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). YAMATO starts a turn starboard to course 230 degrees. Some of the Japanese survivors reported that U.S. fighter aircraft strafed Japanese survivors floating in the water. 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. YAMATO, despite hits by two bombs and one torpedo, maintains flank speed. Before getting underway, the Surface Special Attack Force put ashore 67 recently arrived midshipmen of the Etajima Naval Academy Class No. H-044-3: Operation Heaven Number One (Ten-ichi-go)the Death of Yamato, 7 April 1945. The Yamato group cranked up speed to 25 knots. It says that the Kikaigashima Island lookout station saw 150 carrier planes heading northwest. YAMATO has taken a total of four torpedo hits. RecPak is a meal replacement for the outdoors that saves you weight, space and time in the most challenging environments, just add water. 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 element of surprise was gone for the Japanese. Was the Bismarck bigger than the Yamato? At 1232, lookouts in the Yamato force sighted the first incoming strike wave. At this point, the Japanese task forces location had been picked up by American PBM flying boats, which kept the American fleet apprised of the Japaneses position and direction. Around 2:00pm all power was lost and permission was given to abandon ship. At 1115, Yamatos radar indicated the two air groups were at 44 miles and closing rapidly. When the U.S. invaded Okinawa on April 1, 1945, the Japanese had no naval answer to the invasion force. 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. The first explodes in the crews quarters abaft the Type 13 radar shack. 10 aircraft Yamato was still more than 300 nautical miles from Okinawa when she went down. [5] Shortly afterward, a second strike of 100 aircraft attacked Yamato and her remaining escorts. The attack of hundreds of US air force against Japan made Japan's biggest battleship Yamato sink. this one exploding off Yamato's port bow, it was their air-launched torpedoes With Yamato slowed, U.S. torpedo planes started to deliberately target her stern to knock out her steering, and she became stuck in a starboard turn. She continues to throw up a screen of desperate flak fire. The execute order for Operation Ten-ichi-go (Heaven Number One) was intercepted on 26 March 1945 and decrypted. (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. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ 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. By this time, there wasnt much left of the Japanese navy that was still operational, and fuel was in critically short supply. The American planes release their bombs and torpedoes and strafe the bridge with machine-gun fire. I was so fortunate to have had that experience!!! Six Yorktown Avengers attacked from the starboard side, with their Mark 13 torpedoes re-set for a 20-foot depthseveral hit. 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. (Although some accounts say that, according to the plan, the ships were only given enough fuel to reach Okinawa, they actually received as much fuel as was available to give. 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. Yamato took at least four more bomb hits in the superstructure area, which wiped out many of the remaining 25-mm guns. 1000 hour - The Attack Force sights two large Martin "Mariner" PBM flying boats. Yahagi capsized and sank shortly after 1400. At 2:10pm Yamato rolled over and began to sink with fires from her aft 6.1" turret reaching her no. On her last morning, before the first American planes intercepted her, Living Conditions. Meanwhile, about 34 Hellcats and Corsairs and 22 Helldivers and Avengers worked over some of the other Japanese destroyers. 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. Damage Control counter-floods both starboard engine and boiler rooms and almost entirely corrects the list. They were also given the option of not participating, an option none of them took. Ito was posthumously promoted to full admiral. U.S. aircrew claimed additional bomb and torpedo hits in this first wave, but these were mostly near misses. More than 4,000 Japanese sailors were involved in the operation. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. By early 1945, the Japanese Empire was shrinking daily and the war had reached its home shores. Displacing 72,800 tons fully loaded, they were about 30 percent heavier than the largest U.S . With nearly all of her anti-aircraft guns out of action, the Avenger torpedo planes wreaked havoc. She was blasted by 15 bomb hits and eight torpedoes. 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. after the Yamato first took to the sea. Had Yamato ever encountered an Allied battleship group, she could have floated safely out of range, while destroying each ship in turn. 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). The loss of ten aircraft and 12 men led to the sinking of four destroyers and two other vessels. At 2144, the submarine issued a detailed contact report with an accurate force disposition. 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. Still kicking but dont know why. 1200 hour A lookout spots three Japanese troopships on bearing 0250 heading for Amami-Oshima. Deep sea explorers have found two Japanese aircraft carriers that were sunk in battle in World War Two. Everyone of them, enlisted and officers, were a true gentleman. The fire in the area ofher forward 6.1 inch turret can be clearly seen (L42-09.06.05). Box 378 Red Hook, New York 12571 United States, a battle group of eight aircraft carriers, her enormous hull to the converging torpedoes. The Attack Force turns towards Sasebo. 