IJN Yamato

Designation: IJN Yamato Classification Type: Battleship Ship Class: Yamato-class Country of Origin: Imperial Japan Initial Year of Service: 1941 Number in Class: 2 Ordered: March 1937[1] Builder: Kure DY[2] Laid down: 4 November 1937[2] Launched: 8 August 1940[2] Commissioned: 16 December 1941[2] Fate: Sunk 7 April 1945 North of Okinawa ( [show location on an interactive map] 30°22′N 128°04′E / 30.367°N 128.067°E / 30.367; 128.067 )[3] Struck: 31 August 1945

General characteristics Displacement: 65,027 tonnes[4] 71,659 tonnes (full load)[4] Length: 256 m (800 ft 6 in) (waterline) 263 m (862 ft 10 in) (overall)[4] Beam: 36.9 m (121 ft)[4] Draft: 11 m (36 ft)[4] Propulsion: • 12 Kampon boilers, driving 4 steam turbines[4] • 110 MW (150,000 shp) • Four 3-bladed propellers.[4] Speed: 50 km/h (27 knots)[4] Range: 7,200 nautical miles (13,334 km) at 30 km/h (16 knots)[4] Complement: 2,500–2,800[4][5] Armament: (1941) 9 × 46 cm (18.1 in) (3×3)[4] 12 x 155 mm (6.1 in) (4×3)[4] 12 × 127 mm (5 in)[4] 24 × 25 mm anti-aircraft (8×3)[4] 4 × 13.2 mm AA (2×2)[4] Armament: (1945) 9 × 46 cm (18.1 in) (3×3)[6] 6 × 155 mm (6.1 in) (2×3)[6] 24 × 127 mm (5 in)[6] 162 × 25 mm anti-aircraft (52×3, 6×1)[6] 4 × 13.2 mm AA (2×2)[6] Armor: 650 mm on face of main turrets[7] 410 mm side armor[7] 200 mm central(75%) armored deck[7] 226.5 mm outer(25%) armoured deck[7] Aircraft carried: 7 (2 catapults)[7]

Yamato (大和), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, and flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet. She was lead ship of her class. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the largest and heaviest battleships ever constructed, displacing 72,800 tonnes at full load, and armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 inch) main guns.

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. Throughout 1943, Yamato continually transferred between Truk, Kure and Brunei in response to American airstrikes on Japanese island bases. Yamato first fired her main guns at enemy targets in October 1944, during the Battle off Samar. Yamato was sunk in April 1945 during Operation Ten-Go.


As the KMS Bismarck was to the Atlantic Theater so too was the IJN Yamato to the Pacific Theater. Undoubtedly the most powerful battleship ever built, the Yamato was a mammoth ship design bristling with cannon and machine gun power backed up by armor that reached close to 20 inches in spots. The Yamato was to own the Pacific Theater and might have done so had the aircraft carrier not solidified its presence in the conflict as the new king of the seas.

With international treaties limited new warship construction to a reasonable 35,000 tons, the Imperial Japanese Navy set about to construct the massive 65,000+ ton Yamato and her sister ship, the IJN Musashi, under a cloak of secrecy so as to avoid disclosure. Such was the development of the type that the Japanese public was shielded from its construction and the Yamato was only revealed to a few Japanese high ranking officials. Great care was also taken to ensure the secrecy of the shipyard itself, which was partially covered to avoid detection.

Design of the Yamato was a special one - not only was she to be the most heavily armored battleship ever made, her main gun mountings exceeding 18" would be the largest caliber types to ever be fitted the type. These elements required a large foundation to operate from and an equally large superstructure to support the floating arsenal. Though to some this may seem a extreme, there was a method to the direction for the Imperial Navy knew that any US battleship constructed to take the Yamato on directly would originate from the east coast of the United States. To make it to the Pacific in due time, the new American vessel would have to pass through the Panama Canal to access the Pacific Ocean. If the Americans attempted to build a matching battleship to the Yamato, the sheer size of the new battleship would deem the Panama Canal route impassable to the extreme.

