The battleships "Yamato" were the largest and most powerful battleships among not only the battleships of the Japanese fleet, but throughout the world. At the time of launching in the world there was only one ship with a larger displacement - the British passenger liner "Queen Mary". Each of the guns of the main 460-mm caliber weighed 2820 tons and was capable of sending almost one and a half ton shells over a distance of 45 kilometers. About 263 meters in length, 40 in width, a displacement of 72,810 tons, 9 main guns with a diameter of 460 mm, a power plant with a capacity of 150,000 hp, allowing the ship to reach speeds of 27.5 knots (about 50 km / h) Are just some of the technical characteristics of these real sea monsters.
"Yamato" and "Musashi" were the largest artillery ships in the world, capable of hitting targets at any distance visible from Mars. The recoil of artillery pieces was so strong that the designers had to impose a ban on the use of an onboard salvo - a simultaneous shot from all 9 barrels - in order to avoid mechanical damage to the hull, irreversible for the ship.
Reservation was carried out according to the "all or nothing" scheme and included a 410-mm inclined belt and the thickest deck in the world (200-230 mm.), Even the bottom of the ship was protected by 50-80-mm. armor plates. This concept involved the creation of an armored citadel that would protect all the vital centers of the ship, providing it with a buoyancy reserve, but leaving everything else unprotected. The Yamato Citadel was the shortest among the battleships built at the end of the 30s in relation to the total length of the ship - only 53.5%. The front plate of the battleship's main caliber turrets had 650-mm armor - the thickest armor ever installed on warships. The strong inclination of the frontal plate of the tower further increased the projectile resistance, it was believed that not a single projectile in the world was able to penetrate it even when fired at point-blank range.
Battleship under construction
The Japanese shipbuilders should be given credit for doing almost everything in their power. The final word remained with the admirals, and here the descendants of the samurai and the students of the famous Togo suddenly found themselves in trouble. At the very beginning of the war, officers and pilots of Japanese aircraft carriers joked bitterly that there are 3 largest and most useless things in the world: the Egyptian pyramids, the Great Wall of China and the battleship Yamato. The Japanese fleet often lacked its own battleships, which were protected by the command of the fleet. Using them at the very end of the war could not change its outcome in any way, the joke turned out to be very true.
The last trip "Yamato"
The battleship Yamato set off on her last cruise in April 1945. The task of the formation, which, in addition to the battleship, included the cruiser Yahagi and 8 destroyers, among which there were 2 special air defense destroyers of the Akizuki type (at that time there were other combat-ready ships, but there was no fuel for them), was on a thin line between combat and suicide. The squadron was supposed to repel all attacks by American aircraft and reach the landing site of American units on about. Okinawa. The command of the Japanese fleet was able to find only 2,500 tons of fuel for the operation. In the event that the return of the squadron was deemed difficult, the battleship was ordered to wash ashore near Okinawa and support the island's defense with the fire of its guns. Such actions of the Japanese fleet could only have been dictated by sheer despair, but the Japanese would not have been themselves if they had not made this suicidal attempt.
The commander-in-chief of the Japanese fleet, Admiral Toyeda, believed that the operation had no 50% chance of a successful outcome, while he believed that if it was not carried out, the ships would never go to sea again. Vice Admiral Seinchi Ito, who was supposed to lead the squadron, was even more skeptical. His arguments against the suicidal campaign were: the lack of cover for fighters, the great superiority of the Americans in surface ships, not to mention the aircraft, the delay in the operation itself - the landing of the main forces of the American landing on Okinawa was completed. However, all the arguments of the vice admiral were rejected.
The most powerful ship in the Japanese navy was to act as a decoy. In order to prolong his last voyage as much as possible, he was assigned a retinue of 9 ships. All of them were supposed to serve as a cover for Operation Kikusui, a massive attack by kamikaze pilots on the American fleet at the landing site. It was with this operation that the Japanese command pinned their main hopes.
On April 4, the composition of the battleship's escort was reduced by 1 ship. The destroyer "Hibiki" collided with a floating mine near the base and was incapacitated. The next day, at 15 o'clock, the unit received the final order to go to sea. At 17:30 from the battleship, all the cadets who were doing practical work on it, as well as the sick, were sent to the shore. All the tree that was on the ship was thrown overboard or sent ashore. Therefore, the sailors and the crew had to spend the entire evening drinking the sake issued for the campaign, squatting - there were no chairs or tables left on the ship.
The mood for the Yamato was upbeat and at the same time doomed. At 18 o'clock the crew put on a clean uniform, an appeal from the commander of the fleet was read out, which the crew met with a three-time Banzai. The further fate of the ship and the sailors was already entirely in the hands of the enemy.
The Americans did not miss their chance. Already 1 hour 40 minutes after the exit, the squadron was discovered by American submarines, and on the morning of April 7, by a reconnaissance group from the 58th attack aircraft carrier formation. At first, the Americans were going to let the compound pass as far south as possible and only then attack. From 9:15 am, a group of 16 American fighters began to constantly monitor the squadron. The Americans were so confident of victory that they transmitted messages about the movement of the Japanese in plain text, these messages were intercepted on the battleship and did not contribute to raising morale on the ship.
