In a separate attack, compani It had been deployed on a Surface Special Attack Force suicide mission to drive back U.S. forces that had landed on Okinawa. They were also given the option of not participating, an option none of them took. ), and when they were lost.the bu numbers listed as lost on 4.7.1945 is very extensive!!!!! You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article. YAMATO and YAHAGI open fire, increase speed to 24 knots and commence a series of sharp evasive maneuvers. >. Eggheads on this subject get "lost in the sauce" going over tables, charts, and math formulas done by researchers after the war shooting rounds into armor plate captured from Japan and Germany,. This particular image was taken during an earlier battle with American carrier aircraft on October 24, 1944 as Yamato transited the Sibuyan Sea. She rolls slowly over her port side on her beam ends. The rest of the Surface Special Attack Force consisted of the light cruiser Yahagi, and eight destroyers. I Was At Okinawa At This Time. 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. Also, accounts differ as to whether he was a captain or rear admiral. Six Yorktown Avengers attacked from the starboard side, with their Mark 13 torpedoes re-set for a 20-foot depthseveral hit. This was taken by senior Japanese navy leaders as implicit criticism of their services inaction. TG 58.4 had just finished refueling and would arrive just in time. YAMATO turns towards the planes and opens fire unsuccessfully as does cruiser YAHAGI. 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. The Americans lose 10 aircraft and 12 crewmen. In 1945 Carrier Air Group 17 consisted of VF-17, VBF-17, VB-17, and VT-17. (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. battleship's aft secondary magazine caused tons of ammunition to ignite almost simultaneously, An astounding series of explosions onboard Musashi (? 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. Japanese reports claim U.S. aircraft strafed survivors in the water, but also report that attacks ceased on destroyers that were picking up survivors. Everyone of them, enlisted and officers, were a true gentleman. Meanwhile, about 34 Hellcats and Corsairs and 22 Helldivers and Avengers worked over some of the other Japanese destroyers. The Japanese also spot the HACKLEBACK trailing the Attack Force. He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. The age of the carrier was now confirmed. 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. Yahagi was commanded by Captain Tameichi Hara (the only Japanese destroyer skipper at the start of the war who was still alive at the end of the war), with Rear Admiral Keizo Komura, commander of Destroyer Squadron 2, embarked. The extremely large number of antiaircraft guns, added during a refit, were meant to keep the ship afloat in the face of American airpower until it could close within striking range of enemy. 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. Fourteen F4U Chance-Vought Corsairs from BUNKER HILL strafe and rocket YAMATO but cause only minor damage. Yamato was hit with three more torpedoes. One of the largest battleships ever built, Yamato entered service with the Imperial Japanese Navy in December 1941. 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. Deep sea explorers have found two Japanese aircraft carriers that were sunk in battle in World War Two. It would not be enough. H-044-3: Operation Heaven Number One (Ten-ichi-go)the Death of Yamato, 7 April 1945. A report that had been delayed for 25 minutes by ransmission and decoding, is received finally. 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. At 1430 on 7 April 1945, more than 300 nautical miles north of Okinawa, Yamato blows up after capsizing. A 500-pound general-purpose bomb hit Suzutsuki and blew off her bow. The fire in the area ofher forward 6.1 inch turret can be clearly seen (L42-09.06.05). The ships were to sink as many troop transports as possible, then beach themselves and continue firing as long as they had ammunition. This photograph was taken in December 1941, shortly It. YAMATO stops zigzagging and increases speed to 24 knots. Captain Hara of Yahagi later said the mission would be like throwing an egg against a rock.. Though many Japanese naval leaders considered Operation Ten-Go to be a waste of their remaining resources, it moved forward on April 6, 1945. 1300 hour YAMATO changes course to 180 degrees, due South. Was the Bismarck bigger than the Yamato? The American planes release their bombs and torpedoes and strafe the bridge with machine-gun fire. 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. 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. These were 50 aircraft from Essex and Bataan. Her main guns were designed to attack at an unprecedented distance of 25 miles, well beyond the range of American battleships. The light cruiser YAHAGI, without headway, drifts helplessly behind the main force. The age of the battleship was over forever. Thank you to all the brave men and women of the US armed forces! 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. Read Next: The Ultimate Gunfighters! 2023 The SOFREP Media Group. U.S. losses were 10 aircraft and 12 pilots and aircrewmen. Yamato took at least four more bomb hits in the superstructure area, which wiped out many of the remaining 25-mm guns. Both Rear Admiral Komura and Captain Hara survived. At 1342, another Avenger was shot down, but four more torpedoes were inbound from the port side and two hit. With nearly all of her anti-aircraft guns out of action, the Avenger torpedo planes wreaked havoc. Later that day, the battered destroyers ISOKAZE and KASUMI are scuttled and sink. She didn't even make it close to Okinawa. At 0840, the Japanese reported seven Hellcats orbiting around the force. the Japanese were aware of Yamato's poor anti-aircraft defense and . strafe the battleship with bullets and drop 1,000-pound bombs. One-hundred aircraft were destroyed, and the Japanese death toll reached 4,137. At 1417, she took an eighth and ninth torpedo, both to port. TG 58.1, commanded by Rear Admiral J. J. 