This is the massive,Japanese battleship:Yamoto.
It was the biggest battleship ever built,but it hardly saw any action in the war.Indeed,I would say her major contribution,was her participation in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Here,the Yamoto was involved in shelling the US fleet,and had the Japanese realised what they were facing,it could have turned into,a much needed Japanese victory.
As it was,the Japanese admiral in command here,thought he was facing a much stronger enemy force,and decided to pull out.
The admiral was severely rebuked for this,but the Americans managed to put up fierce resistance,which convinced and decieved the Japanese.
After the battle,the Yamato mainly docked in base,as there was hardly any fuel for the ship to carry out operations.Indeed,crew morale began to suffer from the lack of operations.
As the Allies closed in on the home Japanese islands,the kamikaze threat increased,although most were shot down,it was still a highly dangerous weapon.The few that did get through,caused tremendous damage and casualties.
So was the same hope for the Yamato,on her final mission.
She was detailed to attack the American landings at Okinawa,but with only fuel for one trip,the ship's orders were to beach herself and be used as a coastal battery.
It was a humiliating mission for the Yamato.
However,en route,the Japanese force was detected and intercepted by the American carrier force,which launched 280 aircraft to finish off the Yamato on 7 April 1945.
It was a furious battle,but the result was never in doubt.After being hit by several torpedoes and bombs,the giant battleship began to capsize,and then the ship's magazine blew up.
The resulting explosion was tremendous,and there were not many survivors from the 2,000+ crew.I think only about 200 managed to successfully abandon ship.
I had posted a great video on that battle itself on one of my blogs,but sadly,I can't find it on this one.
Still,at least there was photographs of the doomed ship.
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