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Naval Art  Countries Japanese Navy  Yamato |
[UP] - Yamato - Akagi - Musashi - Soryu - Fuji - Fuso - Hiei - Hyuga - Nagato - Shikishima - Shoho - Takao |
| Yamato Naval Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings |
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| Text for the above items : |
Otoko-Tachi-No Yamato by Randall Wilson. Yamato powers her way, ahead of Yahagi during Operation Ten Ichi Go. |
Tenichigo by Randall Wilson. The Yamato was sunk on the 7th of April 1945 by torpedoes and bombs from carrier-borne aircraft while she was on a Kamikaze mission to Okinawa. |
IJMS Yamato by Randall Wilson. No text for this item |
Final Liberty by Randall Wilson. Last preparations for sailing, and last liberty, as Yamato prepares for Operation Ten Ichi Go, 1945. |
Last Voyage of the Yamato by Stan Stokes. The 74,000 ton Yamato and the Musashi were the two largest battleships ever built, and typified the Imperial Japanese Navys attitude that their ships should be superior to anything the United States had. As a comparison the German Battleship Deutschland displaced a mere 15,500 tons. Each of these ships carried nine 18.1 inch guns, the most powerful armament available on any ship at that point in time. The Yamato participated in the attack on Midway, serving as Admiral Yamamotos flag ship, and many of the other significant sea battles in the Pacific. By the time the Allies were preparing to invade Okinawa, the Japanese had been forced to utilize Kikusui tactics which would involve mass suicide attacks and individual suicide missions. The army had made numerous sacrifices, and senior Japanese naval officers realized that the Yamato would need to be sacrificed in the defense of Okinawa, as a matter of pride. The Yamatos 350-mile trip to Okinawa without any meaningful air cover would be a suicide mission, and the ship and its escort vessels were equipped with only enough fuel for a one-way trip. On April 6, 1945 the huge vessel departed and was immediately sighted by two American submarines, the USS Threadfin and the USS Hackleback. The information was passed on to the USN task force, and on April 7 an F6F from the USS Essex spotted the Yamato and relayed its position back to the USS Indianapolis, the flag ship of Admiral Spruance. An initial attack force of 280 USN aircraft were launched from nine American carriers, followed by a second wave of aircraft from four other carriers. Knowing that the Japanese had no air cover, the F6F Hellcats carried 500 pound bombs, and were joined by Avenger torpedo bombers and Curtis SB2C dive bombers. The Americans had learned from their earlier attack on the Musashi to concentrate torpedo attacks on one side of the giant ship. The Yamato was hit with numerous torpedoes and bombs. By 13:00 the giant battleship was listing 20 degrees to port and her antiaircraft guns were inoperative. At 14:10 another torpedo hit jammed the ships rudder, and the Yamato began to circle at about 8 knots. At 14:23 the Yamato rolled over and exploded in a giant mushroom cloud and sank with the loss of nearly 2,500 men. The Grumman TBF Avenger was the first torpedo bomber produced by that company. It bore a resemblance to the F4F Wildcat, and incorporated a unique internal bomb bay capable of carrying a 2,000 lb torpedo or four 500 lb bombs. The TBF was a big aircraft with a wingspan of 54 feet, and an empty weight of 10,080 lbs. It was capable of 271-MPH with a range of 1,215 miles. The Avenger incorporated a light weight electrically driven rear ball turret. The Avenger was so successful that General Motors was also pressed into service producing the aircraft with their version designated as a TBM. |
IJMS Yamato at Full Speed by Randall Wilson. No text for this item |
Secrets of the Battleship Yamato In April of 1945, the Japanese military command sent its prize battleship on an impossible kamikaze mission; to defeat a large US fleet off the coast of Japan. Her name was the Yamato and she was the largest and most technologically advanced battleship in history. With guns of awesome calibre, massive armour, she was considered to be virtually unsinkable. Yet she would be sunk, in just four hours, during one of the last naval battles of World War II. This is the story of the Battleship Yamato, its creation as the flagship of Japanese naval power, its part in the battle of Midway, up to its last suicide sortie and of how its recent discovery has shed light on its final moments. In 1999 a Japanese salvage crew set off on a multi-million dollar mission to find the final resting place of the pride of Japan. Three hundred and fifty metres down, the Yamato lay largely intact on the floor of the South China Sea. Some of the first ever pictures of the remains of historys largest battleship offer not only a solemn tribute to the brave sailors who died for their country, but also a clue to a mystery... what actually happened in the final moments of the Yamato? |
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