Well, I saw the commercial for PBS’s Nova yesterday about the sinking of the Yamato (which I did see tonight, excellent program), and inspired me to update my Yamato entries in the WW2DB last night. Thought I’d share the links here as usual. Hope you guys enjoy!
Yamato: http://ww2db.com/ship_spec.php?ship_id=1
Ten-Go Operation: http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=15
Thanks for that, yet another excellent little piece. I read that the main guns could be used against aircraft with a type of shotgun shell (sanski-dan?). Do you know if this is true and also if they were ever used in action?
That’s right, possibly due to the lack of defense against aircraft Japan developed an anti-aircraft shell for the massive 18" guns of the Yamato-class. The shells are called “Sanshiki” (someone correct me on the spelling and it meant something like “bees” or “beehive” or something to the effect of “swarming”. It’s a huge shell filled with incendiary devices and it set to explode on a timed fused. When it explodes, burning steel shrapnel filled the path of the oncoming aircraft, I suppose doing the same thing of what flak guns do.
During the Ten-Go Operation (see link above), when Yamato was attacked by hundreds of American aircrafts, she used these anti-aircraft shells but to little effect. I got this tidbit from the PBS Nova show the other night 
All i know the Yamato is that it had massive 18’ guns, some of hte biggest of its day with a huge range. It was sunk by fighters in 1945 caught in the open trying to escape.
You’re off just slightly – she was on a suicide charge when she was caught in the open ocean without adequate air support. She was not trying to escape by any means.
Oh and 18" (inch) guns, not 18’ (feet) guns. The Japanese probably WISHED they had 18-ft guns
Am i right in thinking that the Yamato was only given enough fuel to get to the enemy fleet for the Ten-go operation, one assume’s in order to drive home the sacrificial aspect of the mission.
Yes, it is generally believed that the Yamato was given only enough fuel to sail to Okinawa vacinity. She was to do one of the following when she reaches the location:
Sail directly into the American fleet formation and open fire on carriers and landing crafts with her guns.
Run aground at Okinawa and become an instant coastal fortress to defend against American landings.
In worse case scenario, pick a big American ship (BB or CV) and ram the selected target.
Of course, we know that she did not make it near the American formation near Okinawa.
Suicide Run?, please explain more i’d like to learn. And yes 18" Guns.
Please excuse my laziness in not explaining the “suicide run” fully, but I’ve written a article on that particular operation here:
http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=15
It should answer your question about that suicidal operation – if not, let me know!
The 18" guns of the Yamato, and her sister ship (do the Japanese refer to their ships as she?) the musashi, were the largest guns ever to be fitted to a ship. They were also the largest and heavist battle ships ever built.
It is believed that the loss of these two huge and powerful ships to aircraft is what turned the tide fully to the ships we have to day.
In total 5 ships were supposed to be built. The third hull, Shinano, was changed in to an aircraft carrier. The fourth hull was abandoned when only half complete and the fifth keel was never laid.
There were plans for bigger ships to be built with 20" guns but they were never built.
The whole point of the Yamato was to outclass every battle ship the Americans had. Most of the American ships came through the Panama canal their size was limited, this is why the Americans only ever had 16" guns, they simply couldn’t fit more armour or bigger weapons to the ships as it would make them to big to go through the canal thus they would have to go around South America to reach the Pacific.
But as I said above, they didn’t count on air power, in a straight forward battle, such as Hood and Bismark, it highly likely that a Yamato class ship would tear apart any American ship or maybe even a pair. But the Japanese air defence capabilities on board were sorly lacking.
The idea of using the ships main armourment was flawed from the begining.
In trials it was shown as effective and quite devestating to aircraft, where the aircrafts flight path could be predicted and the guns positioned. In practice the guns had to be traversed to engage the aircraft which were manouvring to avoid fire, they were too slow moving for this. The speed of reloading was also slow, as each gun had to return to almost horizontal (as many did at this time in all Navies) for the next round to be loaded.
I met the Hellcat pilot about 20 years ago that was the singluar witness, the last American in the vicinity to watch the Yamato slip beneath the waves. His feeling was “what a waste of good fighting men.”
