how many planes were lost sinking the yamato
At 1000, Task Group 58.1 and Task Group 58.3 commence launching a 280-plane strike wave (132 fighters, 50 bombers, and 98 torpedo planes). The wreck lies 290 kilometres (180 mi) southwest of Kyushu under 340 metres (1,120 ft) of water in two main pieces; a bow section comprising the front two thirds of the ship, and a separate stern section.. Who found battleship Yamato? Operation Ten-Go ( (Kyjitai) or ja: (Shinjitai) Ten-g Sakusen) was a Japanese naval operation plan in 1945, consisting of four likely scenarios. The only time Yamato 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. Despite the destruction, the majesty of the ship is unmistakable, symbolized by a six-foot-wide chrysanthemum crest, icon of the Japanese imperial family, still gracing Yamatos prow like a figurehead. Yamato was essentially doomed by a question from Emperor Hirohito during a briefing on 29 March about plans for Japanese air opposition to expected landings on Okinawa. Thanks for your presentation of this event! Although the battleship was in no danger of sinking at this point, the list meant that the main battery was unable to fire . WORLD WAR II. Captain Hara of Yahagi later said the mission would be like throwing an egg against a rock.. YAMATO starts a turn starboard to course 230 degrees. At 0840, the Japanese reported seven Hellcats orbiting around the force. The Japanese also noted eight Hellcats circling the force with impunity because of no Japanese fighter cover, and remaining outside anti-aircraft range. Of the 3,332 crew members aboard the Yamato, only 276 survived the sinking. this one exploding off Yamato's port bow, it was their air-launched torpedoes After daybreak on 7 April 1945, a paltry six A6M Zeke fighters showed up to provide combat air patrol over Yamato. Ito was posthumously promoted to full admiral. By the end of the battle, Yahagi and all eight destroyers were lost. With the steering locked to port and the ship doomed, Admiral Ito at 1402 hours ordered the crew to abandon ship. With nearly all of her anti-aircraft guns out of action, the Avenger torpedo planes wreaked havoc. 4: Factual error; Musashi was sunk on Oct. 23, 1944 in the Sibuyan Sea. It says that the Kikaigashima Island lookout station saw 150 carrier planes heading northwest. But the Americans also had, The Ultimate Gunfighters! YAMATO and YAHAGI open fire, increase speed to 24 knots and commence a series of sharp evasive maneuvers. I was so fortunate to have had that experience!!! They also mounted numerous smaller guns to . VFA-25 (1983 and continuing). While the Americans' 1,000-pound bombs held fearsome destructive power, as seen in 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. As a Minnesota teenager when the war started,. (Video: Reuters) When the Japanese fleet approached Midway, the Americans were lying in wait. The American planes release their bombs and torpedoes and strafe the bridge with machine-gun fire. 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. This would be carried out in conjunction with a mass aerial kamikaze attack by over 350 airplanes ( Kikusui No. (Although some accounts say that, according to the plan, the ships were only given enough fuel to reach Okinawa, they actually received as much fuel as was available to give. ship's aft turrets. Cloud cover precluded accurate firing of the 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. Destroyer SUZUTSUKI wreathed in black smoke, burns furiously. The Attack Force turns towards Sasebo. 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. Though many Japanese naval leaders considered Operation Ten-Go to be a waste of their remaining resources, it moved forward on April 6, 1945. 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. Yamato (), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The remaining destroyers tried to pick up as many survivors as possible and limped back to Japan. Baka claimed its first victim, the destroyer USS Abele, in the seas off Okinawa on April 12. What are they doing to assist in defending Okinawa? 129 Japanese soldiers were killed. 276 men are rescued including Rear Admiral Morishita Nobuei, Chief of Staff, Second Fleet (and former YAMATO skipper). ), and when they were lost.the bu numbers listed as lost on 4.7.1945 is very extensive!!!!! Yamato fired her 18-inch guns at approaching American aircraft, 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. I stumbled on this article and I finally know a little about this battle. At 1830, destroyer Isokaze sighted Threadfin on the surface. Asashimo went down with all 330 hands. Very interesting or happy to read about the Yamoto sinking as I was there as radioman aboard an Avenger off of the USS Langley. However, in order to keep up with Yamato, these forays were short-lived. Constructed from 1937 1940 and formally commissioned in late 1941, Yamato served as the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto throughout 1942, first sailing as part of the Combined Fleet during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. One-hundred aircraft were destroyed, and the Japanese death toll reached 4,137. YAMATO opens fire with her two forward main turrets and AA guns. A 500-pound general-purpose bomb hit Suzutsuki and blew off her bow. YAMATOs No. Additionally, 1,178 people were wounded. Aruga would be posthumously promoted to vice admiral and Ito to full admiral. Some of the Japanese survivors reported that U.S. fighter aircraft strafed Japanese survivors floating in the water. (Although U.S. carrier air groups complement had been changed to have a mix of about three quarters fighters to defend against kamikaze and only one quarter bombers and torpedo planes, the fighters had been trained and gotten pretty good at being used in a fighter-bomber role, and, with no Japanese air opposition, had the freedom to do so.) 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. He saw four Avengers go in low, dropping their torpedoes in a spread on Yamatos beam. 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. By early 1945, the Japanese Empire was shrinking daily and the war had reached its home shores. The element of surprise was gone for the Japanese. 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. She ships about 3,000-tons of seawater. She takes on a heavy list to port and her speed drops to 18 knots. TG 58.1 and 58.3 were quickly on station. My dads name is Ronald R. LeFebvre (Ding). Additionally, aircraft damaged most of the . Deyo had just received a cheery send-off from his immediate boss: "We hope you will bring back a nice fish for breakfast." 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. Yahagi capsized and sank shortly after 1400. The light cruiser Yahagi was the first hit, less than fifteen minutes after the firing began. I was in a ASW squadron that still had many veterans serving and flying. The Americans lose 10 aircraft and 12 crewmen. At 1342, another Avenger was shot down, but four more torpedoes were inbound from the port side and two hit. Half of the dead at . This Is A Great Article Of An Historic Event. My dad served on the Langley. At 0657, destroyer Asashimo, with Captain Kotaki, DESDIV 21, embarked, sent a signal that she was having engine trouble and began to fall behind. Have we no more ships?. I was a radioman on one of the VT23 Avengers participating in this strike flying off the Langley. 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). 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. (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.). 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. They were also instructed to The aircraft are lost behind the clouds. Embarking from Kure, Yamato was to beach herself near Okinawa, and act as an unsinkable gun-emplacementbombarding American forces on Okinawa with her 18.1-inch heavy-guns. A near miss on Hamakaze disabled her starboard shaft and then, at 1247, torpedo hits amidships blew her in half. Also, accounts differ as to whether he was a captain or rear admiral. one-third of which were torpedo bombers that hit from low altitudes. seven torpedo hits within two hours of battle. All these years later I remember each one of those men fondly and with great respect. blasts were perhaps the largest ever to occur at sea. VA-25 (1959) Air Group VI (6) At 1430 on 7 April 1945, more than 300 nautical miles north of Okinawa, Yamato blows up after capsizing. With this contact information, Spruance ordered Deyo to ready the blocking force. TG 58.4 had just finished refueling and would arrive just in time. 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