Cloud cover precluded accurate firing of the He just didnt want to talk about the war. YAMATO starts a turn starboard to course 230 degrees. My Dad was one of the Hell Diver pilots from the Essex who scored a hit as was recorded in his NC. The first attack wave retires. Support Veteran Journalism . Deyo had just received a cheery send-off from his immediate boss: "We hope you will bring back a nice fish for breakfast." Yamato would have appeared indestructible. Spruance was informed of it only after the aircraft had taken off. This would be carried out in conjunction with a mass aerial kamikaze attack by over 350 airplanes ( Kikusui No. On her last morning, before the first American planes intercepted her, A torpedo strikes HAMAKAZE starboard, aft of amidships and she jackknifes. Instead, military leaders decided to build a secret weapon that could engage many enemy ships at once. Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. Instead, Yamato was obsolete the day she was launched, as the Japanese themselves proved at Pearl Harbor and elsewhere by sinking Allied battleships with airpower. 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. Only 10. She continues to throw up a screen of desperate flak fire. most of the American pilots returned to their carriers, knowing 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. Most of the battles in the Pacific dont mention anything about the small carriers that were involved. The 40 mm Bofors, with radar guidance and proximity fuses, were marginally effective in shooting down attacking planes. It had been deployed on a Surface Special Attack Force suicide mission to drive back U.S. forces that had landed on Okinawa. Kasumi, which had her steering disabled by two bomb hits, suffered 17 dead and 47 wounded, and was scuttled by two torpedoes from Fuyuzuki. (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. 129 Japanese soldiers were killed. The second penetrates the port side of the aft Command station and explodes between the 155-mm gun magazine and main gun turret No. 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. 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. One of the largest battleships ever built, Yamato entered service with the Imperial Japanese Navy in December 1941. YAMATOs list increases to about 15 degrees and her speed slows to 12 knots. 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. 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. A bomb impact in the dispensary killed many of the wounded who had been gathered there, along with many of the medical personnel. 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. More than 4,000 Japanese sailors were involved in the operation. Thanks!!! One of the surviving destroyers did not have a bow. Her nine 18.1-inch guns firing Sanshikidan beehive shells, twenty-four 127-mm. 1200 hour A lookout spots three Japanese troopships on bearing 0250 heading for Amami-Oshima. . These were 50 aircraft from Essex and Bataan. Submarine Hackleback (SS-295) then picked up surveillance, issuing four contact reports during the night as Yamato transited southwesterly along the coast of Kyushu. 2023 The SOFREP Media Group. 1300 hour YAMATO changes course to 180 degrees, due South. Read Next: The Ultimate Gunfighters! They lost their best battleship, a cruiser, and four destroyers along with nearly 4,200 sailors. 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. These The Musashi and its sister vessel, the Yamato, were two of the largest battleships ever built. 1000 hour - The Attack Force sights two large Martin "Mariner" PBM flying boats. 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. They truly were the Greatest Generation. Weighing 72,800 tons. FRUPAC had the message that the air cover would end at 1000, which was also known to senior U.S. Navy commanders. Just then, eight F6F Hellcats appear and begin circling over the force to maintain contact until the main formation arrives. 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. [1] By 14:00, two of Yamatos escorts had been sunk. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. Eight Japanese destroyers and one cruiser, the Yahagi (left), tried to assist Yamato in fending off her attackers. An attack of 36 Japanese dive bombers and torpedo planes against the heavily protected USS Hornet with her escorts took down over 20 Japanese planes. >. Asashimo went down with all 330 hands. 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.". The result was arguably the largest suicide mission in history. The Americans lost a total of only 10 aircraft four Helldivers, three Avengers, and three Hellcats and 12 men. She lies in two main parts in some 1,000 feet of water. A 500-pound general-purpose bomb hit Suzutsuki and blew off her bow. At 1830, destroyer Isokaze sighted Threadfin on the surface. TG 58.1, commanded by Rear Admiral J. J. I hope you enjoy the video! The Attack Force briefly sights seven Hellcat fighters, but they are not seen by the escorting Zekes. He considered it a waste of good men and ships. Aruga receives a rare double promotion posthumously to Vice Admiral on the request of Admiral Toyoda. The morale aboard Yamato was described as not being very good, especially after the crews were informed they were on a one-way mission. Two eyewitness accounts of Yamato's last battle. But the mission was approved and the Japanese ships set sail for Okinawa. 