{"id":34,"date":"2009-10-14T07:16:29","date_gmt":"2009-10-14T11:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vt17.com\/blog\/?p=34"},"modified":"2009-10-14T07:55:22","modified_gmt":"2009-10-14T11:55:22","slug":"april-7-1945-sinking-of-the-battleship-yamato","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vt17.com\/blog\/archives\/34","title":{"rendered":"April 7, 1945 – Sinking of the Battleship Yamato"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many stories about the sinking of the Japanese battleship Yamato. Below are some of those stories and some links to other web sites with more stories about the ship and it’s final day, April 7, 1945.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a0(Follow paragraphs from Wikipedia as of 10\/14\/2009)<\/em><\/h3>\n

Yamato<\/strong><\/em> (\u5927\u548c), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province<\/a>, was a battleship<\/a> of the Imperial Japanese Navy<\/a> during World War II<\/a>. Flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, she was lead ship<\/a> of the Yamato class<\/a>. She and her sister ship, Musashi<\/em><\/a>, were the largest and heaviest battleships ever constructed, displacing 72,800\u00a0tonnes at full load, and armed with nine 46\u00a0cm (18.1\u00a0inch) main guns.<\/p>\n

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Constructed from 1937 \u2013 1940 and formally commissioned in late 1941, Yamato<\/em> served as the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto<\/a> throughout 1942, first sailing as part of the Combined Fleet during the Battle of Midway<\/a> in June 1942. Throughout 1943, Yamato<\/em> continually transferred between Truk, Kure<\/a> and Brunei<\/a> in response to American airstrikes on Japanese island bases. The only time Yamato<\/em> 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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On 1 January 1945, Yamato<\/em>, Haruna<\/em> and Nagato<\/em> were all transferred to the newly reactivated 1st Battleship Division; Yamato<\/em> left drydock two days later.[<\/span>1]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> When the 1st Battleship Division was deactivated once again on 10 February, Yamato<\/em> was reassigned to the 1st Carrier Division. On 19 March 1945 Yamato<\/em> came under heavy attack when American carrier aircraft from Enterprise<\/em><\/a>, Yorktown<\/em><\/a> and Intrepid<\/em><\/a> raided the major naval base of Kure where she was docked.[<\/span>25]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>26]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> Damage to the battleship, however, was light,[<\/span>25]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> due in part to the base being defended by elite veteran Japanese fighter instructors flying Kawanishi N1K<\/a> “Shiden” or “George” fighters.[<\/span>1]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>26]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> Led by the man who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor<\/a>, Minoru Genda<\/a>, the appearance of these fighters, which were equal or superior to the F6F Hellcat<\/a> in performance, surprised the attackers, and several American planes were shot down.[<\/span>26]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> Heavy antiaircraft defensive fire and the heavy upper-deck armour plating on Yamato<\/em> also prevented any significant damage to the vessel. On 29 March, Yamato<\/em> took on a full stock of ammunition, in preparation for combat off Okinawa in Operation Ten-Go<\/a>.[<\/span>1]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

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Operation Ten-Go was a deliberate suicide attack against American forces off Okinawa by Yamato<\/em> and nine escorts, beginning on 6 April 1945. Embarking from Kure, Yamato<\/em> was to beach herself near Okinawa, and act as an unsinkable gun-emplacement\u2014bombarding American forces on Okinawa with her 18.1-inch heavy-guns. Yamato<\/em> carried only enough fuel to reach Okinawa, as the fuel stocks available were insufficient to provide enough fuel to reach Okinawa and return.[<\/span>27]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> While navigating the Bungo Strait, Yamato<\/em> and her escorts were spotted by the American submarines Threadfin<\/em><\/a> and Hackleback<\/em><\/a>, both of which notified Task Force 58 of Yamato<\/em>‘<\/span>s position.[<\/span>1]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>5]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

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At 12:32 on 7 April 1945, Yamato<\/em> was attacked by a first wave of 280 aircraft from Task Force 58, taking three hits (two bombs, one torpedo).[<\/span>1]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> By 14:00, two of Yamato<\/em>‘<\/span>s escorts had been sunk.[<\/span>5]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> Shortly afterward, a second strike of 100 aircraft attacked Yamato<\/em> and her remaining escorts. At 14:23, having taken 10 torpedo and 7 bomb hits, Yamato<\/em>‘<\/span>s forward ammunition magazines detonated.[<\/span>5]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> The smoke from the explosion\u2014over 4\u00a0miles (6.4\u00a0km) high\u2014was seen 100\u00a0miles (160\u00a0km) away on Ky\u016bsh\u016b<\/a>.[<\/span>28]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> An estimated 2,498 of the 2,700 crew members on Yamato<\/em> were lost, including Vice-Admiral Seiichi It\u014d<\/a>, the fleet commander.[<\/span>1]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n