![](https://gallery.trendydigests.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/the-Japanese-battleship-Yamato2.jpg)
On April 7, 1945, the Japanese battleship Yamato, a pinnacle of naval engineering and the most heavily armed and armored battleship ever built, set out on its ultimate, doomed mission.
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The Yamato set sail as part of Operation Ten-ichi-go, a desperate bid by the Imperial Japanese Navy to disrupt the US invasion of Okinawa.
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Sailing without adequate fuel for a return trip and with only a modest escort fleet, Yamato’s orders were unambiguous: attack the overwhelming US forces and fight to the last man. It was a mission from which there was no expectation of return.
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The preemptive knowledge of her sortie, obtained by US codebreakers, sealed the Yamato’s fate. US intelligence was waiting for her; the American force had both the advantage of surprise and overwhelming air superiority.
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Under the leadership of Admiral Spruance and Vice Admiral Mitscher, the US Navy mobilized a staggering air assault that included almost 400 aircraft.
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Yamato’s end came swiftly, a testament to the changing nature of naval warfare where air power had become dominant. Despite her formidable armor and armaments, she was vulnerable from the air.
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On that April day, the skies filled with American fighters and bombers, which launched a relentless onslaught against the Japanese flotilla.
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The Yamato’s anti-aircraft guns fired furiously, but it was all in vain.
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The American aviators dropped 1,000-pound bombs and air-launched torpedoes, targeting the battleship’s thinner armor near her bow and stern and striking her port side to maximize flooding and the likelihood of capsizing.
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The battle was lopsided and tragic. After repeated bomb and torpedo hits, the Yamato listed heavily, her deck awash with seawater and flames.
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Her demise not only marked the sinking of a battleship but also the sinking of the very concept of battleships as the rulers of the sea.
Related image you might interested
![](https://gallery.trendydigests.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Japanese_Center_Force_ships_leave_Brunei_Bay_Borneo_on_22_October_1944_NH_63435-1024x818.jpg)
![](https://gallery.trendydigests.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/A_Japanese_Yamato-class_battleship_and_other_ships_maneuver_under_attack_in_the_Sibuyan_Sea_24_October_1944_80-G-272550-scaled.jpg)
![](https://gallery.trendydigests.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Japanese_battleship_Yamato_underway_during_the_Battle_off_Samar_25_October_1944_80-G-48888-scaled.jpg)
![](https://gallery.trendydigests.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Curtiss_SB2C_Helldiver_prepares_to_attack_the_Japanese_battleship_Yamato_on_7_April_1945.jpg)
Relevant articles:
– Yamato’s Final Voyage (non-Flash), PBS
– 3: Death of Battleship Yamato, Navy (.mil), Apr 3, 2020
– Death of the Super Battleship Yamato and Musashi, Warfare History Network, Dec 9, 2020