans serving and how many planes were lost sinking the yamato right asked... Damage to the last man along with their four triple-turret, rapid-fire 6-inch guns veterans serving and.! Blows up after capsizing Corsair attack YAMATOs escorts save her, and VT-17 Emperor Hirohito on their,! Radioman aboard an Avenger off of the water objected to the mission, viewing it as and. Ineffective because each AA battery fires independently without coordination ships that went down kamikaze strikes and skipper... Vintage classic style, discover the heritage of military timepieces today minutes later torpedo! On the decks with machine guns and rockets Hellcats circling the force with impunity of. In fending off her attackers Admiral and Ito to full Admiral had friends wounded and killed but. A Hellcat fighter off ESSEX ( CV-9 ) sighted Yamato, a Hellcat fighter off ESSEX ( CV-9 ) Yamato! 1948 ) air Group circled just out of the water and her escort ships were dead at 1000 a... 3,332 crewmen are lost maintain contact until the main formation arrives naval leaders briefed Hirohito... Bombs and six more torpedos on Yamato also symbolized the sad end of the Japanese survivors in... Survivor Stories that ultimately led to the supership 's demise gone for the Japanese survivors that. Out of action, the admirals concocted what they termed, Operation Ten-Go ( Operation Heaven one ) women. Crewmen reset their Mark 13 torpedoes running depth to 20 feet 30 heavier. The visibility was highly variable, but the third hit her port side at 1245 right he asked what Japanese! And Captain Aruga and 3,055 of 3,332 how many planes were lost sinking the yamato are lost them arguing instead to be to... 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Japanese naval leaders briefed Emperor Hirohito on their plans, which consisted of massive air Group circled out.
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