Outwardly, the Yamato followed traditional design elements found in warships prior to the Second World War. The 18.1" main guns were housed in three heavily-armored turrets with two located forward of the bridge and a third aft with three guns to a turret. Amazingly, the Yamato was fitted with 12 x 6.1" and 12 x 5" guns to supplement the main guns for a very potent firepower capability. Anti-aircraft defense was given priority as well and was left to the 24 x 25mm cannon systems and 4 x 13.2mm machine guns. Inwardly, she made heavy use of arc welding to ensure a strong seal and featured a plethora of damage control sections under the waterline. From bow to stern she measured over 800 feet and was over 120 feet at the beam. Because of the secrecy involved in development, the Yamato had to forgo any formal launching ceremonies when she set out for trials on August 8th, 1940.

Serving as the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the Yamato nearly took part in the Battle of Midway in 1942 but failed to even arrive within range of her main guns. After that near-engagement, the Yamato took on a new look with its armament, having several of her 155mm turrets removed in favor of anti-aircraft systems. On the move once more, the Yamato and her sister were called into action in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, with the Yamato utilizing her main guns for the first time, in 1944 which the Musashi was lost to American Navy air groups. The resilience of the Yamato continued on, however, suffering little critical damage from direct hits from bombs and torpedoes alike. She definitely was starting to fit the part of the invincible ship.

By April of 1945, the last-ditch plans of the Empire of Japan were being laid down. Among those was to sacrifice the Yamato in what was for all intents and purpose a suicide mission at having the great battleship run aground off of Okinawa to provide a stationary and permanent defense base off the coast. American Navy planes, already on patrol to find the Japanese Task Force, located the mighty ship and engaged. The Yamato was hit with conventional bombs, armor piercing bombs, high explosive rockets and cannon fire, dropped from low altitude to ensure direct hits. As expected, uncontrollable fire soon began to take over portions of the deck and sub-decks. Unrelenting additional attacks ensued throughout the day, this time with bombs and torpedoes. The Yamato could do little as her anti-aircraft positions were put out of action and her larger ordnance proving useless against aircraft. She began listing and taking on water to which the order to abandon was given. As the fire spread uncontrollably at this point, a massive ammunition explosion (reportedly seen from the southern part of Japan itself some 120 miles away) officially did the vessel in, allowing just 280 of her crew to be rescued. The battleship as a type was sealed by airborne elements of a carrier group positioned miles away - the aircraft carrier had arrived. The Yamato sank in just two hours after incurring some 13 torpedoes and 6 direct bomb hits.

The IJN Yamato was officially sunk on April 7th, 1945 just north of the island of Okinawa. She was orignially ordered in 1937 and laid down that same year. The vessel was launched in 1940 and officially commissioned the following year serving until her ultimate demise. A museum at Kure, Japan has been set up in her honor and contains a 1:10 scale model of the mighty ship.



Design and Construction
Yamato was the lead ship of her class of "heavy-battleships",[8] designed by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1937.[1] The class of battleship was designed to be capable of engaging multiple enemy targets, as a method of compensating for Japan's incapability to industrially compete with the United States Navy.[9][10] With the vessels of the Yamato class displacing over 70,000 tons each, it was hoped that the firepower of the constructed battleships could offset American industrial power.[4]

The keel of Yamato was laid down at Kure Naval Arsenal on 4 November 1937, in a specially designed dockyard. Throughout construction, large canvases prevented observation of the construction from elsewhere in the Kure Dockyards.[6] Due to the size of the vessel, upgraded gantry cranes—each capable of lifting 150 and 350 tonnes—had to be designed and built for use during construction.[6] Yamato was launched 8 August 1940, with Captain (later Vice Admiral) Miyazato Shutoku in command.


