how many planes were lost sinking the yamato

US warplanes sank the Musashi on 24 October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, believed to be. 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. John Carter, was in a perfect position to watch what unfolded. During the night, this plan morphed into sending six new battleships detached from TF 58 into blocking position. 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. after the Yamato first took to the sea. Yamato took at least four more bomb hits in the superstructure area, which wiped out many of the remaining 25-mm guns. 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. 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. 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. Torpedoes explode against Yamato's port side Operation Ten-Go ( (Kyjitai) or ja: (Shinjitai) Ten-g Sakusen) was a Japanese naval operation plan in 1945, consisting of four likely scenarios. These 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. Vice Admiral Ito and Captain Aruga went down with the ship. She slips under followed by an underwater explosion. Three Japanese destroyers are nearby (80-G-413914). One bomb exploded in crews quarters, but the other bomb exploded near the aft command station and knocked out one of her two air search radars, the aft secondary gun director, several 25-mm gun mounts, and started a fire that killed all but one crewman in the after secondary (6-inch) gun turret and that couldnt be put out. Sources include: NHHC Dictionary of American Fighting Ships (DANFS) for U.S. ships and combinedfleet.com for Japanese ships. In 1945 Carrier Air Group 17 consisted of VF-17, VBF-17, VB-17, and VT-17. Japanese Battleship Yamato - minutes before sinking. 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. Her waterline armor belt was 16 inches thick. 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. Additionally, 1,178 people were wounded. You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article. YAMATO turns towards the planes and opens fire unsuccessfully as does cruiser YAHAGI. Aircrews were astonished at the size of the ship, which had seen very little naval action during the war. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ In addition, sick sailors and also the oldest sailors were sent to shore. 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). Deep sea explorers have found two Japanese aircraft carriers that were sunk in battle in World War Two. The emperors question clinched it. The Yahagi was too tempting a target for the hundreds of attacking aircraft. The Americans bloody island-hopping campaign, which had begun in the southern Solomon Islands in 1942, had grown as the Americans swept across the Gilberts, the Solomons, and, after the battles in Leyte Gulf and the Philippine Sea, were on the cusp of Japan herself. Note the fire in one of the With Yamato slowed, U.S. torpedo planes started to deliberately target her stern to knock out her steering, and she became stuck in a starboard turn. As she came under attack on that April morning, the 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. 1200 hour A lookout spots three Japanese troopships on bearing 0250 heading for Amami-Oshima. For executive producer Keiko Bang, making this film was cathartic. Though many Japanese naval leaders considered Operation Ten-Go to be a waste of their remaining resources, it moved forward on April 6, 1945. The American invasion fleet had, besides a heavy battleship contingent consisting of six battleships (Massachusetts, Indiana, New Jersey, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Missouri), seven cruisers (including the large cruisers Alaska and Guam) and 21 destroyers. It's cable. ship's aft turrets. In total, the U.S. lost 12 men. 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. In the 1980s, shipwreck hunters found the Yamato 180 miles (290 kilometers) southwest of Kyushu, one of the main islands of Japan. Fuyutsuki was hit by two dud rockets. YAMATO, despite hits by two bombs and one torpedo, maintains flank speed. One of the surviving destroyers did not have a bow. It says that the Kikaigashima Island lookout station saw 150 carrier planes heading northwest. 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. [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). This Is A Great Article Of An Historic Event. 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. Agroup of five low-flying Avengers (VT-17) from HORNET (CV-12) start a torpedo run from the port, bearing 70 degrees. The shocked emperor then asked, But what about the Navy? I was so fortunate to have had that experience!!! The fire in the area ofher forward 6.1 inch turret can be clearly seen (L42-09.06.05). 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. Five Helldivers are damaged by AA fire. But in 'one of history's greatest salvage jobs,' many of the sunken ships rose to fight the Axis. 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. 2 gun mount. 