The Last Battle Of

The Great Battleship Yamato

Sixth of April 1945, the Japanese battleship Yamato together with the
light cruiser Yahagi and eight destroyers embarked on a suicide mission
called Operation Ten-Go. Their goal was to attack the American forces
during the battle of Okinawa.

       At dawn, seventh of April, the Yamato together with her fleet

headed into the open sea, towards Okinawa. At 11:30 a.m., two PBM
Mariner flying boats spotted the Japanese force. Soon, American aircraft
fighters arrived at the location of the Japanese fleet. The fighters were
supposed to intercept any Japanese combat air patrol fighters that might
be there to provide air cover for the fleet but none were there. So, the
Americans launched their first wave of attack on the Japanese force.
     
        At 12:32 p.m., the first wave of dive bombers and torpedo bombers
were spotted by the Japanese. The Yamato herself carried almost 150
anti-aircraft guns. Anti-aircraft shells exploded all around the bombers
and some of the aircraft were shot down. The Yamato began to make
evasive manoeuvres. Because of this, most of the bombs and torpedoes
missed their target. However, two armour-piercing bombs and a single
torpedo managed to hit the Yamato.

An hour later, the second and third waves of American dive

bombers and torpedo bombers attacked the Yamato. This time, nearly
eight torpedoes and fifteen bombs hit her. The bombs destroyed her anti-
aircraft gun directors, forcing them to be operated manually and thus,
decreasing their effectiveness. Almost all torpedoes hit the Yamato's
port-side hull, causing her to lean to her left so much that it was possible
for the Yamato to capsize at any moment. The Yamato's damage control
team tried to counter this problem by flooding the starboard boiler and
engine rooms. However, with the weight of water and starboard engines
out of action, the Yamato slowed down greatly and was left with less
than half of her top speed. At that moment, 110 American aircraft were
launched towards the Yamato. Twenty torpedo bombers began an attack
run on the Yamato. She tried to dodge the attacks by making a sharp turn
to the left. Despite this, three torpedoes hit her port side hull and jammed
the rudder. 
 Operation Ten-Go was cancelled by Admiral Itō after receiving
reports that the Yamato could no longer steer and had started sinking.
The crew were also given orders to abandon ship. Moments later, the
Yamato sank completely beneath the surface. Not long after, she
suddenly exploded. The explosion was so ginormous that it could be
heard and seen two hundred kilometres away, sending a vast mushroom-
shaped cloud twenty thousand feet high into the air. The Yamato sank to
the seabed, taking 2,498 of her crew. It was a terrible fate for the
Yamato. Her wreck was split into two and lay 180 miles southwest of
Kyushu, at a depth of 1,120 feet below the waters of the East China Sea.