Armament
Yamato's main battery consisted of nine 18.1-inch 40 cm/45 Type 94 naval guns—the largest caliber of naval artillery ever fitted to a warship.[11] Each gun was 21.13 metres (69.3 ft) long, weighed 147.3 metric tons (162.4 short tons), and was capable of firing high-explosive or armour-piercing shells 42.0 kilometres (26.1 mi).[12] Her secondary battery comprised twelve 6.1-inch (15 cm) guns mounted in four triple turrets (one forward, one aft, two midships),[11] and twelve 5-inch (13 cm) guns in six double-turrets (three on each side amidships).[11] In addition, Yamato carried twenty-four 1-inch (2.5 cm) anti-aircraft guns, primarily mounted amidships.[11] When refitted in 1944, the secondary battery configuration was changed to six 6.1-inch (15 cm) guns,[13] twenty-four 5-inch (13 cm) guns,[13] and one hundred sixty-two 1-inch (2.5 cm) antiaircraft guns,[13] in preparation for naval engagements in the South Pacific.


Combat Service
1942: Trials and Initial Operations

On 16 December 1941, Yamato was formally commissioned at Kure, with Captain (later Vice Admiral) Gihachi Takayanagi in overall command of the ship; she joined fellow battleships Nagato and Mutsu in the 1st Battleship Division on the same day.[1] On 12 February 1942, Yamato became the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's Combined Fleet.[1] Following sea trials and war-games, Yamato was deemed fully operational and serviceable on 27 May 1942, and was assigned to Yamamoto's Main Battleship force for the upcoming Battle of Midway.[14] During the pivotal battle, Yamamoto exercised overall command of the Japanese assault force from Yamato's bridge.[14] Following the defeat of Japan's primary carrier force (four fleet carriers and 332 aircraft destroyed), Yamato and the main battleship force withdrew to Hashirajima.[1]


On 17 August 1942, Yamato departed Kure for Truk. Eleven days later, the submarine USS Flying Fish spotted Yamato, firing four torpedoes at the battleship. No hits were scored, and Yamato entered Truk later in the day. Throughout the American naval campaign at Guadalcanal, Yamato remained at Truk, as her high fuel consumption rates prevented feasible use in the Solomon Islands Campaign.[5] In December 1942, Captain (later Rear-Admiral) Chiaki Matsuda was assigned to command of Yamato.



1943: Movement between bases

On 11 February 1943, Musashi replaced Yamato as flagship of the Combined Fleet.[1] Yamato remained at Truk until May 1943, when it departed first for Yokosuka, and then for Kure. For nine days, Yamato was drydocked for both inspection and general repairs. Yamato was again drydocked in July, with her antiaircraft suite, secondary-turret armour, and rudder controls undergoing significant refitting and upgrades.[1] In August, Yamato returned to Truk, joining a large Japanese Task Force in response to American raids on Tarawa and Makin atolls.[1] In November 1943, Yamato joined a larger task-force—six battleships, three carriers, and eleven cruisers—in response to American airstrikes on Wake Island. On both occasions, no contact was made with American forces, and the fleet retired to Truk.[1]

In November 1943, the decision was made to use Yamato and Musashi as transport vessels, due to their extensive storage capacity and armour protection.[15] On 23 December, while transporting troops and equipment to the Admiralty Islands, Yamato and her taskgroup were intercepted by the submarine USS Skate. Skate fired a spread of four torpedoes at Yamato, with two striking on the starboard side near Turret #3.[16] Severe failure of the armoured belt flooded the upper magazine of the rear turret, and Yamato was forced to retire to Truk for emergency repairs.



1944: Combat

On 16 January 1944, Yamato arrived at Kure for repairs, and was drydocked until 3 February 1944. While drydocked, Captain Nobuei Morishita—former Captain of the battleship Haruna—assumed command of Yamato.[1] On 25 February, both Yamato and Musashi were reassigned from the 1st Battleship Division to the Second Fleet. Yamato was again drydocked for upgrades to her radar and antiaircraft systems throughout March 1944,[1] with a final AA suite of one hundred sixty-two 1-inch (25 mm) antiaircraft guns and twenty-four 5-inch (13 cm) medium guns.[13] The radar suite was also upgraded to include infrared identification systems, aircraft-search and gunnery-control radar systems.[1] Following a short transport mission to the South Pacific in April, Yamato departed for Lingga alongside Jisaburo Ozawa's Mobile Fleet.[1] In early June 1944, Yamato and Musashi departed as troop transports for Biak, with the intention of reinforcing both the garrison and naval defenses of the island.[15] When word reached Ozawa's headquarters of American carrier attacks on the Mariana Islands, the mission was aborted.[15]

From 19–23 June 1944, Yamato escorted forces of Ozawa's Mobile Fleet during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, dubbed by American pilots as "The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot".[17] Japanese aircraft losses exceeded 400, while three aircraft carriers were lost to submarines and airstrikes.[18] Yamato's only major engagement throughout the operation was mistakenly opening fire on returning Japanese aircraft.[1] Following the battle, Yamato and the Mobile Fleet withdrew to Brunei to refuel and rearm.