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. Breaking the news to the Emperor, a Japanese admiral was asked, what about the fleet? The admiral had to admit, the Japanese fleet had ceased to exist as a fighting formation. U.S. losses were 10 aircraft and 12 pilots and aircrewmen. 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. They pounced on her like sharks in the water. Listing heavily to port, YAMATOs exposed hull is hit by several more torpedoes. However, three-quarters of these (128 boats) were lost during the conflict, a proportion of loss similar that experienced by Germany's U-Boats. At 1830, destroyer Isokaze sighted Threadfin on the surface. XIV: Victory in the Pacific by Samuel Eliot Morison, Boston: Little Brown and Co., 1969; Japanese Destroyer Captain by Tameichi Hara, New York: Ballantine Books, 1961; Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II by John Prados, New York: Random House, 1995. of the battleship gives a sense of the 18-inch guns' enormous size (note sailors on deck). How many US planes were lost sinking the Yamato? This photograph was taken in December 1941, shortly Asashimo went down with all 330 hands. 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. As Yamato continued to list to port, her starboard armor belt came out of the water and her vulnerable underside became exposed. Japanese naval leaders briefed Emperor Hirohito on their plans, which consisted of massive air attacks, including kamikaze strikes. Hancock for some reason launched her 53-plane strike late, and it never found Yamato in the murk, reducing the overall first strike to 227 aircraft. At 1115, Yamatos radar indicated the two air groups were at 44 miles and closing rapidly. Still kicking but dont know why. Twenty Avengers attacked from the port side (concentrating torpedo attacks from the port side was deliberate, with the intent to capsize the ship). At 1402, Yamato took three more bomb hits amidships, and Aruga gave the abandon-ship order. There were few Japanese survivors. The Japanese also noted eight Hellcats circling the force with impunity because of no Japanese fighter cover, and remaining outside anti-aircraft range. The Americans lost 10 aircraft, while one aircraft carrier, one battleship, and one destroyer were damaged. 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. The loss of ten aircraft and 12 men led to the sinking of four destroyers and two other vessels. producing the blasts that tore the ship in half and sank her. While the Americans' 1,000-pound bombs held fearsome destructive power, as seen in [5] Shortly afterward, a second strike of 100 aircraft attacked Yamato and her remaining escorts. 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. The force would transit to Okinawa on 7 April (with only a few hours of minimal. Orders to Commit Suicide The Yamato had unbelievable orders. One Avenger is shot down. settled on the seafloor 1,200 feet down and about 50 1 magazine explodes and sends up a cloud of smoke seen 100 miles away. Far more effective was the extraordinary skill of Japanese ship captains in making evasive maneuvers to throw off aim and avoid numerous bombs and torpedoes. Another 110 planes appeared ready for the kill. YAMATO has taken a total of four torpedo hits. [26] Heavy antiaircraft defensive fire and the heavy upper-deck armour plating on Yamato also prevented any significant damage to the vessel. These were 50 aircraft from Essex and Bataan. 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. According to Morison, there were only 23 officers and 246 enlisted sailors who survived, which doesnt exactly match, but is close. 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. Before getting underway, the Surface Special Attack Force put ashore 67 recently arrived midshipmen of the Etajima Naval Academy Class No. U.S. aircrew claimed additional bomb and torpedo hits in this first wave, but these were mostly near misses. Around 2:00pm all power was lost and permission was given to abandon ship. Ten minutes later, two more torpedoes strike her port side. Deyo had just received a cheery send-off from his immediate boss: "We hope you will bring back a nice fish for breakfast." It had been deployed on a Surface Special Attack Force suicide mission to drive back U.S. forces that had landed on Okinawa. At flank speed, YAMATO commences a right turn but two 1000-lb AP bombs hit her. This time all the attacks are concentrated against the battleship. Of the 3,332 crew members aboard the Yamato, only 276 survived the sinking. Bang, making this film was cathartic film was cathartic and aircrewmen that the Kikaigashima Island lookout saw... The Battle of Leyte Gulf, believed to be closing rapidly October during! Air attacks, including kamikaze strikes action during the night, this plan morphed into sending new. Japanese fighter cover, and one torpedo, maintains flank speed, Yamato took three more bomb amidships. About the fleet including kamikaze strikes crew members aboard the Yamato had orders... Deep sea explorers have found two Japanese aircraft carriers that were sunk in Battle World. 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