Just after 2 p.m
The effects of at least 15 Bomb and torpedo hits have reduced the mightiest battleship ever built
to a sinking Hulk
You know looking back on it
It all makes sense become a world power, defeat the Russians, invade all your neighbors
Get pummeled to death by a Western country's air power because they sank all your carriers
I didn't think it would end up this way. Although looking back at it some mistakes were probably made
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Premium ship one port slot and three days of premium time. after the defeat of the Russians in 1905
Japan had hit its stride
in being a world power with the effectiveness of and the commitment to their Navy over the next thirty years the Japanese would continue to
Build this branch up and use it to conquer more territory
increase their prowess on the world stage
however
this was not easy for the small island nation that many times found itself lacking the quantity of
Resources needed to create the number of ships needed to stay competitive
Fast-forward to 1937 Japan being very aware of this problem decides to go with a quality over quantity
strategy for their fleets to be able to stand up to the American naval production abilities who they foresaw war with in the future this
Was accomplished by creating a new class of ships. That would become the largest ever created the Yamato class
Which they found themselves free to do after letting their signature on the London Naval Treaty
Expire and began carrying out in secret plans to build the Yamato and her sister ship Musashi and this secrecy went to a great extent
Designers drawings were locked away at the end of the workday
construction yards had large barriers built around them to mask the view from potential spies and
Workers were threatened with execution if they spoke about what they were working
The result though was this gigantic behemoth commissioned on 16 December 1941 spanning
256 meters at the water line and boasting 946 centimeter guns amongst a host of other guns and anti-aircraft guns
I won't list them all on here because lists are boring go to simple history for that
But the armament layout was very impressive and evolved over the life of the ship
The Yamato was able to be built carrying such large guns because unlike the Americans the Japanese did not have any physical
barriers to their ship sizes
All American ships had to be built narrow enough to fit through the Panama Canal
Which limited the maximum size of their turrets and guns and how much weight they could carry
So the result was that the Yamato with its large guns and a hull that could support them would be able to out range any
US ships in a duel and sink them before the US ships were even able to fire seems like a pretty solid plan right well
This is where you get into a big problem at Midway the Japanese lost four aircraft carriers
And I don't think it can be overstated how bad of a position this put them in unlike the glory days of the russo-japanese war
Airplanes had become a huge factor in naval warfare by the time of Midway and the Yamato service life
carrier-based aircraft
Squadrons could mean death for any type of ship with a well-placed bomb or torpedo
Regardless of how powerful the ship was to other ships and I don't mean to sound like this would be easy for the airplanes
battleships the amato included had large
Anti-aircraft emplacements to deter this but the fact of the matter is without a carrier escort or carrier grouping
Lone battleships with no air support could quickly become targets and after Midway
Japan was really coming up short in the carrier Department this issue along with others
All mentioned is a common theme in yamato's fairly unimpressive service record for its size its first action took place at the Battle of Midway
Although the battleship was too far away to take part in the battle before it ended and returned to Japan
Screw you guys i am going home
This is going to be a common theme. in mid-august
1942 the ship had to sit out the Battle of Guadalcanal due to lack of ammunition and fuel in satin truck lagoon until May of
1943
where after that she ended up in Kure for
inspection and repairs and remained around Japan until returning to truck the following August and essentially sat there until
October and right now, you're probably thinking what are the Japanese doing so far?
It looks like they built a supership and are using it as a cruise liner, but along with the aforementioned air cover problem
Yamato's engines consumed a lot of fuel which limited its movements and combat ability
It's only in December of 1943 that Yamato first really gets into combat
when ferrying troops to the admiralty islands Yamato and her task group were attacked by the American submarines Kate where she was hit by a
Torpedo and a 16-foot hole was blown open in the hall causing the rear turrets upper magazine to flood and yep
You guessed it. That means it had to go back to the dock for repairs
screw you guys i am going home
It was at this time too that some of the guns were augmented in April
in 1944 Yamato departed for the Philippines and sort of took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea
Although the only thing of note that it did was accidentally shoot at returning Japanese planes and then guess what happens after this?
