On April 7, 1945, the Japanese Yamato, the pinnacle of naval technology and the biggest and best-equipped battleship ever constructed, embarked on a final doomed voyage.
Yamato set out as part of Operation Ten-ichi-go, the last-ditch effort of the Imperial Japanese Navy to intercept the invasion of Okinawa by the US. Setting out on vapors and escorted only by a token force, Yamato’s mission was simple: engage the sheer number of US troops and fight it out. A mission from which there was no possible return.
The foreknowledge of her departure, which was acquired by the US codebreakers, predestined the Yamato’s fate. The US intelligence was waiting for her; the American fleet had surprise and superior airpower. The US Navy headed by Admiral Spruance and Vice Admiral Mitscher planned a grand air attack consisting of almost 400 aircraft.
The fate of Yamato was unexpected, a testament to how the nature of naval combat had changed with airpower assuming a central role. She was so heavily armored and equipped, yet vulnerable to air attacks. April was that day when the air was teeming with American bombers and fighter aircraft, which launched a sustained attack on the Japanese naval force.
The Yamato’s anti-aircraft guns fired wildly but to no purpose. The American pilots dropped 1,000-pound bombs and air-launched torpedoes that struck the thinner armor plating on the bow and stern of the battleship and struck her starboard side to cause maximum flooding and the potential for capsizing.
The battle was lopsided and tragic. By repeated bombing and torpedoing, the Yamato had become seriously listed, her deck flooded with seawater and flames. Her loss signified not only the sinking of a battleship but the sinking of the very concept of battleships as kings of the ocean.
