History of Yamato
Yamato – the battleship of the Imperial fleet of Japan since the Second World War, a type of Yamato. One of the largest warships in the history of mankind, sunk during the fighting. “Yamato” is the ancient name of Japan itself, but it refers to the well-known tradition of the imperial fleet to call battleships the names of historical provinces, in this case it is the province of Yamato, which roughly corresponds to the modern prefecture Nara.
Yamato, the first of the battleships of this series, was laid down on November 4, 1937 at the naval shipyard in Kura, Hiroshima Prefecture. It was launched on August 8, 1939 and officially went into operation on December 16, 1941.
As the flagship of the United Fleet, Yamato officially participated in the Battle of the Midway Atoll on June 4-6, 1942, but didn’t actually meet the enemy since he was 300 miles from the Japanese aircraft carriers. May 28, 1942 “Yamato” moved to the island of Truk, where he spent about a year, performing the role of the floating headquarters of the United Fleet. On December 25, 1943, north of Truk Island, Yamato received a torpedo strike (cargo weighing 270 kg) from an American submarine Skate and received about 3,000 tons of water in a shell-hole. Ship efficiency was seriously affected by the flooding of the main caliber feed cellar. In January – April 1944, Yamato underwent repairs and modernization in Kure.
In June 1944, Yamato took part in the battle of the Philippine Sea, which also included Musashi and a number of other heavy ships, ahead of their aircraft carriers. June 19, “Yamato” first fire in a combat situation, but later it turned out that the battleship fired at own aviation.
“Yamato in the battle for the Philippines”
In October 1944, the Japanese superlinkors were finally thrown into a serious battle. The Americans began to land in the Philippines, and if successful, they could destroy the defensive perimeter of Japan and cut off Japan from the main sources of raw materials and oil. The stakes were too high, and the Japanese command decided to conduct a general battle.Drawn up plan “Se-Go” (“Victory”) was an outstanding achievement of operational art. Since by that time the forces of the carrier fleet of the Imperial fleet had decreased, the main role was assigned to large artillery ships.
The northern group, which included several surviving aircraft carriers, was to play the role of bait for the 38th operational connection – the main striking force of the American fleet. The main attack on the landing ship was to be made by the 1st diversionary compound of Vice-Admiral Kurita. It consisted of 5 battleships, including the Yamato and Musashi, 10 heavy and 2 light cruisers, 15 destroyers. It was assumed that the complex will cross the San Bernardino Strait at night, and in the morning it will attack the landing ship off Leyte Island. He was supported by the smaller forces of Vice Admiral Nishimura, the 2nd Sabotage Detachment that followed the Surigao Strait.
“Battle in the sea Sibuyan”
On October 22, the 1st diversionary detachment entered the sea, and the very next day it was attacked by American submarines, which sank two heavy cruisers. On the morning of October 24, when the Kurita Formation was located in the Sibui Sea, mass attacks of American aircraft carriers began. Due to random coincidences, the main strikes of the Americans were directed at Musashi, which, after hitting about 20 torpedoes and about 20 bombs, turned over in the evening and sank.
Despite the loss of Musashi, the complex in Kurita remained completely ready for battle, since the remaining battleships did not receive serious damage. However, Kurita hesitated and even turned back. However, the northern group of Vice-Admiral Ozawa fulfilled her bait role – the main forces of the 38th operational connection rushed at her, leaving the northern straits without protection. The American commander overestimated the achievements of his pilots, who reported the sinking of many Japanese battleships and decided that the 1st commando squad was not dangerous. Meanwhile, Kurita received a direct instruction from the commander-in-chief of the United Fleet: “The Union must attack with faith in Divine Providence!” And moved forward.
Battle of Leyte Gulf
Around 6:45, the Japanese discovered American ships. It was the northern group of the 7th US fleet, which included 6 escort aircraft carriers, 3 destroyers and 4 escort destroyers. Yamato, which became the flagship of the Japanese group, they took the enemy as one of the groups of high-speed aircraft carriers and believed that in its composition there are cruisers. Nevertheless, the Japanese entered the battle. “Yamato” for the first time in his career opened fire on a surface enemy at 6:58 from a distance of 27 km. The first volleys arrived on the White Plains aircraft carrier, and the gunners believed that they had reached the strike.
In response to the attack of aircraft and destroyers. Japanese ships fired at several targets and counted several American aircraft carriers and sunken cruisers. Periodic squalls of rain and smoke screens of the enemy prevented the shelling. The Japanese compound sprawled, and Kurita lost control of the fight. At 10:20 the 1st sabotage detachment left the battlefield and turned back, although the path to Leyte Gulf, where American transports were going, was open.
The American losses in the battle at Leyte gulf were 1 escort aircraft carrier, 2 destroyers and 1 escort destroyer. Despite the confidence of the Yamato gunners in good shooting results, post-war research showed that the Yamato most likely did not achieve a single hit with the main caliber, although several coatings were recorded
The last hike “Yamato”
Yamato returned to his native shores only on November 22, 1944 and was immediately put in for repair and modernization, which ended in January 1945 and was his last. Meanwhile, the war moved to the shores of Japan. On April 1, 1945, American troops landed on Okinawa. Since the garrison of the island was not able to reflect the landing, the Japanese command focused on suicidal methods of warfare. The fleet that offered to use Yamato to attack enemy landing craft, despite the enemy’s dominance in the air and at sea, did not stand aside.
On the morning of April 6, 1945, the Yamato group, 1 light cruiser and 8 destroyers set sail to take part in Operation Ten-iti-go (Heaven-1). The task of the complex was “to attack the enemy fleet, to supply ships and destroy them.” In the event of difficulties returning to the base, Yamato was ordered to rush into the shallow water off the coast of Okinawa and support artillery fire on army units. It was also assumed that this raid would divert enemy aircraft carrier and facilitate mass kamikaze attacks, scheduled for April 7, to the landing vehicles of the American fleet off the coast of Okinawa. The plan was suicidal from the start.
The Japanese unit was discovered by the enemy early in the morning of April 7th. Since noon, Yamato and his escort were subjected to powerful attacks by American aircraft carriers (a total of 227 vehicles). Two hours later, the battleship, which received up to 10 torpedo hits and 13 air bomb hits, failed. At 14:23 local time, due to the displacement of 460-mm shells an explosion occurred in the forward basement of artillery of the main caliber, after which Yamato sank. It was possible to save only 269 people, 3063 crew members died. American losses amounted to 10 aircraft and 12 pilots.