7, 1945 south of Kyushu. All Rights Reserved. *Lighting a path to truth* Former Navy JAG Worldwide U.S. Military Defense. In viewing cite, this the first time I have seen any mention of the carrier Langley. The massive air group circled just out of range of the anti-aircraft guns of the Japanese. The ship captains were then assembled on Yahagi and briefed. A Japanese destroyer peeled off three times to keep Hackleback at bay. 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. 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. When Yamato sank, marking the last Japanese naval action of the war, she took 2,747 men with herall but 269 of her crew. ship's aft turrets. Ten minutes later, two more torpedoes strike her port side. photographed the destruction. Yamato USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. 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. 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. Most of the battles in the Pacific dont mention anything about the small carriers that were involved. 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. Combined with Yamato, about 4,242 Japanese sailors gave their lives for the emperor on 7 April. 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. 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. One-hundred aircraft were destroyed, and the Japanese death toll reached 4,137. A torpedo strikes HAMAKAZE starboard, aft of amidships and she jackknifes. 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. Yamato was commanded by Captain Kosaku Aruga (spelled Ariga in some accounts). Since Yamatos radios were destroyed, Vice Admiral Ito sent out a signal via flag hoist cancelling the operation and freeing the other ships to try to get back to Japan. Two dud rockets hit FUYUTSUKI. The Avengers drop three torpedoes. 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. YAMATO stops zigzagging and increases speed to 24 knots. Stetsons crewmen reset their Mark 13 torpedoes running depth to 20 feet. They lost their best battleship, a cruiser, and four destroyers along with nearly 4,200 sailors. Yamato (), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. About 1,620 survivors of Yamato, Yahagi, Hamakaze, Isokaze, and Kasumi were rescued by the surviving Japanese destroyers. Yamato'sFinal Voyage Three of the torpedoes hit in quick succession, and Yamato took on another 3,000 tons of water and a 7-degree list. 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. A lookout spots American planes 25 degrees to port, levation 8, range 4,375 yards, moving to port. At 0840, the Japanese reported seven Hellcats orbiting around the force. YAMATO and YAHAGI open fire, increase speed to 24 knots and commence a series of sharp evasive maneuvers. WORLD WAR II. At 0657, destroyer Asashimo, with Captain Kotaki, DESDIV 21, embarked, sent a signal that she was having engine trouble and began to fall behind. I stumbled on this article and I finally know a little about this battle. 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 a relatively small light cruiser (6,600 tons) completed in 1943 and intended for use as a destroyer flotilla leader. The carriers were among seven ships that went down in the Battle of Midway, a major air and . Twelve Helldivers claim several hits near the bridge and main gun turret No. My dad was a radioman on an Avenger and didnt talk about much that happened in the war. ), 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. Very interesting or happy to read about the Yamoto sinking as I was there as radioman aboard an Avenger off of the USS Langley. Having already counter-flooded to starboard, the only option Yamato had was to flood her starboard engine and boiler rooms. The engagement was an unmitigated disaster for the Japanese. In the 1980s, shipwreck hunters found the Yamato 180 miles (290 kilometers) southwest of Kyushu, one of the main islands of Japan. Though many Japanese naval leaders considered Operation Ten-Go to be a waste of their remaining resources, it moved forward on April 6, 1945. [26] Heavy antiaircraft defensive fire and the heavy upper-deck armour plating on Yamato also prevented any significant damage to the vessel. 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). She takes on a heavy list to port and her speed drops to 18 knots. 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. Vice Admiral Ito initially objected to the mission, viewing it as futile and wasteful. VA-25 (1959) Air Group VI (6) 3s upper powder magazine. Destroyer SUZUTSUKI wreathed in black smoke, burns furiously. 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. 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. At 1430 on 7 April 1945, more than 300 nautical miles north of Okinawa, Yamato blows up after capsizing. Japanese reports claim U.S. aircraft strafed survivors in the water, but also report that attacks ceased on destroyers that were picking up survivors. 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. 