YAMATOs No. The result was arguably the largest suicide mission in history. 1000 hour The Attack Force sights two large Martin Mariner PBM flying boats. The sky is still overcast and visibility is poor. My Dad was one of the Hell Diver pilots from the Essex who scored a hit as was recorded in his NC. Another 110 planes appeared ready for the kill. Being young, I took it all for granted. concentrate their torpedoes on just one of Yamato's sides, an approach In addition, sick sailors and also the oldest sailors were sent to shore. [1] When the 1st Battleship Division was deactivated once again on 10 February, Yamato was reassigned to the 1st Carrier Division. 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. 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. Combined with Yamato, about 4,242 Japanese sailors gave their lives for the emperor on 7 April. 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. 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. YAMATO, at 27 knots flank speed, heels to starboard in evasive action. VA-6B (1946) 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. Here, an . Barrett is the world leader in long-range, large-caliber, precision rifle design and manufacturing. It would not be enough. 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. Survivor Stories About 1,187 crewmen of Yahagi and the four destroyers were lost. 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. Weighing 72,800 tons. By this time, there wasnt much left of the Japanese navy that was still operational, and fuel was in critically short supply. With the steering locked to port and the ship doomed, Admiral Ito at 1402 hours ordered the crew to abandon ship. The fighter issued a contact report at 0832. Vice Admiral Ito and YAMATOs skipper Captain Aruga and 3,055 of 3,332 crewmen are lost. A bomb impact in the dispensary killed many of the wounded who had been gathered there, along with many of the medical personnel. 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. The light cruiser Yahagi was the first hit, less than fifteen minutes after the firing began. YAMATO turns hard to port. 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. She rolls slowly over her port side on her beam ends. About 120,000 were held at 10 camps because of fears that Japanese Americans were enemy sympathizers. 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. Around 2:00pm all power was lost and permission was given to abandon ship. When Yamato sank, marking the last Japanese naval action of the war, she took 2,747 men with herall but 269 of her crew. But the biggest kamikaze attack of all was the suicidal mission of the super battleship Yamato, the largest, most advanced warship of the day. AA guns and one hundred fifty-two 25-mm AA guns all open fire. The Yamato group cranked up speed to 25 knots. At 1234, Yamato opened fire with her two forward main battery turrets, lobbing sanshikidan shells at the U.S. aircraftto no effect. Yamato was still more than 300 nautical miles from Okinawa when she went down. A 500-pound general-purpose bomb hit Suzutsuki and blew off her bow. ), 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. At 1322, an Essex Corsair hit Yamato in the port bow with a 1,000-pound general-purpose bomb. There are many stories about the sinking of the Japanese battleship Yamato. Executive Officer Nomura Jiro reports to Captain Aruga that his damage control officers are all dead and that counter-flooding can no longer correct the list. The pride of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Yamato was said to be the most powerful warship in history, but it was also beautiful, "like something in a tapestry.". 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. She takes on a heavy list to port and her speed drops to 18 knots. 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. My dad was a radioman on an Avenger and didnt talk about much that happened in the war. April 7, 1945 Sinking of the Battleship Yamato. In viewing cite, this the first time I have seen any mention of the carrier Langley. 7, 1945 south of Kyushu. It says that the Kikaigashima Island lookout station saw 150 carrier planes heading northwest. Yamato (, lit. Constructed from 1937 1940 and formally commissioned in late 1941, Yamato served as the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto throughout 1942, first sailing as part of the Combined Fleet during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. 276 men are rescued including Rear Admiral Morishita Nobuei, Chief of Staff, Second Fleet (and former YAMATO skipper). The escorts cannot defend the flagship either. 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. They lost their best battleship, a cruiser, and four destroyers along with nearly 4,200 sailors. 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. Mitscher correctly assumed that the Japanese were operating without air cover and would be sitting ducks for his huge airwing. The attack on Pearl Harbor killed 2,403 U.S. personnel, including sailors, soldiers and civilians. The rest of the Surface Special Attack Force consisted of the light cruiser Yahagi, and eight destroyers. Thank you to all the brave men and women of the US armed forces! The morale aboard Yamato was described as not being very good, especially after the crews were informed they were on a one-way mission. What are they doing to assist in defending Okinawa? This great vessel had a . She was blasted by 12 bombs and six more torpedos. Captain Aruga lashed himself to the binnacle to do the same. Orders to Commit Suicide The Yamato had unbelievable orders. While still a token of national pride, the sinking of Yamato also symbolized the sad end of the once invincible Imperial Japanese Navy. 