World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseYamato, along with her sister ship Musashi, were the largest battleships ever built in history. Her design plans were based upon Japan's belief that a powerful navy sporting big guns were the key to control the Pacific by intimidation. Based on this philosophy, naval designer Captain Kikuo Fujimoto gave the original 1934 design of the Yamato nine 18.1 inch guns, and made the hull versatile enough to be re-armed for larger guns later. Her massive guns dwarfed all other guns used in naval warfare, with each turret weighing as much as a typical American destroyer. Unlike the American battleships whose width were limited due to the Panama Canal restriction, the Yamato had the freedom to be equipped with some of the thickest armor on her two sides for unsurpassed protection. Her bow was also of a special design, allowing this heavy hulk of a ship to travel up little above 27 knots. When Naoyoshi Ishida, an officer who served aboard the Yamato, first saw her, he thought "How huge it is!" He recalled:

ww2dbaseBecause of her enormous size, men who served aboard reported that there was no pitch or roll when sailing, even when standing at the top of the command tower. It was almost as if they were standing on firm ground, recalled Ensign Mitsuru Yoshida who served on the Yamato as a radar officer.

ww2dbaseHer construction, started after a few iterations of design changes and refinements, was shielded in a veil of secrecy. With inadequate resources spent on military intelligence, the United States had no clue of her existence when she was commissioned in Dec 1941, a week after the start of the Pacific War. Yamato served as flagship of Combined Fleet commander Isoroku Yamamoto until his death in Apr 1943. Several reasons kept her unable to fire her 2,998lb shells on enemy ships; beyond being the flagship of Japan's naval commander, she was only too valuable to engage in battle. A ship bearing the mythical name of ancient Japan simply could not be risked. As a result, she remained near the naval base of Truk for the most of 1943 on defensive duty. During a patrol in Dec 1943, she was damaged by torpedo launched from USS Skate (SS-305), further reducing her roles on the frontlines. She finally saw action during later stages of the war, participating in actions in the Philippines Sea, then as the command ship of Admiral Takeo Kurita devastated a small American fleet off Samar (though Yamato did not play a significantly active role in the Battle off Samar).

ww2dbaseBesides the usual explosive and armor-piercing shells, Yamato was equipped with a unique anti-aircraft shell for use with the 18.1 inch main guns. The sanshiki shells weighed just under 3,000 pounds, and were filled with incendiary tubes. These anti-aircraft shells were fired toward incoming aircraft, and a timed fuse triggered an explosion in the path of the hostile aircraft, filling the air space with burning steel shrapnel. In addition to these unique shells, Yamato was also surrounded by a wide array of traditional anti-aircraft weapons at the base of the superstructure.

ww2dbaseWhile in home waters after the winter 1944-1945 refitting (more anti-aircraft weapons), she was spotted and attacked by U.S. Navy carrier planes in March 1945. She escaped with light damage, but her vulnerability against the swarming American aircraft was now clear. With the war effort in its most desperate time, she was assigned a month later to become the ultimate suicidal special attack instrument in the Ten-Go (Ten'ichigo) Operation. The operation called for a suicide mission of ten ships to sail straight into the American fleet supporting the Okinawa landing. If she was not able to sail into the American fleet, she was to beach herself on Okinawa to serve as a mighty coastal fortress while the sailors disembark to become infantry. If that failed, she then was to draw as much fire from American aircraft as possible so that a concurrent suicide operation by Kamikaze aircraft (Operation Kikusui) would confront less resistance from the air.

ww2dbaseAt 1220 on 7 Apr 1945, while still some 270 miles north of Okinawa, after being tracked by American reconnaissance aircraft and submarines almost the entire way, Yamato was attacked by waves and waves of American carrier planes. She received serious damage from falling bombs within the first 15 minutes of the battle, then was struck by torpedoes on the port side. Her strategy was to contain the damage and flooding and wait for American aircraft to dissipate. But as more waves arrive to attack at the task force, that hope quickly proved unreachable.

ww2dbaseAfter an agonizing two hours, the largest battleship in the world sank as the list reached nearly 90 degrees. She then exploded twice under water; the cause of the explosion was likely the shells from the primary and secondary magazines falling off their shelves and detonating their fuses against the overhead. Only 269 men survived the sinking super battleship.

ww2dbaseAfter the war, Yamato became an object of intense fascination in Japan, as well as in foreign countries. She also remained a sensitive topic in Japan. While still a token of national pride, the sinking of Yamato also symbolized the sad end of the once invincible Imperial Japanese Navy. Yamato's remains were located and examined in 1985 and again examined, more precisely, in 1999. She lies in two main parts in some 1,000 feet of water. Her bow portion, severed from the rest of the ship in the vicinity of the second main battery turret, is upright, and the 2-meter wide chrysanthemum crest still glowing in a faint golden aura. The midships and stern section is upside down nearby, with two large holes in the bottom section of the ship, the result of powerful internal explosions.