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. About 120,000 were held at 10 camps because of fears that Japanese Americans were enemy sympathizers. Her secondary armament was significantly altered during the war by removing two of her four triple 6.1-inch turrets in favor of increased anti-aircraft armament, which, by 1945, included 12 dual 5-inch gun mounts, 54 25-mm triple mounts (162 guns), and smaller machine guns. Her waterline armor belt was 16 inches thick. 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. At 1407, she was struck by at least the seventh torpedo, this time to starboard. Both ships cease firing. The destroyers were Destroyer Division (DESDIV) 17 (Isokaze, Hamakaze, Yukikaze), DESDIV 21 (Asashimo, Kasumi, Hatsushimo), and DESDIV 41 (Fuyuzuki, Suzutsuki). Yahagi lost 446; Asashimo lost 330; the seven destroyers, 391 officers and men. How many Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk in ww2? The Attack Force briefly sights seven "Hellcat" fighters, but they are not seen by the escorting Zekes. 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. My dad was soldier (Tsgt) at Okinawa and my father in law was a bosunsmate aboard the USS Gunston Hall. In the interviews below, meet two Yamato veterans still haunted by memories of the battle that took most of their comrades lives. She continues to throw up a screen of desperate flak fire. John Carter, was in a perfect position to watch what unfolded. It's cable. Yamato fired her 18-inch guns at approaching American aircraft, Six Yorktown Avengers attacked from the starboard side, with their Mark 13 torpedoes re-set for a 20-foot depthseveral hit. Less than three and half years after Pearl Harbor, American industrial might was on full display. YAMATO increases speed to 22 knots. SUZUTSUKI takes a 500-lb GP bomb hit to starboard, abreast her No. torpedoes such that they would penetrate Yamato below the waterline near 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. Of Yamato's crew of 2,747, all but 23 officers and 246 enlisted men were lost. 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 first explodes in the crews quarters abaft the Type 13 radar shack. Many of those lost did so after the battle on their return to the carriers; ditching in the sea having run out of fuel. He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. Living Conditions. The most powerful battleship in the world was no match for 390 U.S. carrier aircraft. Surrounding Japanese ships lost an additional 1,167 men. 7. Experts believe that a fire raging in the 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. Armor-piercing and other bombs make a shambles of her upper works. This would be carried out in conjunction with a mass aerial kamikaze attack by over 350 airplanes ( Kikusui No. Rather than targeting specific vessels, Stump ordered his air group to attempt to cripple as many Japanese ships as possible. Design commenced in 1934, construction began in 1937 (in great secrecy) and Yamato was commissioned in December 1941 just after Pearl Harbor. Thanks for your presentation of this event! aircraft's overhead view of its target. Photographed from a USS Yorktown (CV-10) plane (NH 62581). 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. Laid down in May 1940 as the third of the Yamato-class battleships, Shinano ' s partially complete hull was ordered to be converted to an aircraft carrier following Japan's disastrous loss of four of its original six fleet carriers at the Battle of . The largest battleships ever built were Yamato and Musashi of the Imperial Japanese Navy. . 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. 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. RecPak is a meal replacement for the outdoors that saves you weight, space and time in the most challenging environments, just add water. He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. ), named after an ancient Japanese province, was one of two Yamato-class battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy, beginning in the late 1930s. Being young, I took it all for granted. blasts were perhaps the largest ever to occur at sea. TG 58.1, commanded by Rear Admiral J. J. He asked what the Japanese navy was doing. With robust designs and vintage classic style, discover the heritage of military timepieces today! Yamato took at least four more bomb hits in the superstructure area, which wiped out many of the remaining 25-mm guns. All ships increase speed to 25 knots and commence a simultaneous turn. Thanks for watching. One of her lookouts spots the tracks of four torpedoes approaching. The light cruiser Yahagi was the first hit, less than fifteen minutes after the firing began. 