But the mission was approved and the Japanese ships set sail for Okinawa. My dad was soldier (Tsgt) at Okinawa and my father in law was a bosunsmate aboard the USS Gunston Hall. settled on the seafloor 1,200 feet down and about 50 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). 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. All these years later I remember each one of those men fondly and with great respect. Armor-piercing and other bombs make a shambles of her upper works. Yamato and her sister ship Musashi, sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, were, at 65,000 tons displacement (72,000 tons fully loaded), the largest battleships ever built. The Yomiuri Shimbun, one of several private companies sponsoring the search, reported that the wreck lay about 180 miles southwest of Kagoshima on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu, in more than 1,100 feet of water. Some who were shot down were later picked up by seaplanes or submarines. Numerous Helldivers from Bennington and Hornet attacked from Yamatos port side and numerous near misses splashed all around the battleship, which was moving at flank speed (27 knots), before she was finally hit by two 1,000-pound armor-piercing bombs at 1240. They were also instructed to He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. My father, Donald Lennox, Sr. was an Avenger pilot on the San Jacinto whose torpedo is credited for striking the Asashimo. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. A near miss on Hamakaze disabled her starboard shaft and then, at 1247, torpedo hits amidships blew her in half. Aruga receives a rare double promotion posthumously to Vice Admiral on the request of Admiral Toyoda. Just after 1240 on 7 April, Yamato maneuvers frantically under the initial attackby USS Bennington (CV-20)and USS Hornet (CV-12) aircraft as a bomb explodes offher port side. They had already lost the battles of the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf, and Iwo Jima. One of the surviving destroyers did not have a bow. 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. [1][26] Led by the man who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor, Minoru Genda, the appearance of these fighters, which were equal or superior to the F6F Hellcat in performance, surprised the attackers, and several American planes were shot down. The destroyer Isokaze rushed to aid Yahagi and take off Rear Admiral Komura, but got pummeled by bombs before she got close. 1300 hour YAMATO changes course to 180 degrees, due South. In the interviews below, meet two Yamato veterans still haunted by memories of the battle that took most of their comrades lives. 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. Although accounts vary about how many crewmen were on Yamato, the most definitive appears to be that 3,055 of 3,332 crewmen were lost. This was taken by senior Japanese navy leaders as implicit criticism of their services inaction. 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. Weighing 72,800 tons. The Yamato sank during a fierce battle for Okinawa on April, 7 1945. Yahagi capsized and sank shortly after 1400. 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. Asashimo was first attacked by aircraft from Bunker Hill and then, a few minutes later, by aircraft from San Jacinto, which scored killing hits with torpedoes and bombs. This image 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. 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. Two eyewitness accounts of Yamato's last battle. Yamato had been fitted with multiple air and surface search radars, as well as radio-intercept capability. In addition, sick sailors and also the oldest sailors were sent to shore. 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. 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. It said the wreck was in two main pieces, a bow-to-midships section about 560 feet long, and a 264-foot-long stern section. For executive producer Keiko Bang, making this film was cathartic. Yamato's remains were located and examined in 1985 and again examined, more precisely, in 1999. DANFS - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Permitting Policy and Resource Management, The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks: 20 Years Later, "Ex Scientia Tridens": The U.S. [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. Operation Ten-Go never should have happened. Damage Control counter-floods both starboard engine and boiler rooms and almost entirely corrects the list. Between then and 1000, a total of 14 Zekes would provide cover. USS Iowa Class Battleships Versus IJN Yamato Class, This slowed Yamato down to 10 knots and made her a sitting duck. 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. According to Morison, there were only 23 officers and 246 enlisted sailors who survived, which doesnt exactly match, but is close. Did Yamato sink any ships? Built in total secrecy and launched just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Yamato may have been almost twice the size of her American counterparts, with the largest guns ever mounted on a warship. [5] Shortly afterward, a second strike of 100 aircraft attacked Yamato and her remaining escorts. YAMATO starts a turn starboard to course 230 degrees. Ito was posthumously promoted to full admiral. Box 378 Red Hook, New York 12571 United States, a battle group of eight aircraft carriers, her enormous hull to the converging torpedoes. The age of the battleship was over forever. Orders to Commit Suicide The Yamato had unbelievable orders. Of the 3,332 crew members aboard the Yamato, only 276 survived the sinking. 3s USS ESSEX (CV-9), BUNKER HILL (CV-17), BATAAN (CVL-24) and CABOT (CVL-28). The ship was split in two and was found resting at a depth of 1,120 feet (340 m). 