Yahagi was a relatively small light cruiser (6,600 tons) completed in 1943 and intended for use as a destroyer flotilla leader. 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. A near miss on Hamakaze disabled her starboard shaft and then, at 1247, torpedo hits amidships blew her in half. Some who were shot down were later picked up by seaplanes or submarines. The attack lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. When the U.S. invaded Okinawa on April 1, 1945, the Japanese had no naval answer to the invasion force. 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 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. Around 3,700-4,250 men from Yamato and her escort ships were dead. Timeline of Battleship Yamato sinking on 7 April 1945 0800 hour - The Attack Force is sighted by a searching Grumman F6F Hellcat from USS ESSEX (CV-9). The aircraft are lost behind the clouds. April 7, 1945 Sinking of the Battleship Yamato. This would be carried out in conjunction with a mass aerial kamikaze attack by over 350 airplanes ( Kikusui No. They lost their best battleship, a cruiser, and four destroyers along with nearly 4,200 sailors. Helldivers from BENNINGTON and HORNET attack from port. Yamato's remains were located and examined in 1985 and again examined, more precisely, in 1999. Another 110 planes appeared ready for the kill. He gave the go-ahead for the strike but ordered the battlewagons to proceed in the event the Japanese fleet got through the airstrike. 1 magazine causing a huge explosion with a mushroom smoke cloud that was visible for 100 miles away. 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). The first U.S. attack wave ended about 1250. How many ships does a Yamato sink have? NOVA interviews two survivors of the sinking, who had to meet the most stringent requirements in the Japanese navy to be chosen for the crew. began to flood. The element of surprise was gone for the Japanese. All these years later I remember each one of those men fondly and with great respect. The explosion was heard over 120 miles away. One of her junior designers tells NOVA he was completely in the dark about the scale of the vessel that he was helping to create: I was building the biggest ship in the world, and I didnt even know it until after the war.. 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. Of Yamato's crew of 2,747, all but 23 officers and 246 enlisted men were lost. At 1830, destroyer Isokaze sighted Threadfin on the surface. The Japanese opened up with everything they had, which looked terrifying, but U.S. pilots quickly figured out that Japanese anti-aircraft fire was wildly inaccurate. aircraft's overhead view of its target. The Imperial Japanese Navy ceases to exist as a fighting force. The age of the carrier was now confirmed. These were 50 aircraft from Essex and Bataan. Additionally, 1,178 people were wounded. 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. At 2144, the submarine issued a detailed contact report with an accurate force disposition. By 1408, Yamato had clearly begun to capsize and the ship was being abandoned. Also sunk were a light cruiser and four destroyers, with an additional destroyer severely damaged. Vice Admiral Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. 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 sinking of the Yamato on April 7 conclusively signaled the end of the "all-big-gun" battleship era of naval warfare. Yamato fired her 18-inch guns at approaching American aircraft, They withheld the news from the public. He had friends wounded and killed, but the small carriers were never given credit for anything that happened. 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. They were also given the option of not participating, an option none of them took. Thirty-four Hellcats, 22 Helldivers and one Corsair attack YAMATOs escorts. A report that had been delayed for 25 minutes by ransmission and decoding, is received finally. The sky is still overcast and visibility is poor. Both ships cease firing. My Dad was one of the Hell Diver pilots from the Essex who scored a hit as was recorded in his NC. Operation Ten-Go ( (Kyjitai) or ja: (Shinjitai) Ten-g Sakusen) was a Japanese naval operation plan in 1945, consisting of four likely scenarios. 1). Yahagi capsized and sank shortly after 1400. Thanks!!! 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. While YAHAGI jams their sighting messages, YAMATO receives a report from a Japanese scout plane that Task Force 58 has been located east of Okinawa, 250 nautical miles from the Attack Force. It would not be enough. Her auxiliary rudder is jammed in position hard port. I was so fortunate to have had that experience!!! 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. 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. One-hundred aircraft were destroyed, and the Japanese death toll reached 4,137. 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). 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. 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. YAMATOs No. 2 gun mount. In 1945 Carrier Air Group 17 consisted of VF-17, VBF-17, VB-17, and VT-17. Hatsushimo suffered only three wounded on 6 April, but, on 20 July, struck a mine and was the last Japanese destroyer sunk in the war. U.S. aircrew claimed additional bomb and torpedo hits in this first wave, but these were mostly near misses. She didn't even make it close to Okinawa. Another 110 aircraft from Task Group 58. ), named after an ancient Japanese province, was one of two Yamato-class battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy, beginning in the late 1930s. Yamato avoided two, but the third hit her port side at 1245. The aft secondary battery fire control, secondary gun turret and the air search radar are knocked out. The Hell Divers then plummeted straight down dropping armor-piercing bombs, clearing the way for the Avenger torpedo bombers that came in low and slow to try to put torpedoes on the target. Three Japanese destroyers are nearby (80-G-413914). 1200 hour A lookout spots three Japanese troopships on bearing 0250 heading for Amami-Oshima. 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. The Avengers drop three torpedoes. During the night, this plan morphed into sending six new battleships detached from TF 58 into blocking position. 