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. Vice Admiral Ito initially objected to the mission, viewing it as futile and wasteful. 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? In addition, sick sailors and also the oldest sailors were sent to shore. [28] An estimated 2,498 of the 2,700 crew members on Yamato were lost, including Vice-Admiral Seiichi It, the fleet commander.[1]. 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. At 1014, the Yamato force sighted the two Martin Mariner PBM flying boats, and also noted that Hackleback was still trailing (the Japanese had made so many course changes during the night that the sub was able to cut the corner and maintain contact on the force). She ships about 3,000-tons of seawater. [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. Surrounding Japanese ships lost an additional 1,167 men. 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. As Yamato continued to list to port, her starboard armor belt came out of the water and her vulnerable underside became exposed. More U.S. aircraft may have been knocked down by the magazine explosion than by Japanese anti-aircraft fire. Very interesting or happy to read about the Yamoto sinking as I was there as radioman aboard an Avenger off of the USS Langley. 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. Baka, essentially a piloted cruise missile, made its debut at Okinawa. At 14:23, having taken 10 torpedo and 7 bomb hits, Yamatos forward ammunition magazines detonated. In 1945 Carrier Air Group 17 consisted of VF-17, VBF-17, VB-17, and VT-17. Fourteen F4U Chance-Vought Corsairs from BUNKER HILL strafe and rocket YAMATO but cause only minor damage. She rolls slowly over her port side on her beam ends. Also, accounts differ as to whether he was a captain or rear admiral. Did anyone survive the Yamato sinking? 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. The fire in the area ofher forward 6.1 inch turret can be clearly seen (L42-09.06.05). Yamato (, lit. 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. While the Americans' 1,000-pound bombs held fearsome destructive power, as seen in An astounding series of explosions onboard While still a token of national pride, the sinking of Yamato also symbolized the sad end of the once invincible Imperial Japanese Navy. YAMATO is hit by two AP bombs. concentrate their torpedoes on just one of Yamato's sides, an approach 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 Yamato group cranked up speed to 25 knots. 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. During the night, this plan morphed into sending six new battleships detached from TF 58 into blocking position. This image 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. 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 turns hard to port. 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. Of Yamato's crew of 2,747, all but 23 officers and 246 enlisted men were lost. The destroyer Isokaze rushed to aid Yahagi and take off Rear Admiral Komura, but got pummeled by bombs before she got close. None of the captains was afraid to diethey just objected to the sheer folly of attacking in daylight without air cover, believing that they wouldnt get anywhere close to Okinawa. Lieutenant J.G. An F/A-18C Hornet catches an arresting wire on the USS Nimitz. Yamato was lost Apr. US warplanes sank the Musashi on 24 October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, believed to be. Yahagi lost 446 of about 1,000 crewmen. 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). At 1115, Yamatos radar indicated the two air groups were at 44 miles and closing rapidly. 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. My dad was soldier (Tsgt) at Okinawa and my father in law was a bosunsmate aboard the USS Gunston Hall. 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. Both Rear Admiral Komura and Captain Hara survived. April 7, 1945 Sinking of the Battleship Yamato. Baka claimed its first victim, the destroyer USS Abele, in the seas off Okinawa on April 12. They would not be needed. Helldivers from BENNINGTON and HORNET attack from port. VA-25 (1959) Air Group VI (6) 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. 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. It. Mitscher ordered all four of his carrier task groups to proceed as soon as possible to launch positions northeast of Okinawa with the intent to destroy Yamato before it got anywhere near Okinawa. At 2144, the submarine issued a detailed contact report with an accurate force disposition. 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. Damage Control counter-floods both starboard engine and boiler rooms and almost entirely corrects the list. 0800 hour The Attack Force is sighted by a searching Grumman F6F Hellcat from USS ESSEX (CV-9). What sank the Yamato? 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 Attack Force turns towards Sasebo. 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. [26] Heavy antiaircraft defensive fire and the heavy upper-deck armour plating on Yamato also prevented any significant damage to the vessel. Her remaining air search radar reports the approach of a second attack wave. 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