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. Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis. 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. Yahagi lost 446 of about 1,000 crewmen. 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. settled on the seafloor 1,200 feet down and about 50 Asashimo went down with all 330 hands. My dads name is Ronald R. LeFebvre (Ding). (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. At 1342, another Avenger was shot down, but four more torpedoes were inbound from the port side and two hit. two Japanese aircraft carriers Deep sea explorers have found two Japanese aircraft carriers that were sunk in battle in World War Two. How many Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk in ww2? The fighters attacked first, strafing the anti-aircraft guns on the decks with machine guns and rockets. 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. Japanese naval leaders briefed Emperor Hirohito on their plans, which consisted of massive air attacks, including kamikaze strikes. Of Yamato's crew of 2,747, all but 23 officers and 246 enlisted men were lost. 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. Torpedoes explode against Yamato's port side Both the U.S. Fifth Fleet commander, Admiral Spruance, and Vice Admiral Mitscher (commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force, TF 58), who had access to the Ultra communications intelligence and were expecting the sortie, immediately reacted to the submarine reports. The attack on Pearl Harbor 71 years ago left a tangled mess of burning and shattered warships. Photographed from a USS Yorktown (CV-10) plane (NH 62581). Japanese Battleship Yamato - minutes before sinking. 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. Deployment: In the fall of 1941,. This particular image was taken during an earlier battle with American carrier aircraft on October 24, 1944 as Yamato transited the Sibuyan Sea. The Attack Force resumes zigzagging. Altogether more effective were Japan's aerial suicide weapons. Yukikaze suffered three dead from strafing and survived the war. At 0823, a Hellcat fighter off Essex (CV-9) sighted Yamato, a contact that the battleship reported at 0832. One Avenger is shot down. 4s YORKTOWN (CV-10), INTREPID (CV-11), LANGLEY (CVL-27) engage the Attack Force. [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). began to flood. While the Americans' 1,000-pound bombs held fearsome destructive power, as seen in Baka, essentially a piloted cruise missile, made its debut at Okinawa. 2023 The SOFREP Media Group. In a separate attack, compani 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). On 29 March, Yamato took on a full stock of ammunition, in preparation for combat off Okinawa in Operation Ten-Go. Though incredibly powerful, Yamato suffered from a relatively low top speed as its engines were . The Japanese also spot the HACKLEBACK trailing the Attack Force. At about 1237, U.S. aircraft commenced attack runs, with strafing and rockets from fighters (which quickly began decimating Japanese anti-aircraft gunners), and then bombs and torpedoes. 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. 1200 hour A lookout spots three Japanese troopships on bearing 0250 heading for Amami-Oshima. 1,187 crewmen of DesRon 2s light cruiser YAHAGI and the four destroyers are also lost. Taffy 2 and Taffy 3 aircraft contributed to the sinking of the heavy cruisers Chokai, Chikuma, and Suzuya, all of which had received some degree of damage from surface action. Vice Admiral Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. 1 magazine causing a huge explosion with a mushroom smoke cloud that was visible for 100 miles away. Ito was posthumously promoted to full admiral. 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. Yamato 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. blasts were perhaps the largest ever to occur at sea. They had already lost the battles of the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf, and Iwo Jima. It's cable. YAMATO turns towards the planes and opens fire unsuccessfully as does cruiser YAHAGI. The destroyer Isokaze rushed to aid Yahagi and take off Rear Admiral Komura, but got pummeled by bombs before she got close. Most of her engineering drawings have disappeared and few photographs survive, making Yamatos exact dimensions and design a mystery. The massive air group circled just out of range of the anti-aircraft guns of the Japanese. . They would not be needed. 