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| Replica of the Yamato at Kure Naval Museum, taken December 2019 |
The Yamato, together with her sister ship the Musashi, was the biggest and heaviest battleship ever made. With a displacement of over 70,000 tons of water and a length of over 250 m, the Yamato symbolised the might, resilience and tradition of Japan and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).
However, this larger-than-life reputation was also its downfall. While it had more armaments than any other warship, the Japanese admirals were unwillingly to risk it in battle for fear of losing it (and thus the Japanese honour that it had represented). Furthermore, IJN Yamato's massive fuel consumption meant that it could only serve in a limited deployment. But in 1945, the Japanese was left with no choice.
1945
The situation in 1945 was abysmal for Imperial Japan. Barely three years ago, the Imperial Japanese Empire stretched from Manchuria to Papua New Guinea, from Burma to the Aleutian Islands. Now the Japanese were driven out of the central Pacific and the Solomon Islands. They were on the verge of losing Burma and the Philippines.
Even the staunchest believer of the Imperial command knew that the war was lost. Yet they were determined to fight the Americans till the end. As the Americans invaded Okinawa in 1 April 1945, the IJN was pressured in using Yamato in the defence of Okinawa. Operation Ten-Go called for Yamato to beach itself on Okinawa and prevent the Americans from landing on the west coast.
IJN command was unconvinced. After losing their major carriers in earlier battles, the admirals knew sending Yamato without heavy air support was suicidal. One of the admirals, Seiichi Ito regarded Ten-Go as worse than a "Kamikaze (suicide) mission", as there was no chance that Yamato would destroy a high-value target before going down. They rightly believed that Yamato would never even near Okinawa.
Nevertheless, the IJN relented after insistence from the national government and emperor.
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| IJN Okinawa Headquarters, Okinawa. Taken in December 2019 |
6 April 1945
The Departure
IJN Yamato, together with the light cruiser Yahagi and 8 other destroyers, departed for their mission.
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The departure was spotted by two American submarines, USS Threadfin and USS Hackleback.
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The fleet composition was accurately identified by the submarines, which transmitted the information to the American navy (USN). The Americans ordered 6 battleships and 8 aircraft carriers to engage the Japanese fleet.
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| Location of the battle indicated by the orange symbol |
7 April 1945
Pre-battle events
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Destroyer IJN Asashimo had engine issues and started to lagged behind the fleet. It was ordered to return to Japan.
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A plane from the carrier USS Essex spots the Japanese fleet.
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A 280-plane attack was launched from the 8 American carriers.
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The Japanese fleet again was spotted by two more planes. The fleet fires, but the planes escape.
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Eight American Hellcat fighters flew over the Japanese fleet. With no Japanese fighters launched, USN confirmed that Operation Ten-Go lacked air support.
First American wave
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IJN Asashimo was attacked by American torpedo planes and bombers, and was sunk.
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IJN Yamato was engaged by American planes.
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Two bombs hit the IJN Yamato, and one American plane was downed.
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A torpedo hit the IJN Yamato, and another American planes was downed.
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Light cruiser Yahagi took a torpedo hit which destroyed the engine room and crew. Destroyers Isokaze, Hamakaze and Suzutsuki. Isokaze and Hamakaze began to sink.
Second American wave
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IJN Yamato takes three more torpedo hits on the port side.
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IJN Yamato received two more torpedo hits and four bomb hits. Admiral Ito signaled the crew to abandon ship, The remaining fleets were instructed to abort Operation Ten-Go. Destroyer IJN Kasumi also is damaged and was scuttled later.
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IJN Yahagi sank.
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IJN Yamato received its seventh torpedo, and started to capsize. It would receive two more torpedo hits at 1417. Admiral Ito decided to go down with his ship.
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IJN Yamato capsized. Three minutes later, the ship exploded and killed most of its crew. The functional destroyers picked up survivors.
Aftermath
The Japanese lost 4 destroyers, 1 light cruiser and 1 battleship. Over 4000 men died in the attack. By comparison, the Americans lost 10 planes and 12 men.
The result was a total Japanese defeat. With the loss of the Yamato, the IJN could not carry out any major sea operations. The Americans edged closer to ending the Pacific War and thus relieving the occupied territories. They would eventually capture Okinawa in June 1945.
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| Wreck of the IJN Yamato in Kure Naval Museum. Taken December 2019 |
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