What was the purpose of this Suicide attack?.
Simply to defend Okinawa and inflict as much destruction upon the enemy as possible knowing it was a hopeless cause and death was iminent.
The Japanese descision to opt for “sucide” tactics is often not understood by westerners. Basically they were getting such a beating that the chances of returning from missions were almost zero anyway. By some volunteers killing themselves in pressing home their attack the chances of inflicting heavy damage on the target was increased.
That is a very simple and brutish description, other factors affecting their descision were things like their religious beliefs and their affection for their Emporer.
Although the best known suicide attacks are aircraft there were also suicide boats, manned torpedoes and submarines. On land there were also suicide teams who would give up their lives to allow them to inflict the greatest damage to the enemy.
By the time Okinawa was invaded, the Japanese knew they were in a bad way. Yamato was dispatched with simple orders. It was to be one last hurrah for the ship. Basically the captain was freed from the requirement to return, thus he could alter his tactics to increase the damage done.
Yamato and her fleet was to sail in to the midst of the attacking american fleet and spread havoc. When she was no longer effective at this task she was to be beached on Okinawa, where her guns would provide an instant increase of fire power. Her crew that were not needed would go ashore to fight (to the death) on land with the existing Japanese garrison.
In the event of this not being possible it is highly likely that she would have been used to ram an american ship, preferably a carrier but another battleship would probably have been seen as an adequate substitute.
The just plain stubborness of the japaneze was apparent with the very 1st engagements on Wake and Guadalcanal and everywhere before Okinawa. They were pulling off “banzai charges” as they were called then for no apparent reason but to simply do it. In most situations there they weren’t cornered or in immenent danger of death. They just did it. Senseless waste of lives.
The Japenese made a movie of the Yamoto and it looks graet. The Yamoto was a great battleship design and I have studied it many times because I myself design battleships as a hobby by hand (allthough the 3D part is still dufficult for me ) and the thing that cought my eye was;
The space on the ship was not used to its full potensial and the AA guns were not in the numbers it should be.
The Cunning tower or bridge was just to high up in the air and the rest of the upper structure was also to high and was thus easyer to aim at if you battle from another battleship.
The hull was just to wide and the aircraft hangers and aircraft launchers was a waste to the hull.
It did not have the right amount of lifeboats.
The hull was not protected like a battleship of its size should be protected.
Range finders was poor for a ship of its size.
Now it was a great design, but I think the Japenese could have done better for their two largest battleships.
They could have used the wasted space to fit more AA or more secondary guns.
Henk
I definitely agree on the waste of lives being senseless, it amost always is, but the kamikaze/suicide/banzai aspect is not that disimliar to some of the stunts western knights used to pull off, i’m thinking specifically of the ballad of rollo, where some frankish knights in spain knew they were walking into an ambush by the moors but went ahead anyway in order to give thier king the best chance later on (they thought if they inflicted max damage on the moors then the king would have better odds). Or what about the spartans at thermopylae? And i think some people would agree that the banzai charges you described above were not far off to the advances made by British troops in the first world war. Japanese banzai/kamikaze attacks crazy and senseless? yes defintely, unique? definitely not.
It is very sad that the Japenese send there largest battleship to a mission wich was actualy a failure from the start. Never would this plan have worked and they knew the US ruled the skies so why be so stupid?
Why build sush a large ship and then just send it on such a useless thing.
Henk
how can you call it sad when the japanese has kill a lot of innocent man and rape a lot of innocent womean back in china?
i think their target is to attack american fleet near by, but the ship is of course discovered by the american scott and you know what happen later on. I think it would be smarter if the japanese would use that ship as a fort to defend, rather to use it as offense though
No, Fw-190 Pilot I do not just look it from the loss of human live lost but alos the technolagy lost although I did not want it to survive longer because it could have gotten nasty or the US could just have done the same and use their airforce.
Yes, they did kill a lot of people, but still their was young men on that ship that did not know what they was in something that was not clear to them. It is even more sadder that the Japenese did all those things.
Henk