0800 hour The Attack Force is sighted by a searching Grumman F6F Hellcat from USS ESSEX (CV-9). Of the 3,332 crew members aboard the Yamato, only 276 survived the sinking. The execute order for Operation Ten-ichi-go (Heaven Number One) was intercepted on 26 March 1945 and decrypted. Submarine Hackleback (SS-295) then picked up surveillance, issuing four contact reports during the night as Yamato transited southwesterly along the coast of Kyushu. 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. YAMATOs list increases to about 15 degrees and her speed slows to 12 knots. She rolls slowly over her port side on her beam ends. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. At 1000 hours he launched a total of 386 aircraft consisting of fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers. The escorts cannot defend the flagship either. The battleship and its sister, Musashi, were the only battleships ever constructed with 18.1" guns. Posted August 23, 2013. this photo from 1941 shows the construction details of the Yamato's rear aircraft deck, side 6-inch guns that were replaced by AA guns later in the war, as well as the aft superstructure and main turret #3. Torpedoes dropped from their bellies, slashing through the water toward Yamato. The remaining destroyers tried to pick up as many survivors as possible and limped back to Japan. Almost all of the nearly 400 American fighters and bombers Having already counter-flooded to starboard, the only option Yamato had was to flood her starboard engine and boiler rooms. Only 10 American aircraft Thank you to all our WWII vets. Barrett is the world leader in long-range, large-caliber, precision rifle design and manufacturing. TG 58.4 had just finished refueling and would arrive just in time. Captain Hara of Yahagi later said the mission would be like throwing an egg against a rock.. Combined with Yamato, about 4,242 Japanese sailors gave their lives for the emperor on 7 April. The battleship received a 30-minute time-late report from an observation post on a small Japanese island north of Okinawa that 150 U.S. planes were headed in Yamatos direction. YAMATO increases speed to 22 knots. A Corsair from ESSEX drops a 1000-lb GP bomb that hits the superstructure in the port bow area. Support Veteran Journalism . I have his flight logs (as he never talked about the war except the death of his brother and his friends) so it is nice to get the big picture of this action. . Yamato (), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. He suggests the order to abandon ship be given. Destroyer SUZUTSUKI wreathed in black smoke, burns furiously. But in 'one of history's greatest salvage jobs,' many of the sunken ships rose to fight the Axis. Damage Control counter-floods both starboard engine and boiler rooms and almost entirely corrects the list. I hope you enjoy the video! But the Americans also had, The Ultimate Gunfighters! US warplanes sank the Musashi on 24 October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, believed to be. 1000 hour - The Attack Force sights two large Martin "Mariner" PBM flying boats. One Avenger was shot down, but three torpedoes went into the water. DesDiv 17s HAMAKAZE takes a near miss on her starboard quarter that disables her starboard shaft. 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. I was in a ASW squadron that still had many veterans serving and flying. 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. Light cruiser Yahagi steered away from Yamato in an attempt to draw attention away from the battleshiptoo successfully. Her waterline armor belt was 16 inches thick. He reports the formation at bearing 180, heading north, and splitting into two groups. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ Survivor Stories The American planes release their bombs and torpedoes and strafe the bridge with machine-gun fire. Though incredibly powerful, Yamato suffered from a relatively low top speed as its engines were . At 1402, Yamato took three more bomb hits amidships, and Aruga gave the abandon-ship order. [26] Heavy antiaircraft defensive fire and the heavy upper-deck armour plating on Yamato also prevented any significant damage to the vessel. Ito was posthumously promoted to full admiral. How many Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk in ww2? The fighter issued a contact report at 0832. In this program, NOVA joins an international team exploring the grave of this magnificent vessel to learn the secrets of her design, her final mission, and the violent events that brought her down. Six Yorktown Avengers attacked from the starboard side, with their Mark 13 torpedoes re-set for a 20-foot depthseveral hit. The Attack Force changes course due south to 180 degrees. 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. Baka, essentially a piloted cruise missile, made its debut at Okinawa. In total, 97 combatants were killed and 122 wounded. However, three-quarters of these (128 boats) were lost during the conflict, a proportion of loss similar that experienced by Germany's U-Boats. [1] When the 1st Battleship Division was deactivated once again on 10 February, Yamato was reassigned to the 1st Carrier Division. John Carter, was in a perfect position to watch what unfolded. The 40 mm Bofors, with radar guidance and proximity fuses, were marginally effective in shooting down attacking planes. Her nine 18.1-inch guns firing Sanshikidan beehive shells, twenty-four 127-mm. By noon, the Corsair and Hellcat fighters arrived over the Yamato group, looking for fighters protecting the Japanese, and finding none waited for the dive bombers and torpedo planes to arrive. An F/A-18C Hornet catches an arresting wire on the USS Nimitz. Additionally, aircraft damaged most of the . the Japanese were aware of Yamato's poor anti-aircraft defense and . At 1234, Yamato opened fire with her two forward main battery turrets, lobbing sanshikidan shells at the U.S. aircraftto no effect. With nearly all of her anti-aircraft guns out of action, the Avenger torpedo planes wreaked havoc. 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. At 14:23, having taken 10 torpedo and 7 bomb hits, Yamatos forward ammunition magazines detonated. Cloud cover precluded accurate firing of the The FIST of the FLEET where it began during WWII. She lists about seven degrees to port. Stetsons crewmen reset their Mark 13 torpedoes running depth to 20 feet. 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. 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