At 1000 hours he launched a total of 386 aircraft consisting of fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers. The shocked emperor then asked, But what about the Navy? YAMATOs No. 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. By the end of the battle, Yahagi and all eight destroyers were lost. concentrate their torpedoes on just one of Yamato's sides, an approach Very interesting or happy to read about the Yamoto sinking as I was there as radioman aboard an Avenger off of the USS Langley. As she came under attack on that April morning, the Throughout 1943, Yamato continually transferred between Truk, Kure and Brunei in response to American airstrikes on Japanese island bases. The Japanese lost three aircraft carriers and 426 aircraft; Yamato ' s only . This great vessel had a . However, three-quarters of these (128 boats) were lost during the conflict, a proportion of loss similar that experienced by Germany's U-Boats. Surrounding Japanese ships lost an additional 1,167 men. 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. 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 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. One Helldiver is shot down, another is damaged badly. VA-25 (1959) Air Group VI (6) As later described by the captain of Yahagi, Captain Tameichi Hara, the meeting was quite contentious. [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). Was the Bismarck bigger than the Yamato? 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. She continues to throw up a screen of desperate flak fire. He just didnt want to talk about the war. Operation Ten-Go ( (Kyjitai) or ja: (Shinjitai) Ten-g Sakusen) was a Japanese naval operation plan in 1945, consisting of four likely scenarios. 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. Some of the Japanese survivors reported that U.S. fighter aircraft strafed Japanese survivors floating in the water. The Attack Force briefly sights seven Hellcat fighters, but they are not seen by the escorting Zekes. After all, she was the Both Rear Admiral Komura and Captain Hara survived. 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. Yamato had been fitted with multiple air and surface search radars, as well as radio-intercept capability. Fuyutsuki was hit by two dud rockets. More than 4,000 Japanese sailors were involved in the operation. Experts believe that a fire raging in the YAMATO turns towards the planes and opens fire unsuccessfully as does cruiser YAHAGI. At 1830, destroyer Isokaze sighted Threadfin on the surface. Read Next: The Ultimate Gunfighters! Orders to Commit Suicide The Yamato had unbelievable orders. Not long after the Hellcat sighting, two PBM-3 Martin Mariner flying boats began shadowing Yamato, maintaining discreet contact for the next five hours while mostly hidden in the clouds. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. All Rights Reserved. Most of the battles in the Pacific dont mention anything about the small carriers that were involved. Eight Japanese destroyers and one cruiser, the Yahagi (left), tried to assist Yamato in fending off her attackers. 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. At 1342, another Avenger was shot down, but four more torpedoes were inbound from the port side and two hit. How many Japanese submarines were lost in ww2? It would not be enough. On her last morning, before the first American planes intercepted her, Deployment: In the fall of 1941,. During the night, this plan morphed into sending six new battleships detached from TF 58 into blocking position. Though incredibly powerful, Yamato suffered from a relatively low top speed as its engines were . TG 58.1 and 58.3 were quickly on station. The fire in the area ofher forward 6.1 inch turret can be clearly seen (L42-09.06.05). Numerous Helldivers from Bennington and Hornet attacked from Yamatos port side and numerous near misses splashed all around the battleship, which was moving at flank speed (27 knots), before she was finally hit by two 1,000-pound armor-piercing bombs at 1240. She sunk shortly after. He suggests the order to abandon ship be given. The first torpedoes pass by harmlessly, but the remaining two strike her port amidships. Photographed from a USS Yorktown (CV-10) plane (NH 62581). Only 10 American aircraft 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. She lies in two main parts in some 1,000 feet of water. [1] When the 1st Battleship Division was deactivated once again on 10 February, Yamato was reassigned to the 1st Carrier Division. 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. 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). The sinking of the Yamato on April 7 conclusively signaled the end of the "all-big-gun" battleship era of naval warfare. Her waterline armor belt was 16 inches thick. At this point, after just a few hours of battle, *Lighting a path to truth* Former Navy JAG Worldwide U.S. Military Defense. 