Yamato avoided two, but the third hit her port side at 1245. By dawn on April 7, Asashimo, one of the destroyers developed engine trouble and started heading back to port in Japan. He gave the go-ahead for the strike but ordered the battlewagons to proceed in the event the Japanese fleet got through the airstrike. According to Morison, there were only 23 officers and 246 enlisted sailors who survived, which doesnt exactly match, but is close. The visibility was highly variable, but often not very good due to cloud cover. The destroyer Isokaze rushed to aid Yahagi and take off Rear Admiral Komura, but got pummeled by bombs before she got close. In addition, sick sailors and also the oldest sailors were sent to shore. ship's aft turrets. 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 Baka, essentially a piloted cruise missile, made its debut at Okinawa. 4s YORKTOWN (CV-10), INTREPID (CV-11), LANGLEY (CVL-27) engage the Attack Force. Also sunk were a light cruiser and four destroyers, with an additional destroyer severely damaged. The attack of hundreds of US air force against Japan made Japan's biggest battleship Yamato sink. Thirty-four Hellcats, 22 Helldivers and one Corsair attack YAMATOs escorts. 1300 hour YAMATO changes course to 180 degrees, due South. They withheld the news from the public. 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. Less than three and half years after Pearl Harbor, American industrial might was on full display. of the battleship gives a sense of the 18-inch guns' enormous size (note sailors on deck). Jan 6, 2019 Conan White, Guest Author. My father, Donald Lennox, Sr. was an Avenger pilot on the San Jacinto whose torpedo is credited for striking the Asashimo. 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 . Living Conditions. 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. The shocked emperor then asked, But what about the Navy? 1100 hour YAMATOs Type 13 air search radar operator reports contact with a large aircraft formation at his sets maximum range of 63 miles. 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. 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. Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. Helldivers from BENNINGTON and HORNET attack from port. . 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. One of her lookouts spots the tracks of four torpedoes approaching. She rolls slowly over her port side on her beam ends. 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. 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. Japanese naval leaders briefed Emperor Hirohito on their plans, which consisted of massive air attacks, including kamikaze strikes. At 1115, Yamatos radar indicated the two air groups were at 44 miles and closing rapidly. 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. Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis. 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. And it was never more apparent than during the Battle of Okinawa. (Based on erroneous San Jacinto report, Samuel Eliot Morison misidentifies this ship as Hamakaze, but a photo shows a Yugumo-class destroyer, which would be Asashimo, and which was also the one lagging behind.). 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. Six Yorktown Avengers attacked from the starboard side, with their Mark 13 torpedoes re-set for a 20-foot depthseveral hit. 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. 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. 1000 hour - The Attack Force sights two large Martin "Mariner" PBM flying boats. Surrounding Japanese ships lost an additional 1,167 men. Yamato carried only enough fuel to reach Okinawa, as the fuel stocks available were insufficient to provide enough fuel to reach Okinawa and return. They would not be needed. 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. Of the Japanese destroyers, Asashimo was sunk with all hands (about 330) and Hamakaze sank with a loss of 100 crewmen and 45 wounded (257 were rescued). Additionally, 1,178 people were wounded. 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). In 1945 Carrier Air Group 17 consisted of VF-17, VBF-17, VB-17, and VT-17. Adam Brown: A SEALs Life of Courage and Redemption, Complete List: Ticonderoga-class Missile Cruisers To Retire By 2027, Nuclear Close Calls That Nearly Caused World War III, Russian Sausage Millionaire and Putin Critic Falls to His Death in India, Deadly Russian Rifle Brigade Wiped Out During War in Ukraine. Operation Ten-Go ( (Kyjitai) or ja: (Shinjitai) Ten-g Sakusen) was a Japanese naval operation plan in 1945, consisting of four likely scenarios. It starts a fire that cannot be extinguished and rips a 60-foot hole in the weather deck. She continues to throw up a screen of desperate flak fire. Japanese lookouts spotted the American air armada at 1232 hours and soon opened fire with Yamatos 18-inch guns firing San Shiki anti-aircraft shells that were wildly inaccurate. YAMATO increases speed to 22 knots. She had suffered minor damage in the bridge area from a bomb hit by a Helldiver dive-bomber off Intrepid (CV-11) during U.S. carrier strikes on Kure and the Inland Sea on 19 March, but was fully fit for battle. You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article. Deyo had just received a cheery send-off from his immediate boss: "We hope you will bring back a nice fish for breakfast." 2023 The SOFREP Media Group. Relive the super battleship's last moments in photographs. An astounding series of explosions onboard Then radar reports the closing aircraft have turned towards the force. By this point, the uncorrected list was passing 15 degrees to port, and alarms were warning of critical temperatures in the forward main battery magazines, with no working pumps to flood them. It was going on the attack totally outnumbered. Also, accounts differ as to whether he was a captain or rear admiral. They had already lost the battles of the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf, and Iwo Jima. At 0823, a Hellcat fighter off Essex (CV-9) sighted Yamato, a contact that the battleship reported at 0832. 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. One Avenger is shot down. WORLD WAR II. This particular image was taken during an earlier battle with American carrier aircraft on October 24, 1944 as Yamato transited the Sibuyan Sea. During the night, this plan morphed into sending six new battleships detached from TF 58 into blocking position. By early 1945, the Japanese Empire was shrinking daily and the war had reached its home shores. Musashi and her sister ship, Yamato, were by a wide margin the largest battleships ever built. TG 58.2 was in the act of refueling and wouldnt get there in time. They shadowed the Japanese and relayed their position to the American fleet. The ship captains were then assembled on Yahagi and briefed. photographed the destruction. burning just prior to disappearing beneath the waves. A Curtiss Helldiver bomber like the one seen at right 1000 hour The Attack Force sights two large Martin Mariner PBM flying boats. The Americans lost a total of only 10 aircraft four Helldivers, three Avengers, and three Hellcats and 12 men. But the mission was approved and the Japanese ships set sail for Okinawa. He just didnt want to talk about the war. Japanese reports claim U.S. aircraft strafed survivors in the water, but also report that attacks ceased on destroyers that were picking up survivors. (The Yamato force had a Nisei radio-intelligence operator. Another 110 planes appeared ready for the kill. Updated on July 03, 2019. 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. At 1402, Yamato took three more bomb hits amidships, and Aruga gave the abandon-ship order. The carriers were among seven ships that went down in the Battle of Midway, a major air and . The age of the battleship was over forever. I stumbled on this article and I finally know a little about this battle. *Lighting a path to truth* Former Navy JAG Worldwide U.S. Military Defense. The destroyers were Destroyer Division (DESDIV) 17 (Isokaze, Hamakaze, Yukikaze), DESDIV 21 (Asashimo, Kasumi, Hatsushimo), and DESDIV 41 (Fuyuzuki, Suzutsuki). 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. VT-17 (1943-45) When Yamato sank, marking the last Japanese naval action of the war, she took 2,747 men with herall but 269 of her crew. About 1,620 survivors of Yamato, Yahagi, Hamakaze, Isokaze, and Kasumi were rescued by the surviving Japanese destroyers. 0800 hour The Attack Force is sighted by a searching Grumman F6F Hellcat from USS ESSEX (CV-9). The second and third waves of the American attacks pummeled Yamato. At 0840, the Japanese reported seven Hellcats orbiting around the force. Twelve Helldivers claimed several hits in the bridge area in exchange for five Helldivers damaged by anti-aircraft fire. Instead, military leaders decided to build a secret weapon that could engage many enemy ships at once. 1000 hour - the Attack Force sights two large Martin & quot ; PBM boats! 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