Dear gracie3-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question.
Shortly after the United States invaded Okinawa on April 1, 1945,
Japan set into motion a desperate attempt to destroy the fleet
supporting the landings. The mission, dubbed ?Operation Ten-Go? not
only involved a large number of "Kamikaze" planes but also included
the battleship Yamato, largest surviving ship of the Japanese Navy,
whose mission it was to barge headlong through any blockade. It?s fate
was basically sealed since the ship was loaded with just enough fuel
to enable a one-way trip.
Almost immediately US submarines spotted the fleet as it exited the
Inland Sea and the ships were spotted again the following morning by a
carrier search plane. In response to the threat U.S. Navy carriers
launched nearly 400 aircraft to hit stop Japanese ships. Late in the
afternoon of April 7, 1945, about 200 nautical miles north of Okinawa,
carrier planes began their bombing runs on the Yamato and her sister
ship, a destroyer named Yahagi. In the first few moments of the attack
the Yahagi went down and the Yamato was severely damaged. Within two
hours the Yamato would be struck no less than ten times before all
72,000 tons of her finally rolled over in the sea around 2:20 PM.
Three hundred crew members survived the capsizing of the Yamato and
2500 perished.
I don?t think you will find any record of ?Lang's successful mission
in sinking the Yamato?, because history does not appear to confirm his
account, though he may very well have taken part in it. You see,
perhaps disappointingly, the actual leaders of the attack on the
Yamato are known. Clark G. Reynolds Ph.D credits the actual leadership
of the attacking air group at the time of the sinking in his article,
DOWN GOES THE YAMATO, as someone other than ?C. Langley Washburn?:
?Six Torpedo Nine Avengers led by Lieutenant Thomas Stetson lined up
for a classic torpedo drop abreast of the turning behemoth. Harvey
Ewing, gunner in one of the planes, was "scared out of my wits as we
flew at a breathtaking 300 miles an hour toward the starboard side of
the ship. I threw window (foil strips) into the slipstream as fast as
I could" to foul any radar directed guns. "In quick glances out the
side windows, I could see burst of AA (anti aircraft) shells as they
exploded closer and closer to our planes."
The first four planes released their fish (torpedoes) simultaneously.
All four struck together, followed by two others. The Yamato suddenly
listed to one side, rolled over, and erupted in a huge explosion that
sent a mushroom cloud 3,000 feet into the sky. The Japanese Navy was
dead.?
YORKTOWN SINKING OF THE LARGEST BATTLESHIP
http://www.ussyorktown.com/yorktown/fries.htm
This was the group of only six Avengers that were bombing at the time
of the actual sinking, but even the initial bombing group of 43
planes, that dropped the first few bombs on the ship, were led by
someone other than Washburn. This pilot is also known and his name was
Lt. Cdr. (later Captain) Herbert Houck as seen in this Chronological
record:
IMPERIAL SHIPS
http://www.combinedfleet.com/yamato.htm
(see entry for April 7, 1945 @ 1405 hrs.)
Houck, if you don't already know, was a WWII flying Ace and somewhat
of a hero, ironically recognized for the remainder of his life in
particular for his leadership in the sinking of the Yamato:
http://www.ussyorktown.com/yorktown/houck.htm
Here is a very good article on the subject as well as some of the last
known photographs of the Yamato as it went to it?s watery grave:
USS YORKTOWN
http://www.ussyorktown.com/yorktown/battleship2.htm
Here you will find the United States Navy?s official account of the
singking of the Yamato, from the DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, NAVAL
HISTORICAL CENTER:
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
http://www.ussyorktown.com/yorktown/yamusn.htm
I would like to go on and say this though, for what it's worth - each
and every man involved in this incident (and many others like it
during WWII) were, and still are HEROES and leaders in their own
right. Every battle group had leaders and within them were many other
leaders of smaller squads and units too numerous to mention. History
(and in some cases, the media) picks and chooses the famous and
infamous by name, but in truth there were literally millions of people
whose significant contributions to World War II were never recorded
and their names were never carved in stone. I wouldn't let that fact
diminish the importance of the account you were told as the untold
stories are often much more compelling and meaningful than the ones
we've come to know in the decades since.
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
INFORMATION SOURCES
JAPANESE NAVY SHIPS
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/japan/japsh-xz/yamato.htm
YAMATO (BATTLESHIP, 1941-1945) -- IN THE "TEN-GO" OPERATION, 6-7 APRIL 1945
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/japan/japsh-xz/yamato-n.htm
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
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Yamato
Ten-go |