129 Japanese soldiers were killed. Yamato (, lit. How many Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk in ww2? began to flood. ), named after an ancient Japanese province, was one of two Yamato-class battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy, beginning in the late 1930s. 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. He gave the go-ahead for the strike but ordered the battlewagons to proceed in the event the Japanese fleet got through the airstrike. At 2144, the submarine issued a detailed contact report with an accurate force disposition. 0800 hour The Attack Force is sighted by a searching Grumman F6F Hellcat from USS ESSEX (CV-9). Far more effective was the extraordinary skill of Japanese ship captains in making evasive maneuvers to throw off aim and avoid numerous bombs and torpedoes. Being young, I took it all for granted. The first explodes in the crews quarters abaft the Type 13 radar shack. The debate up to that point was whether to keep the fleet in home waters as a last-ditch defense or to send it on what everyone knew would be a one-way mission to attack the overwhelming U.S. forces expected to be at Okinawa. 2023 The SOFREP Media Group. battleship's guns. Mitscher correctly assumed that the Japanese were operating without air cover and would be sitting ducks for his huge airwing. The U.S. 5th Fleet commander, Admiral Raymond Spruance, ordered Task Force 54, which consisted mostly of the battleships under Rear Admiral Morton Deyo, to move in and engage the Japanese task force. Japans secrecy was due to her inability to match U.S. naval power ship for ship. Thirty-four Hellcats, 22 Helldivers and one Corsair attack YAMATOs escorts. DesDiv 17s HAMAKAZE takes a near miss on her starboard quarter that disables her starboard shaft. Aircrews were astonished at the size of the ship, which had seen very little naval action during the war. Displacing 72,800 tons fully loaded, they were about 30 percent heavier than the largest U.S . In viewing cite, this the first time I have seen any mention of the carrier Langley. ship's aft turrets. But the biggest kamikaze attack of all was the suicidal mission of the super battleship Yamato, the largest, most advanced warship of the day. 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. She was blasted by 12 bombs and six more torpedos. 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. Suzutsuki suffered 57 dead and 34 wounded, but, despite having her bow blown off, made it back to Sasebo, Japan, steaming in reverse the whole way; she was never repaired. 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. 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. 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. [27] While navigating the Bungo Strait, Yamato and her escorts were spotted by the American submarines Threadfin and Hackleback, both of which notified Task Force 58 of Yamatos position. . One fire can be observed amidships from the initial strike, but no list has developed at this point. YAMATO is hit by two AP bombs. The attack on Pearl Harbor 71 years ago left a tangled mess of burning and shattered warships. 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. An astounding series of explosions onboard 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). The Japanese naval defense plan was code-named named Sho-I-Go ("Victory"), and its objective was simple: Sink the American invasion fleet, maintain the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, and, by doing this, protect Japan from invasion. 1300 hour YAMATO changes course to 180 degrees, due South. Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. 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. By early 1945, the Japanese Empire was shrinking daily and the war had reached its home shores. YAMATO increases speed to 22 knots. YAMATOs list increases to about 15 degrees and her speed slows to 12 knots. 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. Yamato 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. A U.S. PBM Mariner also rescued several Japanese survivors. How many planes were lost attacking the Yamato? In a separate attack, compani The largest battleships ever built were Yamato and Musashi of the Imperial Japanese Navy. This time all the attacks are concentrated against the battleship. Had Yamato ever encountered an Allied battleship group, she could have floated safely out of range, while destroying each ship in turn. About 120,000 were held at 10 camps because of fears that Japanese Americans were enemy sympathizers. 