The big carriers got all the credit. [1], Operation Ten-Go was a deliberate suicide attack against American forces off Okinawa by Yamato and nine escorts, beginning on 6 April 1945. The aircraft are lost behind the clouds. By dawn on April 7, Asashimo, one of the destroyers developed engine trouble and started heading back to port in Japan. So, the admirals concocted what they termed, Operation Ten-Go (Operation Heaven One). Only 10. This Is A Great Article Of An Historic Event. 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. 3s USS ESSEX (CV-9), BUNKER HILL (CV-17), BATAAN (CVL-24) and CABOT (CVL-28). The execute order for Operation Ten-ichi-go (Heaven Number One) was intercepted on 26 March 1945 and decrypted. Pearl harbor was attacked on December 7th, 1941,hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The Japanese also noted eight Hellcats circling the force with impunity because of no Japanese fighter cover, and remaining outside anti-aircraft range. Yamato's injuries were fatal. 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. Yamato was hit with three more torpedoes. 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. Weighing 72,800 tons. They were also instructed to Yahagi lost 446; Asashimo lost 330; the seven destroyers, 391 officers and men. He had friends wounded and killed, but the small carriers were never given credit for anything that happened. 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. 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. after the Yamato first took to the sea. battleship's guns. 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 Japanese were aware of Yamato's poor anti-aircraft defense and . This time, all attacks concentrated on the battleship. VT-17 (1943-45) 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. At 1830, destroyer Isokaze sighted Threadfin on the surface. miles southwest of Kyushu, Japan. Her waterline armor belt was 16 inches thick. Everyone of them, enlisted and officers, were a true gentleman. Thanks for watching. The destroyers were an assortment of different classes (what was left in operation, since the Japanese would lose 120 destroyers during the war), but all were armed with powerful Type 93 Long Lance 24-inch torpedoes. 1000 hour - The Attack Force sights two large Martin "Mariner" PBM flying boats. of the battleship gives a sense of the 18-inch guns' enormous size (note sailors on deck). The second penetrates the port side of the aft Command station and explodes between the 155-mm gun magazine and main gun turret No. Thanks for your presentation of this event! Relive the super battleship's last moments in photographs. Damage Control counter-floods both starboard engine and boiler rooms and almost entirely corrects the list. The rest of the Surface Special Attack Force consisted of the light cruiser Yahagi, and eight destroyers. There are many stories about the sinking of the Japanese battleship Yamato. 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. Flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, she was lead ship of the Yamato class. The fighters attacked first, strafing the anti-aircraft guns on the decks with machine guns and rockets. As later described by the captain of Yahagi, Captain Tameichi Hara, the meeting was quite contentious. Operation Ten-ichi-go was the Imperial Japanese Navys plan to react to the U.S. invasion of the island of Okinawa, which Japanese intelligence correctly determined would occur at the end of March 1945. Thank you to all the brave men and women of the US armed forces! Thirty-four Hellcats, 22 Helldivers and one Corsair attack YAMATOs escorts. Lagging behind the main force, destroyer ASASHIMO is attacked and sunk by aircraft from SAN JACINTO. Behind the Scenes Aruga receives a rare double promotion posthumously to Vice Admiral on the request of Admiral Toyoda. Her main guns were designed to attack at an unprecedented distance of 25 miles, well beyond the range of American battleships. 1300 hour YAMATO changes course to 180 degrees, due South. With robust designs and vintage classic style, discover the heritage of military timepieces today! Yahagi lost 446 of about 1,000 crewmen. As luck would have it, he said, the big ship was turning to port, thereby exposing the full broadside expanse of, PO Box 1077 MURFREESBORO, Tennessee 37133 United States, P.O. According to Morison, there were only 23 officers and 246 enlisted sailors who survived, which doesnt exactly match, but is close. . They truly were the Greatest Generation. After all, she was the 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 sinking of the Yamato on April 7 conclusively signaled the end of the "all-big-gun" battleship era of naval warfare. settled on the seafloor 1,200 feet down and about 50 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. At 0823, a Hellcat fighter off Essex (CV-9) sighted Yamato, a contact that the battleship reported at 0832. ), 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. TG 58.1 and 58.3 were quickly on station. Vice Admiral Ito initially objected to the mission, viewing it as futile and wasteful. Additionally, aircraft damaged most of the . I hope you enjoy the video! She continues to throw up a screen of desperate flak fire. She quickly shipped 2,235 tons of water, but the list was soon corrected with effective counter-flooding. Many of those lost did so after the battle on their return to the carriers; ditching in the sea having run out of fuel. 1 magazine causing a huge explosion with a mushroom smoke cloud that was visible for 100 miles away. One strikes her port side near the forward windlass room. At 1000 hours he launched a total of 386 aircraft consisting of fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers. U.S. losses were 10 aircraft and 12 pilots and aircrewmen. LtCdr (later Captain) Herbert Houck, the leader of 43 TBM Avengers of VT-9 from YORKTOWN, detaches Lt Thomas Stetsons six Avengers in a final torpedo attack from the ships starboard side. [1] When the 1st Battleship Division was deactivated once again on 10 February, Yamato was reassigned to the 1st Carrier Division. Listing heavily to port, YAMATOs exposed hull is hit by several more torpedoes. It starts a fire that cannot be extinguished and rips a 60-foot hole in the weather deck. 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 likely to cause flooding and eventual sinking. Deep sea explorers have found two Japanese aircraft carriers that were sunk in battle in World War Two. Yahagi capsized and sank shortly after 1400. 2023 The SOFREP Media Group. 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. 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. 