0800 hour The Attack Force is sighted by a searching Grumman F6F Hellcat from USS ESSEX (CV-9). The engagement was an unmitigated disaster for the Japanese. It says that the Kikaigashima Island lookout station saw 150 carrier planes heading northwest. VA-25 (1959) Air Group VI (6) Three of the torpedoes hit in quick succession, and Yamato took on another 3,000 tons of water and a 7-degree list. >. Both Rear Admiral Komura and Captain Hara survived. 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. At this point, after just a few hours of battle, Japanese reports claim U.S. aircraft strafed survivors in the water, but also report that attacks ceased on destroyers that were picking up survivors. He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. went down in the battle, with the loss of just 12 men. At 1417, she took an eighth and ninth torpedo, both to port. Half of the dead at . The Yamato, completed in Kure in December 1941, was the largest battleship in the world at the time. He reports the formation at bearing 180, heading north, and splitting into two groups. The commander in chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Soemu Toyoda, resolved to send what was left of his force out in a blaze of glory. 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 0840, the Japanese reported seven Hellcats orbiting around the force. 1100 hour YAMATOs Type 13 air search radar operator reports contact with a large aircraft formation at his sets maximum range of 63 miles. At 1000 hours he launched a total of 386 aircraft consisting of fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers. At 1322, an Essex Corsair hit Yamato in the port bow with a 1,000-pound general-purpose bomb. Although born a U.S. citizen, he had been studying in Japan when the war broke out and had the choice of execution or serving in the Imperial Japanese Navy.). There are many stories about the sinking of the Japanese battleship Yamato. 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. 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. One strikes her port side near the forward windlass room. One Helldiver is shot down, another is damaged badly. one-third of which were torpedo bombers that hit from low altitudes. I hope you enjoy the video! Only 10. The big carriers got all the credit. Sources include: NHHC Dictionary of American Fighting Ships (DANFS) for U.S. ships and combinedfleet.com for Japanese ships. as she turns to avoid the onslaught from bombers. Anatomy of Yamato However, three-quarters of these (128 boats) were lost during the conflict, a proportion of loss similar that experienced by Germany's U-Boats. Very interesting or happy to read about the Yamoto sinking as I was there as radioman aboard an Avenger off of the USS Langley. At 2:10pm Yamato rolled over and began to sink with fires from her aft 6.1" turret reaching her no. Being young, I took it all for granted. Both ships cease firing. But in 'one of history's greatest salvage jobs,' many of the sunken ships rose to fight the Axis. On May 6, 1945, a twin-engine kamikaze plane's bomb exploded beside the destroyer Luce, part of the radar picket ship screen surrounding Okinawa, and ripped her starboard side "like a sardine. A Curtiss Helldiver bomber like the one seen at right The fire in the area ofher forward 6.1 inch turret can be clearly seen (L42-09.06.05). 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 took at least four more bomb hits in the superstructure area, which wiped out many of the remaining 25-mm guns. The Japanese admiral in charge of Operation Ten-Go, Vice-Admiral Seiichi It, disagreed with the plan which essentially was to sail into teeth of the American fleet without the benefit of any air cover and then beach on Okinawa and operate as a static defense in support of the island. Some of the Japanese survivors reported that U.S. fighter aircraft strafed Japanese survivors floating in the water. However, in order to keep up with Yamato, these forays were short-lived. aircraft's overhead view of its target. 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. Light cruiser YAHAGI, hit by 12 bombs and seven torpedoes sinks exactly one minute after the last bomb hits. She ships about 3,000-tons of seawater. The Attack Force turns to course 205, towards Okinawa. In total, the U.S. lost 12 men. The age of the carrier was now confirmed. Yamato (), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. About 1,187 crewmen of Yahagi and the four destroyers were lost. 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. This photograph was taken in December 1941, shortly The explosion was heard over 120 miles away. 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). The Imperial Japanese Navy's super-battleship Yamato, shown here during pre-commission running trials in the Bungo Strait between the Home Islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, 20 October 1941 (NH 73092). Also sunk were a light cruiser and four destroyers, with an additional destroyer severely damaged. 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 battleship and its sister, Musashi, were the only battleships ever constructed with 18.1" guns. This would be carried out in conjunction with a mass aerial kamikaze attack by over 350 airplanes ( Kikusui No. Since Yamato could not get to the landing area before 8 April, there wasnt a big rush and Deyo convened a planning conference on his flagship Eldorado (AGC-11) at 1030 with plans to sortie TF 54 from the bombardment area at 1530. 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. At 1830, destroyer Isokaze sighted Threadfin on the surface. A heartfelt salute from myself, a navy vet in the 70s! 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