4s YORKTOWN (CV-10), INTREPID (CV-11), LANGLEY (CVL-27) engage the Attack Force. Vice Admiral Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. The Musashi and its sister vessel, the Yamato, were two of the largest battleships ever built. 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. At 0840, the Japanese reported seven Hellcats orbiting around the force. At 1115, Yamatos radar indicated the two air groups were at 44 miles and closing rapidly. Cloud cover precluded accurate firing of the THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ , When the U.S. invaded Okinawa on April 1, 1945, the Japanese had, So, the admirals concocted what they termed, Operation Ten-Go (Operation Heaven One). Three Japanese destroyers are nearby (80-G-413914). Her remaining air search radar reports the approach of a second attack wave. This would be carried out in conjunction with a mass aerial kamikaze attack by over 350 airplanes ( Kikusui No. She ships about 3,000-tons of seawater. At 1232, lookouts in the Yamato force sighted the first incoming strike wave. Twelve Helldivers claim several hits near the bridge and main gun turret No. At 1407, she was struck by at least the seventh torpedo, this time to starboard. as she turns to avoid the onslaught from bombers. In total, 97 combatants were killed and 122 wounded. The escorts cannot defend the flagship either. Listing heavily to port, YAMATOs exposed hull is hit by several more torpedoes. Another 110 aircraft from Task Group 58. They truly were the Greatest Generation. 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. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the largest and heaviest battleships ever constructed, displacing 72,800tonnes at full load, and armed with nine 46cm (18.1inch) main guns. The Attack Force turns towards Sasebo. They also mounted numerous smaller guns to . (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. Then it was supposed to beach itself, run aground, and use the ship as a makeshift fort. Yamato was hit with three more torpedoes. Meanwhile, about 34 Hellcats and Corsairs and 22 Helldivers and Avengers worked over some of the other Japanese destroyers. Surrounding Japanese ships lost an additional 1,167 men. At 0823, a Hellcat fighter off Essex (CV-9) sighted Yamato, a contact that the battleship reported at 0832. Breaking the news to the Emperor, a Japanese admiral was asked, what about the fleet? The admiral had to admit, the Japanese fleet had ceased to exist as a fighting formation. 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. Yahagi lost 446; Asashimo lost 330; the seven destroyers, 391 officers and men. With nearly all of her anti-aircraft guns out of action, the Avenger torpedo planes wreaked havoc. YAMATO, despite hits by two bombs and one torpedo, maintains flank speed. At 1017, Yahagi commenced jamming the Mariners communications, but by then it was too late. one-third of which were torpedo bombers that hit from low altitudes. At 2:10pm Yamato rolled over and began to sink with fires from her aft 6.1" turret reaching her no. The explosion was heard over 120 miles away. TG 58.1, commanded by Rear Admiral J. J. As Yamato and escorts were transiting the Bungo Strait between the Home Islands of Kyushu and Shikoku on 6 April 1945, submarine Threadfin (SS-410) sighted the force at about 1745 and issued a contact report in the clear that was intercepted by Yamato. Twenty Avengers make a new torpedo run from 60 degrees to port. I was so fortunate to have had that experience!!! The Attack Force changes course to 100 degrees. Vice Admiral Ito initially objected to the mission, viewing it as futile and wasteful. Support Veteran Journalism . In the interviews below, meet two Yamato veterans still haunted by memories of the battle that took most of their comrades lives. H-044-3: Operation Heaven Number One (Ten-ichi-go)the Death of Yamato, 7 April 1945. It's cable. It starts a fire that cannot be extinguished and rips a 60-foot hole in the weather deck. 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. Everyone of them, enlisted and officers, were a true gentleman. 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. Weighing 72,800 tons. The attack on Pearl Harbor killed 2,403 U.S. personnel, including sailors, soldiers and civilians. 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. At 1322, an Essex Corsair hit Yamato in the port bow with a 1,000-pound general-purpose bomb. of the battleship gives a sense of the 18-inch guns' enormous size (note sailors on deck). Still kicking but dont know why. Barrett is the world leader in long-range, large-caliber, precision rifle design and manufacturing. AA guns and one hundred fifty-two 25-mm AA guns all open fire. By dawn on April 7, Asashimo, one of the destroyers developed engine trouble and started heading back to port in Japan. 