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. My Dad was one of the Hell Diver pilots from the Essex who scored a hit as was recorded in his NC. In total, the U.S. lost 12 men. With this contact information, Spruance ordered Deyo to ready the blocking force. 3s upper powder magazine. This photograph was taken in December 1941, shortly Photographed from a USS Yorktown (CV-10) plane (NH 62581). 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? She lies in two main parts in some 1,000 feet of water. 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. Most of the battles in the Pacific dont mention anything about the small carriers that were involved. A Japanese destroyer peeled off three times to keep Hackleback at bay. As she came under attack on that April morning, the The Avengers drop three torpedoes. Also, accounts differ as to whether he was a captain or rear admiral. battleship's aft secondary magazine caused tons of ammunition to ignite almost simultaneously, At 1302, Yamatos remaining air search radar detected a second inbound wave. Deyo had just received a cheery send-off from his immediate boss: "We hope you will bring back a nice fish for breakfast." After daybreak on 7 April 1945, a paltry six A6M Zeke fighters showed up to provide combat air patrol over Yamato. As a Minnesota teenager when the war started,. Yahagi was a relatively small light cruiser (6,600 tons) completed in 1943 and intended for use as a destroyer flotilla leader. Yamato would have appeared indestructible. Later that day, the battered destroyers ISOKAZE and KASUMI are scuttled and sink. Stetsons crewmen reset their Mark 13 torpedoes running depth to 20 feet. In all, Yamato took 12 bomb and Yamato took at least four more bomb hits in the superstructure area, which wiped out many of the remaining 25-mm guns. Instead, military leaders decided to build a secret weapon that could engage many enemy ships at once. At 1000, Task Group 58.1 and Task Group 58.3 commence launching a 280-plane strike wave (132 fighters, 50 bombers, and 98 torpedo planes). The Yahagi was too tempting a target for the hundreds of attacking aircraft. The visibility was highly variable, but often not very good due to cloud cover. The fire in the area ofher forward 6.1 inch turret can be clearly seen (L42-09.06.05). The attack of hundreds of US air force against Japan made Japan's biggest battleship Yamato sink. I was a radioman on one of the VT23 Avengers participating in this strike flying off the Langley. At 1107, Yamatos Type 13 air search radar detected a large aircraft formation inbound at the radars maximum range of 63 nautical miles, and noted the aircraft formation was splitting into two groups. [5] Shortly afterward, a second strike of 100 aircraft attacked Yamato and her remaining escorts. 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. YAMATOs list increases to about 15 degrees and her speed slows to 12 knots. While the Americans' 1,000-pound bombs held fearsome destructive power, as seen in Where is the wreck of the Yamato? At 1210, destroyer Asashimo, lagging behind the force, reported that she was under air attack, and radio transmissions from her ceased. Design and construction Main article: Yamato-class battleship [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. Survivor Stories The destroyer Isokaze attempted to come to her aid but was heavily damaged and driven off. 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. 1). The first attack wave retires. DesDiv 17s HAMAKAZE takes a near miss on her starboard quarter that disables her starboard shaft. YAMATO increases speed to 22 knots. Japanese naval leaders briefed Emperor Hirohito on their plans, which consisted of massive air attacks, including kamikaze strikes. 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. [5] The smoke from the explosionover 4miles (6.4km) highwas seen 100miles (160km) away on Kysh. Barrett is the world leader in long-range, large-caliber, precision rifle design and manufacturing. Sieber was officially credited with two bomb hits on the Yamato and received the Navy Cross for his part in helping sink the huge ship that day. guns ever mounted at sea. The Attack Force changes course to 100 degrees. The element of surprise was gone for the Japanese. The result was arguably the largest suicide mission in history. All Rights Reserved. US warplanes sank the Musashi on 24 October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, believed to be. She didn't even make it close to Okinawa. The massive air group circled just out of range of the anti-aircraft guns of the Japanese. 1). These were 50 aircraft from Essex and Bataan. 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. Read Next: The Ultimate Gunfighters! Jan 6, 2019 Conan White, Guest Author. 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,. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. However, three-quarters of these (128 boats) were lost during the conflict, a proportion of loss similar that experienced by Germany's U-Boats. As soon as the Japanese fleet left port on April 6 at 1600 hours, and proceeded through the Bungo Strait, (many WWII film buffs will recall the strait from Run Silent, Run Deep), they were immediately picked up by two American submarines (Hackleback and Threadfin). Being young, I took it all for granted. Yamato (), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. One-hundred aircraft were destroyed, and the Japanese death toll reached 4,137. American aviators received orders to drop their About 1,620 survivors of Yamato, Yahagi, Hamakaze, Isokaze, and Kasumi were rescued by the surviving Japanese destroyers. The Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Ito, orders the mission cancelled and directs the remaining ships to pick up as many survivors as possible. 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. Ito was posthumously promoted to full admiral. According to the plan, Yamato, light cruiser Yahagi, and eight destroyers would form a Surface Special Attack Force (the term special attack was understood to mean suicide) and sortie on 6 April 1945. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol. With the steering locked to port and the ship doomed, Admiral Ito at 1402 hours ordered the crew to abandon ship. Asashimo went down with all 330 hands. He asked what the Japanese navy was doing. A bomb impact in the dispensary killed many of the wounded who had been gathered there, along with many of the medical personnel. YAMATO turns towards the planes and opens fire unsuccessfully as does cruiser YAHAGI. April 7, 1945 Sinking of the Battleship Yamato. The Yamato sank during a fierce battle for Okinawa on April, 7 1945. In a separate attack, compani Of the 3,332 crew members aboard the Yamato, only 276 survived the sinking. Now I know a little bit. 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