Or was It simply It's size and armament that scared the Allies without it ever actually achieving any material results?

__________________
"GARRY OWEN"-Traditional war-cry of the US 7th Cavalry.
"CURRAHEE"-War-cry of the US 506th PIR.
"Everybody thinks that they are going to get the chance to punch some Nazi in the face at Normandy-and those days are over, they are long gone"-Lt Chris Burnett

From what I know, its simply the Japanese version of the Tirpitz.

__________________
"If your gonna buy the angel s**t, you might as well go for the zombie package as well."
-George Carlin

Did it actually bust up any Allied ships?

__________________
"GARRY OWEN"-Traditional war-cry of the US 7th Cavalry.
"CURRAHEE"-War-cry of the US 506th PIR.
"Everybody thinks that they are going to get the chance to punch some Nazi in the face at Normandy-and those days are over, they are long gone"-Lt Chris Burnett

'Yamato' did fire it's main armament 'in anger' - only once, on 25th October 1944 at the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

It engaged a number of US escort carriers and destroyers off the Island of Samar. One carrier and three destroyers were sunk - but I cannot find out if the Yamato , or other Japanese units involved, did the sinking.

Still, it did do something .....

__________________
"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Have a look at this : -

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/s...z/yamato-k.htm

It must be the longest URL ever, but it makes interesting reading and there are some interesting photos of 'Yamato'.

__________________
"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Nice, Martin!

I love that ship! And I agree. It did something. At least it is a good topic for chating, isn't it?

__________________
"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun

I don't think it even scared the USN.

__________________
"Capital! We're nearly out of ammunition! Now we can get at them with the bayonet!" General Paddy Gough, 1st Sikh War

The Musashi was her sister and she REALLY didn't do a damn thing. A beautiful ship though. At least our Iowa classes were put to good use for bombardment and anti-aircraft use.
I'll tell you one thing that is even more pathetic than Musashi.
There was actually a third sister ship of Musashi and Yamato. She was called the Shinano. Laid out as as a super battleship she was finished as a super carrier in 1945. She was a massive carrier even more armored and capable than the US Essex classes.
However...she was still being fitted out and during her trial runs in which she had no torpedo bulges or fire control...she was torpedoed by a US sub and she sliped beneath the waves before even making it out of her sea trials!

__________________
Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. -- Sir Winston Churchill

Ron

A North Sea Trawler carried more armour than an Essex class! Shinano was not as capable, and never really could be given her conversion on the slips. The issue with later Japanese carriers (like Taiho) was always going to be shoddy construction coupled with unrefined and highly volatile fuel from Borneo. Inexperienced crews added to the mix, underlining the disaster likley to strike if they took a single hit: poor damage control = glug.

The utter futility of building these super-ships is apparent with Mushahi's suicide mission: after all what else was it good for? At least the Germans could threaten Arctic convoys, the Italians could cut the "all red route" but what was the IJN going to do with all that capital and manpower tied up in two ships?

Jumbo

__________________
"Capital! We're nearly out of ammunition! Now we can get at them with the bayonet!" General Paddy Gough, 1st Sikh War

Yeah i agree with that, i think the Japanese had grand ideas for there super ships...but were obviously afraid of risking them until it was absolutely pointless to even have them. I mean jeez look at Guadalcanal. The Yamato sat in Truk harbor during the whole thing being used as a command post really. They should have sent her instead of the old Kirishima classes.

BUT frankly i doubt a north sea trawler could take as much pounding as an essex class carrier...umm, unless you can proove that
Besides, is a North sea trawler even divided into water tight compartments?

Oh and also Taiho was sunk before Shinano but is that why it blew up so unexpectedly? the fuel? that makes sense.
later

__________________
Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. -- Sir Winston Churchill

No, the Musashi never fired its primary arms against another warship. No, the Yamato did not sink all if any of the ships sunk in Leyte. And yes, Japanese warships are a complete failure XD

__________________
To the German Commander-- Nuts.

-- The American Commander

Hi Chese , thank you for the ressurection of a thread that had not been used since ....2002 . Any sources about who sank who at Leyte?

__________________

Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors Gives some info. Yamato may have hit one of the CVE's with a primary but it's questionable. She also may have gotten some secondary hits on some of the "Tin Cans".

The Allies didn't know it's true armament. The admiral of the force that attacked Taffy-3 didn't know the exact size of the guns. It was a "Dr. Strangelove" scenario.

__________________
WWII Resources. Primary sources.
The Myths of Pearl Harbor. Demythologizing the attack.
Hyperwar. Hypertext history of the Second World War.
Veteran: USN, 1969-1989
http://www.hyperwar-ghq.com/ (Volunteer coordination site. Want to help?)

yes he did, he got his ass chewed by a former friend living in Orygun, Rex T. Barber. and I am speaking of the man not the ship ............ oppps

E ~

__________________
Rip it up !

According to Yamato's TROM, she probably hit CVE Gambier Bay and may have, as lwd says, hit one of the US destroyers or destroyer escorts. Her captain, however, made a bad decision when he decided to outrun US torpedoes instead of turning into them, because it took his ship out of the battle for almost an hour right during the most crucial time.

