Posted on 03/04/2015 3:37:21 PM PST by mojito
Sunk without trace in what some historians consider the greatest naval battle ever fought, the mightiest battleship ever built has been found off the Philippines by one of the world’s wealthiest men.
Paul Allen, the multibillionaire Microsoft co-founder, on Tuesday posted photographs of the wreck of the Musashi, a second world war Japanese battleship that, with its sister-ship the Yamato, was the largest and most heavily-armed warship ever launched.
“WW2 Battleship Musashi sank 1944 is FOUND,” Allen announced on Twitter, beneath a ghostly underwater photograph of the mammoth vessel’s rusting, coral-encrusted bow clearly bearing the chrysanthemum crest of the Japanese imperial family.
Other pictures taken on the floor of the Sibuyan Sea by a team from the Octopus, Allen’s luxury yacht and undersea exploration vessel, showed one of the warship’s enormous anchors and a heavily encrusted valve captioned: “RIP crew of Musashi, approximately 1,023 lost.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
My grandfather was in that battle. He never talked about it though. I only learned the history after reading up on his ship.
If I remember right, the Japanese intended to beach it and use it as artillery.
Either it or the Yamato got hit earlier by a single torpedo from an American sub and almost sank. The Japanese put it in dry dock and corrected a serious flaw in it’s armor’s design.
He’s rich and apparently he can hold his breath for hours!
Built in Japan and tested by the US Navy.
testing found a flaw
Musashi and Yamato had a sister ship, the Shinano. Shinano was converted to an aircraft carrier while under construction. It was the largest aircraft carrier built during World War II. An American submarine sank her 10 days after she was commissioned. U.S. intelligence did not know she existed. The American submarine commander was not believed when he first reported what he sank. There is a good book on that.
Billy Mitchell proved the battleship obsolete in the 1920’s. It took the death of over one hundred thousand sailors from Germany, Italy, Great Britain, the United States France and Japan to validate his point. The “battleship” admirals were a stubborn lot. Today “seagull” drones launched hundreds of miles away no longer than a foot but packed with over a pound of C4 plastique and directed to target by satellite or other devices have similarly made the megacarrier obsolete. Hopefully the carrier admirals won’t be as stubborn as their predecessors.
“If I remember right, the Japanese intended to beach it and use it as artillery.”
Yeah, I think it was a case of not enough fuel to get back to Japan.
Awesome!
Paul Allen’s Octopus is one of the largest private yachts in the world. It’s a real beauty.
Most of the Japanese fleet that was sunk remains untouched to this day.
Here is a link with pictures from Chuuk (Truk) lagoon, where the largest total tonnage of ships were sunk in a naval battle: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2335607/Worlds-biggest-ship-graveyard-Tropical-waters-South-Pacific-hide-haunting-wreckage-World-War-II-battle-left-60-Japanese-warships-rusting-lagoon-floor.html
The Japanese used the Lagoon as a logistics hub. the entrance was blocked and the ships were sunk like shooting fish in a barrel.
Your grand father was a witness and participant in THE Navy’s greatest victories. The heroism of small “tin cans” destoyers, pilots and others who fought “above their head” is a stunning story. You could not write fiction as dramatic.
I recommend “The Last Stand of The Tin Can Sailors” for a good account of this battle.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Stand-Sailors-Extraordinary/dp/0553381482
They can find a ship sunk over 70 years ago but can’t find Hillary’s e-mails. Yup!
Not one of those sailors flinched from their duty even though they knew the odds of survival were slim.
That was the Yamato on its way to Okinawa.
Vindicates Billy Mitchell ....
Or Obama’s College Records.
I think Battleships would have done OK if they had adequate air cover. Aircraft carriers on the other hand could be turned into burning wrecks by a single bomb.
Did we lose a single battleship after Pearl Harbor?
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