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 1210, destroyer Asashimo, lagging behind the force, reported that she was under air attack, and radio transmissions from her ceased. More than 4,000 Japanese sailors were involved in the operation. TG 58.1 and 58.3 were quickly on station. Between then and 1000, a total of 14 Zekes would provide cover. The real story of the Yamato sinking March 06, 2008 On April 7, 1945, three southern boys were above the clouds north of Okinawa, 125 miles from the southernmost tip of the main Japanese islands searching for "the largest, heaviest and most powerful battleship ever constructed." Vice Admiral Ito retired to his stateroom to go down with the ship. A U.S. PBM Mariner also rescued several Japanese survivors. Of firing 3,220-lb shells over 26 miles pilots and eight aircrewmen were missing and presumed dead how many planes were lost sinking the yamato. For executive producer Keiko Bang, making this film was cathartic. SUZUTSUKI takes a 500-lb GP bomb hit to starboard, abreast her No. producing the blasts that tore the ship in half and sank her. Two other destroyers were heavily damaged, one, the Hamakaze later sank. Have we no more ships?. seven torpedo hits within two hours of battle. RecPak is a meal replacement for the outdoors that saves you weight, space and time in the most challenging environments, just add water. 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. He considered it a waste of good men and ships. Design and construction Main article: Yamato-class battleship 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. Workers are gathered around the gaping opening that will house main turret #2. At 1115, Yamatos radar indicated the two air groups were at 44 miles and closing rapidly. She quickly shipped 2,235 tons of water, but the list was soon corrected with effective counter-flooding. 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. [26] Heavy antiaircraft defensive fire and the heavy upper-deck armour plating on Yamato also prevented any significant damage to the vessel. VA-65 (1948) Air Group II (2) Submarine Hackleback (SS-295) then picked up surveillance, issuing four contact reports during the night as Yamato transited southwesterly along the coast of Kyushu. YAMATO and YAHAGI open fire, increase speed to 24 knots and commence a series of sharp evasive maneuvers. guns ever mounted at sea. torpedoes such that they would penetrate Yamato below the waterline near The aft secondary battery fire control, secondary gun turret and the air search radar are knocked out. The Avengers drop three torpedoes. 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. Yahagi was a relatively small light cruiser (6,600 tons) completed in 1943 and intended for use as a destroyer flotilla leader. U.S. losses were 10 aircraft and 12 pilots and aircrewmen. However, three-quarters of these (128 boats) were lost during the conflict, a proportion of loss similar that experienced by Germany's U-Boats. Support Veteran Journalism . 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. >. 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 age of the battleship was over forever. By early 1945, the Japanese Empire was shrinking daily and the war had reached its home shores. All these years later I remember each one of those men fondly and with great respect. These . Updated on July 03, 2019. 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. the Japanese were aware of Yamato's poor anti-aircraft defense and . What The Hell is Wrong with Steven Seagal? At 1417, she took an eighth and ninth torpedo, both to port. Yamato took at least four more bomb hits in the superstructure area, which wiped out many of the remaining 25-mm guns. It was going on the attack totally outnumbered. All Rights Reserved. These were 50 aircraft from Essex and Bataan. 1 magazine explodes and sends up a cloud of smoke seen 100 miles away. Deyo had just received a cheery send-off from his immediate boss: "We hope you will bring back a nice fish for breakfast." I Was At Okinawa At This Time. FRUPAC had the message that the air cover would end at 1000, which was also known to senior U.S. Navy commanders. 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. 1400 hour Three bombs explode port amidships, five minutes later a torpedo hits her starboard side amidships. went down in the battle, with the loss of just 12 men. 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. Did anyone survive the Yamato sinking? As she came under attack on that April morning, the Yamato had been fitted with multiple air and surface search radars, as well as radio-intercept capability. I joined the Navy in 1964. 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. They were also instructed to 3s upper powder magazine. Yahagi capsized and sank shortly after 1400. Yamato's remains were located and examined in 1985 and again examined, more precisely, in 1999. I was so fortunate to have had that experience!!! Relive the super battleship's last moments in photographs. that ultimately led to the supership's demise. The second penetrates the port side of the aft Command station and explodes between the 155-mm gun magazine and main gun turret No. The 40 mm Bofors, with radar guidance and proximity fuses, were marginally effective in shooting down attacking planes. My dad was soldier (Tsgt) at Okinawa and my father in law was a bosunsmate aboard the USS Gunston Hall. 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. By 1408, Yamato had clearly begun to capsize and the ship was being abandoned. YAMATO is hit by two AP bombs. 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