Yep
More dock time hang until
Departing on July 8th to eventually be present for the Battle of Leyte Gulf as part of the first battleship division and was later damaged
By a bomb at the Battle of Shibuya and sea but was able to get away unlike her sister ship Musashi
That was sunk after seventeen bomb and nineteen torpedo strikes
It is after this though that Yamato see some of her best action as part of curious center force where it engaged the American close
Support formation known as taffy 3. This was the only time you Yamato ever engaged surface targets
See told you planes were the way of future and landed a few hits on American ships
However, Yamato was diverted by a spread of torpedoes headed for and was unable to rejoin the battle. Yamato
then returned with caritas force to Bruni and was folded in as the flagship of the second fleet after the first battleship division was
Dissolved in November it saw some minor action in the East China Sea before being dry docked yet again at Kiri for repairs and anti-aircraft
upgrades
From January to February of 1945 Yamato rejoined a reactivated first battleship division then got transferred again
To the first carrier division making Yamato like that one really flaky friend you had in high school. on march 19th that got caught up
in the Curie raid
But sustained only minor damage
Allied forces began the final stage before the invasion of the Japanese home islands on April 1st with the invasion of Okinawa
To which the Japanese Navy responded with operation tango
Which was basically a suicide mission to halt the Americans. the basic idea for the Yamato's part was to take a one-way
Allotment of fuel and a full magazine to Okinawa where the ship would be beached and act as a large gun
Emplacement that would fight until destroyed but due to the Americans decoding Japanese radio messages the ship in her group were
Intercepted by an American carrier group supported by some destroyers. Yamato learning of this prepared for a fight
With all crew in their anti-aircraft
Positions by Dawn on April 7th the force began to be shadowed by two sea planes around 8:30 in the morning with American Hellcat fighter
Showing up around 11:00 to deal with potential
Japanese aircraft of which there were none a little later at 12:30 all hell broke loose on the Yamato with just shy of
300 American bomber and torpedo planes
descending on the Yamato in her escort ships after about ten minutes
two bombs had taken out two of her anti-aircraft mounts and blown a hole on the deck a
Few minutes later a third bomb destroyed the radar room and one of the hundred twenty-seven millimeter mounts five minutes later a torpedo struck one
Of the forward sides as the crew began to be strafed on the ship's deck
Shortly after this three more
Torpedoes hit the ship one near the engine room and one near one of the boiler rooms
The third hit is disputed but probable this attack concluded around 12:47
with the ship listing a few degrees to port which was counter flooded the second attack began at one from all directions
And due to the large amount of planes the anti-aircraft guns
Effectiveness was cut down just from being overwhelmed three to four more torpedoes. Hit the battleship damaging a couple of fire rooms
The second attack left Yamato listing around 15 degrees to port which even after counter flooding remained at about 10
reducing speed and leaving the main battery unable to fire the third attack began at
1:40 with four bombs hitting the ship's superstructure and another fire room being flooded at 2:02 p.m
the order to abandon ship was given and the situation on the ship was chaos at
3:05 a final group of torpedo bombers attacked Yamato again causing the ship to capsize
For large 46 centimeter turrets then fell off into the ocean which created suction that pulled crewmen in the water down below
after this one of the bow magazines
Detonated in an explosion whose cloud was over three miles high and could be seen from about a hundred miles away. A little under three
hundred of her
2,700 man were able to be recovered by friendly ships that then withdrew to Japan. In the four hours and 14 minutes of the battle
Yamato was hit by at least 11 torpedoes and six bombs capping off a very unextraordinary
career for such a legendary battleship, the cultural significance of the Yamato being sunk though was huge
Japan took great pride in its Navy and many Japanese citizens felt that as long as the Yamato was around Japan couldn't fall and the
Loss of this ship had a very foreboding message to many people
however
At least in my opinion
The ship was more effort than it was worth and don't get me wrong. The core concept behind it does make sense
But without the additional arms of the Navy ie carriers and support planes
the thing becomes a large target for enemy planes and
that along with the large fuel
consumption made it a great propaganda piece that spent most of its time sitting in port waiting for its moment to come that never would
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Thank you to all of you for watching and sitting through me probably butchering a lot of names and I'll see you on the next
one