For the Empire of the Rising Sun, the end was looming large. By April 1945, US forces had relentlessly driven Japanâs once-expansive empire back to its home islands. Perched on the doorstep of Japan, American troops were dug in on the island of Okinawa, primed for an all-out invasion.
The Japanese Navy, once among the top maritime forces in the world, was now a shadow of its former gloryâcrippled, depleted, and shattered. Yet, it would not fade away without a final, defiant stand. Determined to reclaim their honor, they prepared for a bold and ferocious operation designed to make the Americans rue the day they entered the war.
Under normal circumstances, the plan would be dismissed as sheer folly: Yamato, the largest battleship ever built, boasting earth-shaking 18.1-inch main guns, was to spearhead the charge. Accompanied by the cruiser Yahagi and eight destroyers, they had just enough fuel for a one-way journey to Okinawa.
They aimed to inflict maximum damage to the US fleet in an unexpected attack, turning the tide at Okinawa. Amidst a barrage of air-borne strikes, they would charge at full throttle toward their grim destiny in the ultimate Kamikaze naval assault.
But as they surged towards their targets, the Japanese squadron was intercepted by American Task Force 58.
Inches away from achieving their twisted honor, they refused to yield. With American warplanes bearing down and the ocean erupting in fiery blasts, the Yamato and her escorts pressed on, driven by desperation in their harrowing, final gambit of the war.
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Japan lost the war when they bombed Pearl Harbor. It took some time, but their defeat was inevitable. Once US manufacturing kicked into high gear, we were cranking out airplanes, ships, ordnance, etc., whereas Japan was having its equipment and good pilots depleted during the war.
"Make America regret entering the war"? Pretty sure they attacked us at Pearl Harbor that started the whole mess.
The entire planet respects this moment in history. May the human race remember Yamato as well as they do the Spartan 300 or the Trojan horse.
Came here for Godzilla. Stayed for Yamato
Never f around with American boats đ
The courage and loyalty of the Japanese sailors, soldiers and pilots was wasted by the inability of their admirals and generals to admit that the war was lost. Their lives were literally thrown away to no strategic purpose.
The American losses at Okinawa convinced the US to use the atomic bombs. Adm. KĆsaku Aruga, the commander of Operation Ten-Go opposed the operation as a waste of ships, men, and materiel. But, as was required, he commanded the Yamato. When he realized that the Yamato was loss, he called off the Operation and told the other ships to save themselves.
Don't start nothin', won't be nothin'. Sincerely, the United States military. Semper Fi đșđČđșđČđșđČ
Wouldnât it have been interesting if the Yamato had managed to close the distance with the Wisconsin?
Unbelievable that approximately 75 million people — military and civilians, from every part of the world — died because of the arrogance and greed of a handful of leaders in Germany and Japan.
Idiotlogically rigid. No doubt they would waste millions of lives on the home island unless snapped out of it by splitting uranium
that sea monster on the bottom??
The largest Aircraft carrier was 69000 tons The Yamamoto was 72000. A battle ship bigger than an Aircraft carrier. And yet. It didn't sink a single ship.
The Yamato was secretly given enough fuel to return to Japan đź bet casual viewers didn't know that but it didn't matter in the end
The Yakamoto was a glorious ship
Iâm amazed by the mystique of this poorly equipped ,outdated ship. It had minimal impact on a war where itâs designed use never happened. It was not a tragic figure of heroic proportions but dream of a world that passed her by.
TennĆheika Banzai
Youtube has disabled 720p downloading, they suck ASS. Please change to Dailymotion.
How and where the hell you get this footage?
There's a great movie on that tragedy called Otoko Tachi no Yamato. Worth seeing.
I believe the two ships were extremely overated with most of her systems unproven especially ship to ship combat. Would like to know more on accuracy and reliability of guns, firing systems, powerplants, electrical systems ect. impressive on paper, but we know how that goes in the real world.
It's honestly a waste of resources and men with such an impossible task. No air cover! What do you expect?
What a Waste of EverythingâŠ
Amazing how one particular phrase here or there can pound home the extent of the horrors of combat:
"…vacuum tubes shattering from concussive forces, rendering radar equipment unusable."
Soldiers and Sailors blinded, deafened, and torn apart, and all the technology of battle destroyed,
and still war rages on, unsatiated…
The first bomb to hit Yamato was landed by naval aviator Francis Ferry. After the war he became a teacher, and was the Dean of Boys at Carlmont High School in Belmont, CA. He appears in a video on YouTube which you can find by doing a search on his name. There was a story in a local newspaper a few years ago about him reaching his 100th birthday.
Love your channel but the title is kind of click bait. In reality the Japanese werenât deluded enough to think Yamato was going to do anything except get the crap blown out of it and if lucky take a few Americans with them. The captain and probably whole crew knew this was nothing but a suicide mission.
Ridiculous!
Japan had a small advantage in the navy, but in fact they were never as strong as the others were weak until the USA entered the war.
They lost the war when they attacked Pearl Harbor, they should have waited for the USA to attack them
The Zuikaku, the Ryu Sheung Sheung, the Chitose, the Chiyoda, the Yamato, etc., all sail out knowing they will be sunk, but in the American movie, the foolish Japanese soldiers believe they can reach Okinawa and destroy the enemy.
I don't remember whether it was the History Channel or National Geo, but the captain in the drama was portrayed as a âHATABOUâ from the âOsomatsu-kunâ manga, and I was embarrassed.
I was troubled by the way he was portrayed as if he was forced to work as a captain by a child.
I suggest you watch Toho's movie âUnited Fleetâ (1981) when it is translated some day.
No lines like âFor the Emperor ă»ă»ă»ă»â or âHe's an American soldier, but he's braver than I imagined.â
Not all of it is historical fact, but it's a movie from the Japanese point of view.
There are admonitions in the movie that were said at the beginning of the war in historical fact, not fiction
If you fight, your country will die. If you don't fight, your country will die. But to perish without fighting is the true destruction of a people.
By General Nagano
President Roosevelt of the United States has died of illness. At that time, the condolences expressed by the Japanese government via the Alliance News Agency's English-language broadcast for overseas audiences surprised the American people.
He said, âI must admit that the American side has the upper hand today because of President Roosevelt's leadership, which was very effective. Therefore, I understand that the passing of President Roosevelt is a great loss to the American people. I hereby express my deepest condolences to the American people.â
The Japanese government's condolences shocked Thomas Mann, a German writer who was living in exile in the United States at the time. In fact, Hitler issued a statement in response to Roosevelt's death in Germany as well.
Roosevelt will go down in history as the instigator of the expansion of the current war into World War II and, moreover, as the foolish president who strengthened his greatest opponent, the Bolshevik Soviets.â
These contrasting condolences left Thomas Mann with no choice but to speak out in a radio broadcast to his native Germany.
In Japan, a country of the Orient, there still exists chivalry and a sense of human decency. There is still a reverence for death and for the great. This is the great difference between Germany and Japan.
When she was sinking, the survivors in the water sang the national anthem
Largest corral reef lol
The Yamato class, the greatest targets ever built! Even in a surface engagement, the two ships would have been overwhelmed by the USN battleline. They were better than the HMS Hood, which blew up in its first real combat.
I'm glad their was a big red circle around the massive battleship. Otherwise I wouldn't of spotted it on the thumbnail đ