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. They also mounted numerous smaller guns to . 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. 1). 3s upper powder magazine. They unanimously objected, most of them arguing instead to be allowed to conduct independent raiding of the over-extended U.S. supply lines. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol. Mitscher correctly assumed that the Japanese were operating without air cover and would be sitting ducks for his huge airwing. 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. My dads name is Ronald R. LeFebvre (Ding). FRUPAC had the message that the air cover would end at 1000, which was also known to senior U.S. Navy commanders. At 1234, Yamato opened fire with her two forward main battery turrets, lobbing sanshikidan shells at the U.S. aircraftto no effect. By 1408, Yamato had clearly begun to capsize and the ship was being abandoned. 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. Baka, essentially a piloted cruise missile, made its debut at Okinawa. 1100 hour YAMATOs Type 13 air search radar operator reports contact with a large aircraft formation at his sets maximum range of 63 miles. It said the wreck was in two main pieces, a bow-to-midships section about 560 feet long, and a 264-foot-long stern section. The Yamato sank during a fierce battle for Okinawa on April, 7 1945. Photographed from a USS Yorktown (CV-10) plane (NH 62581). Around 3,700-4,250 men from Yamato and her escort ships were dead. On 1 January 1945, Yamato, Haruna and Nagato were all transferred to the newly reactivated 1st Battleship Division; Yamato left drydock two days later. Design commenced in 1934, construction began in 1937 (in great secrecy) and Yamato was commissioned in December 1941 just after Pearl Harbor. But the mission was approved and the Japanese ships set sail for Okinawa. one-third of which were torpedo bombers that hit from low altitudes. 1 magazine explodes and sends up a cloud of smoke seen 100 miles away. The Attack Force changes course to 100 degrees. 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. In total, 97 combatants were killed and 122 wounded. [5] Shortly afterward, a second strike of 100 aircraft attacked Yamato and her remaining escorts. 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. . A torpedo stopped her dead in the water and killed the entire engine compartment crew. In addition, sick sailors and also the oldest sailors were sent to shore. While YAHAGI jams their sighting messages, YAMATO receives a report from a Japanese scout plane that Task Force 58 has been located east of Okinawa, 250 nautical miles from the Attack Force. The submarine radio traffic transmitted in the clear, reporting Yamato by name, and reported by Japanese radio intelligence, did nothing to improve the sense of foreboding felt by the senior officers on Yamato. [1][26] Led by the man who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor, Minoru Genda, the appearance of these fighters, which were equal or superior to the F6F Hellcat in performance, surprised the attackers, and several American planes were shot down. TG 58.1 and 58.3 were quickly on station. Twenty Avengers attacked from the port side (concentrating torpedo attacks from the port side was deliberate, with the intent to capsize the ship). She lies in two main parts in some 1,000 feet of water. 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. A torpedo strikes HAMAKAZE starboard, aft of amidships and she jackknifes. The ship captains were then assembled on Yahagi and briefed. 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). 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. Additionally, 1,178 people were wounded. 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. It was going on the attack totally outnumbered. The result was arguably the largest suicide mission in history. 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. Surrounding Japanese ships lost an additional 1,167 men. 276 men are rescued including Rear Admiral Morishita Nobuei, Chief of Staff, Second Fleet (and former YAMATO skipper). Aruga receives a rare double promotion posthumously to Vice Admiral on the request of Admiral Toyoda. 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. 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. Yamato carried only enough fuel to reach Okinawa, as the fuel stocks available were insufficient to provide enough fuel to reach Okinawa and return. Yamato (, lit. 1000 hour - The Attack Force sights two large Martin "Mariner" PBM flying boats. Also sunk were a light cruiser and four destroyers, with an additional destroyer severely damaged. photographed the destruction. At this point, after just a few hours of battle, He considered it a waste of good men and ships. She lists about seven degrees to port. 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. The emperors question clinched it. VFA-25 (1983 and continuing). RecPak is a meal replacement for the outdoors that saves you weight, space and time in the most challenging environments, just add water. Still kicking but dont know why. 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. Almost all of the nearly 400 American fighters and bombers 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. two Japanese aircraft carriers Deep sea explorers have found two Japanese aircraft carriers that were sunk in battle in World War Two. 