From 22–25 October 1944, Yamato joined Admiral Takeo Kurita's Centre force in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval engagement in history.[19] During the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, Yamato was hit with three armour-piercing bombs from aircraft of the USS Essex, while her sister-ship Musashi—having been hit with seventeen torpedoes and nineteen bombs—sank, forcing Kurita to transfer his flag to Yamato.[1] On the evening of 24 October, Kurita's Centre Force navigated the San Bernardino Strait, attacking a small force of escort carriers and destroyers shortly after dawn.[20] In the initial stages of the Battle off Samar, Yamato engaged enemy surface forces for the first time, confirming hits on an escort carrier, a destroyer, and a destroyer escort.[20] When, after confirming primary battery hits on USS Gambier Bay, a spread of American torpedoes trailed towards Yamato, the battleship was forced to withdraw from the fighting, and was unable to rejoin the battle.[1]

Following the engagement off Samar, Yamato and the remainder of Force A returned to Brunei.[21] On 15 November 1944, the 1st Battleship Division was disbanded, and Yamato became the flagship of the Second Fleet.[1] On 21 November, while transiting the East China Sea in a withdrawal to Kure Naval Base,[22] Yamato's battlegroup was attacked by the submarine USS Sealion, with the battleship Kongo and several destroyers lost.[23] Upon returning to Kure, Yamato was immediately drydocked for repairs and antiaircraft upgrades, with several older antiaircraft guns being replaced. On 25 November, Captain Aruga Kosaku was named commander of Yamato.



1945: Final Operations and Sinking

On 1 January 1945, Yamato, Haruna and Nagato were all transferred to the newly reactivated 1st Battleship Division; Yamato left drydock two days later.[1] When the 1st Battleship Division was deactivated once again on 10 February, Yamato was reassigned to the 1st Carrier Division. On 19 March 1945 Yamato came under heavy attack when American carrier aircraft from Enterprise, Yorktown and Intrepid raided the major naval base of Kure where she was docked.[24][25] Damage to the battleship, however, was light,[24] due in part to a defense of the base by experienced Japanese fighter pilots flying Kawanishi N1K "George" fighters; these fighters were led by Minoru Genda, who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor.[1][25] On 29 March, Yamato took on a full stock of ammunition, in preparation for combat off Okinawa in Operation Ten-Go.

Operation Ten-Go was a deliberate suicide attack against American forces off Okinawa by Yamato and nine escorts, beginning on 6 April 1945. Embarking from Kure, Yamato was to beach herself near Okinawa, and act as an unsinkable gun-emplacement—bombarding American forces on Okinawa with her 18.1-inch heavy-guns.[26] Yamato carried only enough fuel to reach Okinawa, as the fuel stocks available were insufficient to provide enough fuel to reach Okinawa and return.[26] While navigating the Bungo Strait, Yamato and her escorts were spotted by the American submarines Threadfin and Hackleback, both of which notified Task Force 58 of Yamato's position.[1][5]

At 12:32 on 7 April 1945, Yamato was attacked by a first wave of 280 aircraft from Task Force 58, taking three hits (two bombs, one torpedo).[1] By 14:00, two of Yamato's escorts had been sunk.[5] Shortly afterwards, a second strike of 100 aircraft attacked Yamato and her remaining escorts. At 14:23, having taken 10 torpedo and 7 bomb hits, Yamato's forward ammunition magazines detonated.[5] The smoke from the explosion—over 4 miles (6.4 km) high—was seen 100 miles (160 km) away on Kyushu.[27] 2,498 of the 2,700 crew members on Yamato were lost, including Admiral Seiichi Itō.