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. The age of the battleship was over forever. The visibility was highly variable, but often not very good due to cloud cover. Air search reports two groups of aircraft, range 44 miles, closing at high speed. Thanks for your presentation of this event! YAMATO opens fire with her two forward main turrets and AA guns. April 7, 1945 Sinking of the Battleship Yamato. The Attack Force changes course to 100 degrees. 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. Yahagi lost 446 of about 1,000 crewmen. 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. World War II would see the aircraft carrier emerge as the key to naval supremacy, supplanting the battleship. 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. Turret #1 can also be seen upfront. Of the 3,332 crew members aboard the Yamato, only 276 survived the sinking. He gave the go-ahead for the strike but ordered the battlewagons to proceed in the event the Japanese fleet got through the airstrike. 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. She slips under followed by an underwater explosion. Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis. This particular image was taken during an earlier battle with American carrier aircraft on October 24, 1944 as Yamato transited the Sibuyan Sea. concentrate their torpedoes on just one of Yamato's sides, an approach 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. One Helldiver was shot down. One Avenger is shot down. One Avenger is shot down but her barrage is largely ineffective because each AA battery fires independently without coordination. 1). He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. 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. The others kept coming. Submarine Hackleback (SS-295) then picked up surveillance, issuing four contact reports during the night as Yamato transited southwesterly along the coast of Kyushu. Just then, eight F6F Hellcats appear and begin circling over the force to maintain contact until the main formation arrives. 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. 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. 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. 1,000 watertight compartments couldn't save her, and her lower decks rapidly Altogether more effective were Japan's aerial suicide weapons. 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. Sources include: NHHC Dictionary of American Fighting Ships (DANFS) for U.S. ships and combinedfleet.com for Japanese ships. Operation Ten-Go never should have happened. The first U.S. attack wave ended about 1250. Another 110 aircraft from Task Group 58. Though incredibly powerful, Yamato suffered from a relatively low top speed as its engines were . VA-65 (1948) Air Group II (2) By the end of the battle, Yahagi and all eight destroyers were lost. The fighters attacked first, strafing the anti-aircraft guns on the decks with machine guns and rockets. Twenty Avengers make a new torpedo run from 60 degrees to port. Later that day, the battered destroyers ISOKAZE and KASUMI are scuttled and sink. Note the fire in one of the Yamato fired her 18-inch guns at approaching American aircraft, 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. The morale aboard Yamato was described as not being very good, especially after the crews were informed they were on a one-way mission. 1 magazine causing a huge explosion with a mushroom smoke cloud that was visible for 100 miles away. At 0823, a Hellcat fighter off Essex (CV-9) sighted Yamato, a contact that the battleship reported at 0832. Anatomy of Yamato 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. She was blasted by 12 bombs and six more torpedos. 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. 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. A torpedo stopped her dead in the water and killed the entire engine compartment crew. Yamato was lost Apr. Updated on July 03, 2019. Fifty aircraft from ESSEX and BATAAN are sighted approaching from the SSW, range 18.5 miles. 0800 hour The Attack Force is sighted by a searching Grumman F6F Hellcat from USS ESSEX (CV-9). This image At flank speed, YAMATO commences a right turn but two 1000-lb AP bombs hit her. The Americans bloody island-hopping campaign, which had begun in the southern Solomon Islands in 1942, had grown as the Americans swept across the Gilberts, the Solomons, and, after the battles in Leyte Gulf and the Philippine Sea, were on the cusp of Japan herself. She sunk shortly after. There were few Japanese survivors. About 120,000 were held at 10 camps because of fears that Japanese Americans were enemy sympathizers. The Musashi and its sister vessel, the Yamato, were two of the largest battleships ever built. went down in the battle, with the loss of just 12 men. A 500-pound general-purpose bomb hit Suzutsuki and blew off her bow. Lagging behind the main force, destroyer ASASHIMO is attacked and sunk by aircraft from SAN JACINTO. A report that had been delayed for 25 minutes by ransmission and decoding, is received finally. Musashi (? 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. The big carriers got all the credit. VA-6B (1946) On 1 January 1945, Yamato, Haruna and Nagato were all transferred to the newly reactivated 1st Battleship Division; Yamato left drydock two days later. Although born a U.S. citizen, he had been studying in Japan when the war broke out and had the choice of execution or serving in the Imperial Japanese Navy.). 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