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. Having already counter-flooded to starboard, the only option Yamato had was to flood her starboard engine and boiler rooms. Some of the Japanese survivors reported that U.S. fighter aircraft strafed Japanese survivors floating in the water. 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. The second and third waves of the American attacks pummeled Yamato. Naval Academy, The Sullivan Brothers and the Assignment of Family Members, Historic Former U.S. Navy Bases and Stations, The African American Experience in the U.S. Navy, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. Navy, Contributions of Native Americans to the U.S. Navy, The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet, Navy Underwater Archaeology Return Program, Annual Navy History and Heritage Awards - Main, Research Permits for Sunken & Terrestrial Military Craft, Scanning, Copyright & Citation Information, Obtain Duplications of Records and Photos, H-003-2 Japanese Offensive and Navy Response, H-010-2 The Battle of the Eastern Solomons, H-010-5 Plaque from Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58), H-011-1 Guadalcanal: Victory at Cape Esperance, H-011-3 Santa Cruz (Japanese Pyrrhic Victory), H-014-1 The Seizure of USS Pueblo (AGER-2), H-017-2: Operation Rolling Thunder Overview, H-019-4 "Black May": Battle of the Atlantic 1943, H-019-5 "Black Sunday": U-Boats off U.S. East Coast 1918, H-020-4: Submarine AL-2 Versus U-Boat UB-65, H-024-1 Bougainville and Victory in the Solomons, H-025-1 Operation GalvanicTarawa and Makin, H-028-1 Vietnam 1969 Navy Medal of Honor Awards, H-032-1 Operation Forager and the Battle of Philippine Sea, H-Gram Special Edition: Passing of Supreme Court Justice Stevens, H-045-3: 50th Anniversary of Apollo 13 Mission, H-046-1: Kamikaze Attack on USS Aaron Ward, H-048-1: Kamikaze Attacks on U.S. Flagships, H-048-2: Naval Battle of Okinawa (Continued), H-049-2: LCDR George Street's Medal of Honor, H-052-1: The U.S. Navy and the Atomic Bomb, H-053-1: The End of the Imperial Japanese Navy, H-053-3: Operation Desert Shield, September 1990, H-054-1: Inchon Landing and Naval Action in the Korean War, September-October 1950, H-054-2: Operation Desert Shield, October 1990, H-055-2: Operation Desert Shield, November 1990, H-055-: Attack on USS Cole (DDG-67) October 2000, H-056-2: Operation Desert Shield, December 1990-January 1991, H-057-1: Operations Downfall and Ketsugo November 1945, H-057-2: Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night, H-058-1: Operation Desert Storm in January 1991, H-058-2: Korean War - Communist China Offensive, H-059-1: Operation Desert Storm in Feb-Mar 1991, H-059-2: 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War, H-061-1 Korea: U.S. Navy Operations, March-July 1951, H-061-3 Desert Storm: Sealift, Seabees, Navy Medicine, H-063-3: The Battle of Shimonoseki Strait, H-064-1: Close Quarters Antisubmarine Warfare (Part 1), H-064-2: Close Quarters Antisubmarine Warfare (Part 2), H-064-3: Close Quarters Antisubmarine Warfare (Part 3), H-069-1: "The Covered Wagon: USS Langley (CV-1), H-070-1: The Vietnam War Easter Offensive, Part 1, H-071-2: U.S. Navy Surface Ship Accidents Since World War II, H-071-3: The Sacrifices of USS Neosho and USS Sims, H-074-1: The Vietnam War Easter Offensive, Part 2, H-075-1: U.S. Navy vs. Soviets Overwater Dogfight, H-075-2: Short History of U.S. Navy Accidents and Non-Combat Losses. My dads name is Ronald R. LeFebvre (Ding). The attack of hundreds of US air force against Japan made Japan's biggest battleship Yamato sink. 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. Had Yamato ever encountered an Allied battleship group, she could have floated safely out of range, while destroying each ship in turn. 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. Instead, military leaders decided to build a secret weapon that could engage many enemy ships at once. Yahagi lost 446 of about 1,000 crewmen. At 1430 on 7 April 1945, more than 300 nautical miles north of Okinawa, Yamato blows up after capsizing. Vice Admiral Ito retired to his stateroom to go down with the ship. 7, 1945 south of Kyushu. 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