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US billionaire Paul Allen discovers wreck of Japan's biggest warship Musashi
Guardian/AFP ^ | 3/4/2015 | Unattributed

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 ...


TOPICS: History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: australia; battleofleytegulf; billionnaires; godsgravesglyphs; japan; musashi; paulallen; philippines; sibuyansea; usnavy; visayasislands; worldwareleven; ww2; yamato
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Good article discusses the Musashi and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, with some interesting photos too.
1 posted on 03/04/2015 3:37:21 PM PST by mojito
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To: mojito

My grandfather was in that battle. He never talked about it though. I only learned the history after reading up on his ship.


2 posted on 03/04/2015 3:47:10 PM PST by lodi90
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To: mojito

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.


3 posted on 03/04/2015 3:47:12 PM PST by yarddog (Romans 8:38-39, For I am persuaded.)
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To: mojito

He’s rich and apparently he can hold his breath for hours!


4 posted on 03/04/2015 3:52:29 PM PST by relictele (Principiis obsta & Finem respice - Resist The Beginnings & Consider The Ends)
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To: mojito

Built in Japan and tested by the US Navy.


5 posted on 03/04/2015 3:54:07 PM PST by MeganC (You can ignore reality, but reality won't ignore you.)
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To: MeganC

testing found a flaw


6 posted on 03/04/2015 3:57:34 PM PST by FreeAtlanta (Liberty or Big Government - you can't have both.)
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To: mojito

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.


7 posted on 03/04/2015 3:59:37 PM PST by forgotten man
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To: mojito

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.


8 posted on 03/04/2015 4:00:18 PM PST by allendale
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To: yarddog

“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.


9 posted on 03/04/2015 4:00:24 PM PST by PLMerite (Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
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To: mojito

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.


10 posted on 03/04/2015 4:00:36 PM PST by BeauBo
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To: mojito

http://www.combinedfleet.com/musashi.htm

20 torpedo hits won’t exactly buff out.


11 posted on 03/04/2015 4:01:08 PM PST by Snickering Hound
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To: lodi90

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


12 posted on 03/04/2015 4:02:53 PM PST by llevrok (I fear the US government more than I do al Qaeda)
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To: mojito
They can't recover the Yamato yet.

After all, there are PLANS for her. . .

13 posted on 03/04/2015 4:06:24 PM PST by Salgak (Peace through Superior Firepower. . . .)
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...

14 posted on 03/04/2015 4:06:38 PM PST by SunkenCiv (What do we want? REGIME CHANGE! When do we want it? NOW!)
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To: mojito

They can find a ship sunk over 70 years ago but can’t find Hillary’s e-mails. Yup!


15 posted on 03/04/2015 4:11:08 PM PST by Don Corleone ("Oil the gun..eat the cannoli. Take it to the Mattress.")
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To: llevrok
Just finished that book. Fantastic read!

Not one of those sailors flinched from their duty even though they knew the odds of survival were slim.

16 posted on 03/04/2015 4:19:42 PM PST by colorado tanker
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To: PLMerite

That was the Yamato on its way to Okinawa.


17 posted on 03/04/2015 4:21:00 PM PST by Fred Hayek (The Democratic Party is now the operational arm of the CPUSA)
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To: mojito

Vindicates Billy Mitchell ....


18 posted on 03/04/2015 4:27:36 PM PST by SkyDancer (I Was Told Nobody Is Perfect But Yet, Here I Am ...)
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To: Don Corleone

Or Obama’s College Records.


19 posted on 03/04/2015 4:34:06 PM PST by Kickass Conservative (If you think the Mulatto Marxist is bad, just wait until the Menopausal Marxist shows up.)
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To: mojito

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?


20 posted on 03/04/2015 4:37:38 PM PST by yarddog (Romans 8:38-39, For I am persuaded.)
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