Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “Fate of the ‘Unsinkable’ Japanese Battleship Yamato” and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/japanese-battleship-yamato/.
Fate of the "Unsinkable" Japanese Battleship Yamato
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
Talyn
Emissary
They changed the term "unsinkable" to "sinkable" when the Yamato's sister ship, the Musashi was sunk almost 6 months earlier in the Sibuyan Sea during the Battle of Sibuyan Sea, a part of the overall Battle of Leyte Gulf, Musashi was sunk by an estimated 19 torpedo and 17 bomb hits from American carrier-based aircraft on 24 October 1944.
en.wikipedia.org
Musashi under attack by American carrier aircraft during the Battle of Leyte Gulf
An hour and a half later, another eight Helldivers from Intrepid attacked Musashi again. One bomb hit the upper deck and failed to detonate; another hit the port side of the deck and penetrated two upper decks before exploding above one of the engine rooms. Fragments broke a steam pipe in the engine room and forced its abandonment, as well as that of the adjacent boiler room. Power was lost to the port inboard propeller shaft and the ship's speed dropped to 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph). Anti-aircraft fire shot down two Helldivers during this attack.
Three minutes later, nine Avengers attacked from both sides of the ship, scoring three torpedo hits on the port side. One hit abreast Turret No. 1, the second flooded a hydraulic machinery room, forcing the main turrets to switch over to auxiliary hydraulic pumps, and the third flooded another engine room.
More counterflooding reduced the list to one degree to port, but the amount of flooding reduced the ship's forward freeboard by 1.8 meters (6 ft.). During this attack, Musashi fired sanshikidan anti-aircraft shells from her main armament; one shell detonated in the middle gun of Turret No. 1, possibly because of a bomb fragment in the barrel, and wrecked the turret's elevating machinery.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Shiki_(anti-aircraft_shell)
At 13:31, the ship was attacked by 29 aircraft from fleet carriers Essex and Lexington. Two Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters strafed the ship's deck and Helldivers scored four more bomb hits near her forward turrets. Musashi was hit by four more torpedoes, three of which were forward of Turret No. 1, causing extensive flooding. The ship was now listing one degree to starboard, and had taken on so much water that her bow was now down 4 meters (13 ft.) and her speed had been reduced to 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). Two hours later, nine Helldivers from Enterprise attacked with 450-kilogram (1,000 lb.) armor-piercing bombs, scoring four hits. The ship was hit by three more torpedoes, opening up her starboard bow and reducing her speed to 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph).
At 15:25, Musashi was attacked by 37 aircraft from Intrepid, the fleet carrier Franklin and the light carrier Cabot. The ship was hit by 13 bombs and 11 more torpedoes during this attack, for a loss of three Avengers and three Helldivers. Her speed was reduced to 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph), her main steering engine was temporarily knocked out and her rudder was briefly jammed 15 degrees to port. Counterflooding reduced her list to six degrees to port from its previous maximum of ten degrees.
Musashi had been struck by an estimated total of 19 torpedoes and 17 bombs.
Musashi down by the bow after the air attacks, shortly before her sinking.
Kurita left Musashi to fend for herself at 15:30, and encountered her again at 16:21 after reversing course.
The ship was headed north, with a list of 10 degrees to port, down 8 meters (26 ft.) at the bow with her forecastle awash. He detailed a heavy cruiser and two destroyers to escort her while frantic efforts were made to correct her list, including flooding another engine room and some boiler rooms. Her engines stopped before she could be beached. At 19:15, her list reached 12 degrees and her crew was ordered to prepare to abandon ship, which they did fifteen minutes later when the list reached 30 degrees. Musashi capsized at 19:36 and sank in 1,350 meters (4,430 ft.) of water at 13°07′N 122°32′E.
Inoguchi chose to go down with his ship; 1,376 of her 2,399-man crew were rescued. About half of her survivors were evacuated to Japan, and the rest took part in the defense of the Philippines.
Note....