At 11:15 am, the Japanese squadron unexpectedly turned southeast, fearing that the Japanese were not going to Okinawa at all, and, not wanting to miss such a tasty prey, the Americans decided to attack. The first groups of aircraft from the aircraft carriers of the 58th Strike Force, which was located about 300 miles from the squadron, began takeoff at 10 o'clock. The strike group for the destruction of the Japanese squadron consisted of 280 aircraft, of which 98 were Avenger torpedo bombers. In fact, 227 vehicles took part in the attack, 53 more simply “got lost” and did not find the target. In addition, 106 more aircraft flew to attack the squadron, but were late to take part in the battle.
Battleship in battle, you can see a bomb hit
The first attack on the battleship began at 12:20, up to 150 aircraft took part in it. At this time, the squadron was moving at a speed of 24 knots and firing from all its guns, including the 18-inch Yamato. The first American attacks were directed against the first ships in the order - the destroyer Hamakaze and the cruiser Yahagi. The destroyer sank after the first torpedo hit. In the same attack, 3-4 aerial bombs hit the Yamato, damaging a number of 127-mm guns and anti-aircraft guns, and also knocking out a medium-caliber fire control post. At 12:41, according to Japanese data, the battleship received 2 more hits from bombs near the mainmast, as a result of which the "13" type radar was put out of action. At the same time, according to Japanese data, the battleship received 3-4 torpedo hits, although only 2 hits look reliable, both on the left side. Damage from torpedoes led to significant flooding, especially in the outer engine room of the left side, the battleship developed a roll of 5-6 degrees, which, as a result of counter-flooding, was reduced to 1 degree.
The second wave of the attack began at 13 o'clock. At this time, the Yamato was sailing at a speed of 22 knots. American pilots, finding themselves under heavy fire, used very effective tactics. Coming in from the nose of the battleship and shifting the planes into a gentle dive, they fired from onboard weapons, trying to move in zigzags, not staying on the same course. Japanese air defense systems simply did not keep up with them (they differed in insufficient speed of horizontal and vertical guidance). In addition, the Japanese gunners were suppressed by the number of American aircraft, which also affected the effectiveness of their actions. This was not denied by the surviving participants in the last battle of the battleship.
Approximately 50 aircraft from those participating in the attack did not achieve bomb hits on the Yamato, but at least 4 of the 20 torpedo bombers attacking the battleship were able to hit the target (3 torpedoes to the left side, 1 to the right). As a result of the torpedo attack, the ship received a roll of 15-16 degrees, the ship's speed was reduced to 18 knots. Counter-flooding again managed to reduce the roll, this time to 5 degrees, the seawater inflow was taken under control. As a result of the torpedo attack, the auxiliary steering engine was out of order, electrical equipment was damaged, and part of the artillery was out of order. The position of the battleship was not yet critical, but the reserves of survivability and stability were already at their limit. Apparently, 6-7 torpedoes were the limit that ships of this class could withstand.
At 13:45, the last attack on the wounded battleship began, during which the Yamato hit at least 4 torpedoes, again mostly on the left side (1 in PB, 2-3 in LB). Also, several aerial bombs hit the battleship, which led to severe destruction in the middle part of the hull, practically scattering all the anti-aircraft artillery located here. The ship's speed dropped to 12 knots. At this time, only one propeller shaft was working on the battleship, and soon all the boiler rooms were abandoned by the sailors and flooded. The ship immediately lost its speed, its roll to the left side again reached 16 degrees. Huge losses in personnel and the failure of the central post of damage control deprived the crew of the opportunity to fight for the salvation of the ship.
The explosion of the battleship "Yamato"
The battleship tried to cover the air defense destroyers "Yukikaze" and "Fuyutsuki", only two of these ships fulfilled their task to the end, possessing considerable speed and managing to avoid serious damage. At this time, the battleship was already in agony, the roll to the left side reached 26 degrees, none of the 127 anti-mine or anti-aircraft guns could fire, like most anti-aircraft machine guns. The steering device and communication facilities are out of order.
The tower-like superstructure was riddled with cannon and machine-gun fire: the superstructure personnel suffered heavy losses. In the center of this hell sat the squadron commander, Vice Admiral Ito. The admiral had not uttered a word from the moment the attack began, leaving control to the captain of the ship, perhaps in an attempt to express his attitude against the hopeless business that he still had to carry out.
At the moment when "Yamato" fell aboard with a roll of 80 degrees, there was a monstrous explosion. Its power was such that its reflection was seen on the ships of the American squadron, located several tens of miles from the battlefield. The plume of smoke rose to a height of 6 km and resembled a nuclear explosion in shape, the height of the flame reached 2 km. There could be only one reason for the explosion - the detonation of the main-caliber powder magazines (about 500 tons.explosives), while what exactly provoked the explosion will forever remain unknown.
Together with the ship, 2,498 crew members died, including the squadron commander and the ship's captain. In total, in the battle, in addition to the battleship, 4 destroyers and a cruiser were sunk, and the total number of deaths reached 3665 people. In the last battle, the Yamato shot down 5 planes and damaged 20, the whole formation destroyed 10 planes: 4 dive bombers, 3 torpedo bombers and 3 fighters - not too high a price for the death of the pride of the fleet and escort ships. In total, about 10 torpedoes with 270 kg hit the Yamato. "Torpex" (equivalent to 400 kg. TNT) and 13 aerial bombs of 250 kg each.