No, I don't think Yamato accomplished anything of worth for the Japanese side. Yamamoto, for some reason, was committed to the Decisive Battle doctrine and thus kept Yamato and Musashi sitting at Truk during late 1942 and 1943 waiting in vain for a chance to send them after the USN's "battle line". If high explosive shells had been manufactured for their 18-inch guns, which apparently never happened, then the two ships could have been a decisive factor in the battle for Guadalcanal by bombarding Henderson Field.

The war that those two ships were designed for was not the war that the Japanese were involved in. Both battleships should have been converted into aircraft carriers right after Midway, because it should have been apparent then that the US was not going to cooperate with the Decisive Battle idea.

the battle cruiser kongo was the japanese version of the bismark. it sank two destroyers and crippled one escort carrier at leyte gulf. it escaped numerous attacks even before leyte gulf until it finally succumbed to a US submarine.

that one really lived its life useful.

If you are talking about this quote: " YAMATO's F1M2 "Pete" spotter plane confirms that the first salvo is a hit. The carrier starts to smoke. "
The hit report was in error.
Midway was far too late.

In that regards there is an interesting article at:
http://www.navweaps.com/index_tech/tech-084.htm

A lack of 18-inch shells, was the reason, Yamato and Musashi didn't
participate in the Battle of Guadalcanal? I have wondered why Japan did
not use these two ships at Guadalcanal, it's my understanding, they used just about everything avaible.

I have two theories on the Yamato’s supposed hit on a destroyer as listed on the TROM.

Quote:

0651: A charging "cruiser" emerges from behind the smoke. YAMATO engages her from a distance of more than 10 miles and scores a hit with the first salvo. The target is seen burning before it is lost sight of.

At this time the only charging US ship should be the USS Johnston. Johnston did not receive any hits until 0730 as listed on her AAR. One possible theory is that the Johnston was seen emerging from a colomn of water put up by some shells and were mistakenly taken as a hit.

Now, I also question the times on the TROM. The next entry on the TROM claims:

Quote:

At 0654, destroyer HEERMANN fires three torpedoes at HARUNA. The torpedoes miss HARUNA, but head toward YAMATO whose crew spots their tracks to starboard. YAMATO turns away to port, steams northward for 10 miles until the torpedoes run out of fuel. Although the maneuver avoids the torpedoes, it puts YAMATO and the Force's commander, Vice Admiral Kurita out of the battle.

Bosamar.com claims this event occurred at 0754 not 0654. Similarly seven torpedoes were launched not three.

If we change the 0651 to 0751 then Yamato just opens up with her secondary batteries at this time, with a target of either Hoel or Heermann but at a distance of only 11500 yards or 6.5 miles. This leaves me with the conclusion that if the fire control was adjusted for a cruiser, the Yamato may well have been overshooting by miles. Around this time Hoel takes a few more hits from Kongo, so I deduce that the most likely possability is that Yamato mistook a hit on Hoel by Kongo as one of her own shells.

I only have my notes available at the moment and can flip through all my books at a slightly later time for further information.

__________________
"Don't one of you fire until you see the whites of their eyes! Powder is scarce and must not be wasted. Fire low! You are all marksmen and could kill a squirrel at a hundred yards. Reserve your fire and the enemy will all be destroyed! - Israel Putnam, at the Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775
"War is a conflict of great interests which is settled by bloodshed, and only in that is it different from others." - Karl von Clausewitz

According to the book Shinnano, she did have torpedo blisters. However, Cmdr Enright set his torpedo depth settings shallow, and all four hit the Shinnano right at the joint of the blister and hull, busting her open like a can opener.

__________________
"I love deadlines. I love the 'Whooshing' noise they make when they go by." - Doug Adams

That could be said with more respect to the sailors who died on them.

__________________
-Dustin

"Zey send zer hounds! zey to vill find only death!"

Why? Take a look at Savo Island, Kula Gulf, Kolombangara, or Tassafaronga. These battles attest all too well that Japanese warships were far from a complete failure. If anything doctrine and high command failed the IJN far more than the IJN failed the IGHQ.

__________________
"Don't one of you fire until you see the whites of their eyes! Powder is scarce and must not be wasted. Fire low! You are all marksmen and could kill a squirrel at a hundred yards. Reserve your fire and the enemy will all be destroyed! - Israel Putnam, at the Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775
"War is a conflict of great interests which is settled by bloodshed, and only in that is it different from others." - Karl von Clausewitz

I read somewhere that there was also a question of avalable bunker fuel. I have to look up the analysis, but a major IJN incursion into the Solomons with the Yamato and Musashi would have used up a lot of fuel, which would have impacted other vital operations.

The IJN had four BBs besides Yamato and Musashi (six if you count Ise and Hyuga but I believe they were undergoing a conversion to hybrids at the time) that were not committed to the Solomons battles. The IJN cruiser squadron at Savo was made up of Japan's four oldest CAs plus the modern Chokai and few modern CAs appear in most Solomon battles so we can't say they used everyhing available.
Don't know if fuel shortages or a desire to avoid possible attrition in non decisive battles was the motivation, Nagato, Mutsu and Yamato did sail for Midway.