A research team sponsored by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen eventually found her after eight years of searching for the wreck, going through various historical records in different countries, and deploying the high-tech yacht Octopus and a remotely operated vehicle to aid in their search. In March 2015, Allen announced that the team had found Musashi under the Sibuyan Sea, some 900 meters (3,000 ft.) beneath the surface.
www.history.com
Japanese battleship Musashi - Wikipedia
Loss at Sibuyan Sea
On 24 October, while transiting the Sibuyan Sea, Kurita's ships were spotted by a reconnaissance aircraft from the fleet carrier USS Intrepid. Just over two hours later, the battleship was attacked by eight Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bombers from Intrepid at 10:27. One 230-kilogram (500 lb) bomb struck the roof of Turret No. 1, failing to penetrate. Two minutes later, Musashi was struck starboard amidships by a torpedo from a Grumman TBF Avenger, also from Intrepid. The ship took on 3,000 tons of water and a 5.5-degree list to starboard that was later reduced to 1 degree by counterflooding compartments on the opposite side. During this attack, two Avengers were shot down..jpg)
Musashi under attack by American carrier aircraft during the Battle of Leyte Gulf
An hour and a half later, another eight Helldivers from Intrepid attacked Musashi again. One bomb hit the upper deck and failed to detonate; another hit the port side of the deck and penetrated two upper decks before exploding above one of the engine rooms. Fragments broke a steam pipe in the engine room and forced its abandonment, as well as that of the adjacent boiler room. Power was lost to the port inboard propeller shaft and the ship's speed dropped to 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph). Anti-aircraft fire shot down two Helldivers during this attack.
Three minutes later, nine Avengers attacked from both sides of the ship, scoring three torpedo hits on the port side. One hit abreast Turret No. 1, the second flooded a hydraulic machinery room, forcing the main turrets to switch over to auxiliary hydraulic pumps, and the third flooded another engine room.
More counterflooding reduced the list to one degree to port, but the amount of flooding reduced the ship's forward freeboard by 1.8 meters (6 ft.). During this attack, Musashi fired sanshikidan anti-aircraft shells from her main armament; one shell detonated in the middle gun of Turret No. 1, possibly because of a bomb fragment in the barrel, and wrecked the turret's elevating machinery.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Shiki_(anti-aircraft_shell)
At 13:31, the ship was attacked by 29 aircraft from fleet carriers Essex and Lexington. Two Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters strafed the ship's deck and Helldivers scored four more bomb hits near her forward turrets. Musashi was hit by four more torpedoes, three of which were forward of Turret No. 1, causing extensive flooding. The ship was now listing one degree to starboard, and had taken on so much water that her bow was now down 4 meters (13 ft.) and her speed had been reduced to 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). Two hours later, nine Helldivers from Enterprise attacked with 450-kilogram (1,000 lb.) armor-piercing bombs, scoring four hits. The ship was hit by three more torpedoes, opening up her starboard bow and reducing her speed to 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph).
At 15:25, Musashi was attacked by 37 aircraft from Intrepid, the fleet carrier Franklin and the light carrier Cabot. The ship was hit by 13 bombs and 11 more torpedoes during this attack, for a loss of three Avengers and three Helldivers. Her speed was reduced to 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph), her main steering engine was temporarily knocked out and her rudder was briefly jammed 15 degrees to port. Counterflooding reduced her list to six degrees to port from its previous maximum of ten degrees.
Musashi had been struck by an estimated total of 19 torpedoes and 17 bombs.
.jpg)
Musashi down by the bow after the air attacks, shortly before her sinking.
Kurita left Musashi to fend for herself at 15:30, and encountered her again at 16:21 after reversing course.
The ship was headed north, with a list of 10 degrees to port, down 8 meters (26 ft.) at the bow with her forecastle awash. He detailed a heavy cruiser and two destroyers to escort her while frantic efforts were made to correct her list, including flooding another engine room and some boiler rooms. Her engines stopped before she could be beached. At 19:15, her list reached 12 degrees and her crew was ordered to prepare to abandon ship, which they did fifteen minutes later when the list reached 30 degrees. Musashi capsized at 19:36 and sank in 1,350 meters (4,430 ft.) of water at 13°07′N 122°32′E.
Inoguchi chose to go down with his ship; 1,376 of her 2,399-man crew were rescued. About half of her survivors were evacuated to Japan, and the rest took part in the defense of the Philippines.
Note....
A research team sponsored by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen eventually found her after eight years of searching for the wreck, going through various historical records in different countries, and deploying the high-tech yacht Octopus and a remotely operated vehicle to aid in their search. In March 2015, Allen announced that the team had found Musashi under the Sibuyan Sea, some 900 meters (3,000 ft.) beneath the surface.
WWII’s Largest Battleship Revealed After 70 Years Underwater | HISTORY
After an eight-year search, a research team sponsored by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has discovered the shipwreck...
I was wondering if I am subscribed to get the print magazines, I love to get them and was told I was going to receive them.
Thank you very much
Dale Wilken
moeman
I was asking for a little consistency . The article is all over the place with using one systems units then switching to another systems units for no apparent reason .
This. I doubt anything ever built could take that level of damage and still float. And today’s modern aluminum ships…..