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 Attack Force briefly sights seven Hellcat fighters, but they are not seen by the escorting Zekes. He had friends wounded and killed, but the small carriers were never given credit for anything that happened. Although the battleship was in no danger of sinking at this point, the list meant that the main battery was unable to fire . Here, an All these years later I remember each one of those men fondly and with great respect. settled on the seafloor 1,200 feet down and about 50 My dad served on the Langley. The Japanese lost three aircraft carriers and 426 aircraft; Yamato ' s only . 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). Meanwhile, the dead-in-the-water Yahagi had soaked up at least 12 bombs and seven torpedo hits before she finally capsized and sank at 1405. The Americans lost a total of only 10 aircraft four Helldivers, three Avengers, and three Hellcats and 12 men. 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. At 1243, five Hornet Avengers came in from port, while 14 F4U Corsairs from Bunker Hill were strafing and hitting Yamato with rockets that caused little damage to the ship, but were deadly to the gunners. The first explodes in the crews quarters abaft the Type 13 radar shack. seven torpedo hits within two hours of battle. 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. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. The Japanese opened up with everything they had, which looked terrifying, but U.S. pilots quickly figured out that Japanese anti-aircraft fire was wildly inaccurate. And it was never more apparent than during the Battle of Okinawa. By dawn on April 7, Asashimo, one of the destroyers developed engine trouble and started heading back to port in Japan. The Attack Force briefly sights seven "Hellcat" fighters, but they are not seen by the escorting Zekes. . Lagging behind the main force, destroyer ASASHIMO is attacked and sunk by aircraft from SAN JACINTO. YAMATO has taken a total of four torpedo hits. There were few Japanese survivors. Support Veteran Journalism . Vice Admiral Ito retired to his stateroom to go down with the ship. Before getting underway, the Surface Special Attack Force put ashore 67 recently arrived midshipmen of the Etajima Naval Academy Class No. Thank you to all our WWII vets. 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. How many US planes were lost sinking the Yamato? Finally some detail1st attack vb82 loses a helldiver (my uncleensign jack Carl fuller and chas. this one exploding off Yamato's port bow, it was their air-launched torpedoes The Musashi and its sister vessel, the Yamato, were two of the largest battleships ever built. It's cable. naval action of the war, she took 2,747 men with herall but 269 of her crew. [1] When the 1st Battleship Division was deactivated once again on 10 February, Yamato was reassigned to the 1st Carrier Division. The FIST of the FLEET where it began during WWII. The Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Ito, orders the mission cancelled and directs the remaining ships to pick up as many survivors as possible. Thirty-four Hellcats, 22 Helldivers and one Corsair attack YAMATOs escorts. Flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, she was lead ship of the Yamato class. Throughout 1943, Yamato continually transferred between Truk, Kure and Brunei in response to American airstrikes on Japanese island bases. By this time, there wasnt much left of the Japanese navy that was still operational, and fuel was in critically short supply. Captain Aruga lashed himself to the binnacle to do the same. When Yamato sank, marking the last Japanese 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. 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 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. Two dud rockets hit FUYUTSUKI. About 1,187 crewmen of Yahagi and the four destroyers were lost. Yamato'sFinal Voyage Although 16 warships were hit, Yamato sustained only minor damage from a number of near misses and from one bomb that struck her bridge. Barrett is the world leader in long-range, large-caliber, precision rifle design and manufacturing. 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. VA-25 (1959) Air Group VI (6) The light cruiser Yahagi was the first hit, less than fifteen minutes after the firing began. 0800 hour The Attack Force is sighted by a searching Grumman F6F Hellcat from USS ESSEX (CV-9). What sank the Yamato? 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. It says that the Kikaigashima Island lookout station saw 150 carrier planes heading northwest. John Carter, was in a perfect position to watch what unfolded. 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). Altogether more effective were Japan's aerial suicide weapons. 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. Living Conditions. I was a radioman on one of the VT23 Avengers participating in this strike flying off the Langley. 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 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.). The Japanese fighters were unable to make contact before they left at 1000. The Americans lost 10 aircraft, while one aircraft carrier, one battleship, and one destroyer were damaged. Yahagi was a relatively small light cruiser (6,600 tons) completed in 1943 and intended for use as a destroyer flotilla leader. 1 magazine causing a huge explosion with a mushroom smoke cloud that was visible for 100 miles away. as she turns to avoid the onslaught from bombers. 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