The 1st Battleship Division was made a supporting group for the Japanese carriers. Ten days later the fleet sailed to Tawitawi in the Sulu Archipelago, which was designated as the starting point for the forthcoming showdown with the Allied Powers in the South West Pacific codenamed Operation A-Go. The Yamato was then ordered to go to the Lingga anchorage south of Singapore and join the rest of the combined fleet there. The repairs and modifications were completed by April, 1944. At the same time her side triple 6.1 inch turrets were removed and three twin 5"(127mm) AA guns were added to each side. She was dry-docked at Kure to undertake the necessary repairs and modifications to the bracket structures of side armor to correct the defects revealed by the torpedo hit. She was then ordered to make for the homeland, where she arrived on January 16, 1944. Brackets upon which the heavy side armor was fitted were damaged with a result that about 3,000 tons of water flooded into No.3 magazine room. The Yamato was entering the Truk Atoll after returning to Truk from Japan and was hit on her starboard side near turret No.3 by a torpedo. Towards the end of 1943 the Yamato received her first major damage from a U.S. In mid-1943 the Yamato sailed again to Truk to join the Musashi in protecting the Gilbert Island and the Marshall slants, however they never got a chance to engage the enemy in a fight and remained at Truk most of the time. When she arrived home she was immediately dry-docked at Kure to do minor repairs that were badly needed. Admiral Mineichi Koga was the newly appointed Commander-In-Chief. On February 11,1943 the Musashi took over as Yamamoto's flagship.Īfter the loss of Guadalcanal and the ambush and death of Yamamoto in 1943, it was decided to bring both the Musashi and the Yamato back to the homeland to cope with the increasing troubles there. in August, 1942, the Yamato went down to Truk Island to support a series of fierce operations to recapture Guadalcanal. When war efforts were directed to the Solomon Islands sparked by a surprise landing on Guadalcanal Island by the U.S. On the other hand, a decision was made to convert the Shinano into a heavy aircraft carrier. It was still the main striking force for a decisive sea battle with the enemy fleet, which the Japanese Navy eagerly wanted to have once and for all. As the operation ended in a complete failure, she made port in the Inland Sea with her officers and crew broken-hearted at their first serious defeat.Įven after the defeat at Midway, where the Yamato and the other battleships had no chance to fight without an umbrella of aircraft, the status of the battleship group remained unchanged. When Admiral Yamamoto launched a wide-ranging attack upon Midway Island in June of 1942, she also participated in the battle as flagship. On Februshe hoisted the Admiral's flag of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-In-Chief Of The Combined Fleet, as his flagship. She joined the 1st Battleship Division (consisting of the Nagato and Mutsu until then) immediately after commissioning and started vigorous training. The greatest battleship ever built was completed and turned over to the Japanese navy on December 16, 1941, in the week after the outbreak of war between Japan and the United States.Īlthough the predominance of the battleship had been overshadowed by aircraft carriers by the time the Yamato was commissioned, the Japanese navy still placed full confidence in the newly completed battleship. The keel of the Yamato was laid in the building dock of the Kure naval yard on November 4,1937 and she was launched on August 8,1940. The designs were approved and the Yamato was ordered under the 1937 Third Reinforcement program. These great ships were built in complete secrecy and it was not until very late in the war that it was found out how large and powerful they really were.ĭesign work on what was to become the largest battleships in the world started in 1934. They were also the heaviest armed and armored of all battleships. By far the largest warships of Word War II.
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