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. The destroyers were Destroyer Division (DESDIV) 17 (Isokaze, Hamakaze, Yukikaze), DESDIV 21 (Asashimo, Kasumi, Hatsushimo), and DESDIV 41 (Fuyuzuki, Suzutsuki). Yamato's remains were located and examined in 1985 and again examined, more precisely, in 1999. In all, Yamato took 12 bomb and The aircraft are lost behind the clouds. Also, accounts differ as to whether he was a captain or rear admiral. How many US planes were lost sinking the Yamato? Baka claimed its first victim, the destroyer USS Abele, in the seas off Okinawa on April 12. A torpedo stopped her dead in the water and killed the entire engine compartment crew. Box 378 Red Hook, New York 12571 United States, a battle group of eight aircraft carriers, her enormous hull to the converging torpedoes. The first U.S. attack wave ended about 1250. At 1402, Yamato took three more bomb hits amidships, and Aruga gave the abandon-ship order. 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. this one exploding off Yamato's port bow, it was their air-launched torpedoes The Japanese also spot the HACKLEBACK trailing the Attack Force. Agroup of five low-flying Avengers (VT-17) from HORNET (CV-12) start a torpedo run from the port, bearing 70 degrees. 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. Although accounts vary about how many crewmen were on Yamato, the most definitive appears to be that 3,055 of 3,332 crewmen were lost. Helldivers from BENNINGTON and HORNET attack from port. her bow and stern where her armor was thinnest. 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. It. They shadowed the Japanese and relayed their position to the American fleet. She quickly shipped 2,235 tons of water, but the list was soon corrected with effective counter-flooding. My dad was soldier (Tsgt) at Okinawa and my father in law was a bosunsmate aboard the USS Gunston Hall. [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. Note the fire in one of the Lieutenant J.G. 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 loss of these ships shocked the British government, and helped change procurement and employment strategies in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Sources include: NHHC Dictionary of American Fighting Ships (DANFS) for U.S. ships and combinedfleet.com for Japanese ships. 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. Her auxiliary rudder is jammed in position hard port. My dads name is Ronald R. LeFebvre (Ding). Just after 1240 on 7 April, Yamato maneuvers frantically under the initial attackby USS Bennington (CV-20)and USS Hornet (CV-12) aircraft as a bomb explodes offher port side. The first attack wave retires. The Attack Force briefly sights seven "Hellcat" fighters, but they are not seen by the escorting Zekes. Captain Aruga lashed himself to the binnacle to do the same. In total, the U.S. lost 12 men. The light cruiser YAHAGI, without headway, drifts helplessly behind the main force. 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. I was in a ASW squadron that still had many veterans serving and flying. U.S. losses were 10 aircraft and 12 pilots and aircrewmen. aircraft's overhead view of its target. One of her lookouts spots the tracks of four torpedoes approaching. What The Hell is Wrong with Steven Seagal? About 1,187 crewmen of Yahagi and the four destroyers were lost. Even before the war, the Japanese understood that they could never match the U.S. Navy for quantity, but were convinced they could build a better battleship. Japanese lookouts spotted the American air armada at 1232 hours and soon opened fire with Yamatos 18-inch guns firing San Shiki anti-aircraft shells that were wildly inaccurate. Her nine 18.1-inch guns firing Sanshikidan beehive shells, twenty-four 127-mm. At 14:23, having taken 10 torpedo and 7 bomb hits, Yamatos forward ammunition magazines detonated. 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. 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 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). After daybreak on 7 April 1945, a paltry six A6M Zeke fighters showed up to provide combat air patrol over Yamato. The element of surprise was gone for the Japanese. Aruga receives a rare double promotion posthumously to Vice Admiral on the request of Admiral Toyoda. But the Americans also had, The Ultimate Gunfighters! The ship captains were then assembled on Yahagi and briefed. 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. As Yamato continued to list to port, her starboard armor belt came out of the water and her vulnerable underside became exposed. He asked what the Japanese navy was doing. According to Morison, there were only 23 officers and 246 enlisted sailors who survived, which doesnt exactly match, but is close. 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