Aerial image of battleship Yamato discovered

NHK Online ^ | 03 Jul 06 | Unkn

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

Oh, I agree, it's just that my point is that Toranto, Pearl Harbor, and the sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse demonstrated that they were nearly helpless against a determined air attack. And of course, it was obsolete Fairey Swordfish from Ark Royal who damaged the Bismark's steering, affectively dooming her.

[Gator101]

Imagine how it must have galled those old big-gun navy salts to see million dollar battleships done in by these newfangled flying contraptions.

BTW...if you ever wanted to get back into waterline models there is a great site for plastic and resin ship builders: http://www.steelnavy.com/

I've lurked there for years and still check it every day. Just finished up a Fletcher class destroyer last week in fact.

[Gator101]

Sorry ABG, I confused you with Artemis Webb. That steelnavy link was for him...or anybody else with an interest in modeling.

[Ready4Freddy]

You're speaking of the Graf Spee, of course, and the HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles?

The Graf Spee, with 11" guns, took out the Exeter who had only 8" guns. Didn't sink the Exeter, but she was ordered back to the Falklands, heavily damaged. The Ajax & Achilles, with 6" guns, did little damage to the Graf Spee.

The Graf Spee took refuge in the Plate Estuary, and there remains some question as to why he did so, since the ship wasn't that heavily damaged. She then returned to sea where the Captain scuttled his ship.

...Plate River (south America): 3 British cruisers took out a larger German ship.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Not many people know about the Montana Class battleships or the fact that two more Iowa class ships were partially built. These were the Illinois and Kentucky.
The bow of the partially built Kentucky ( BB-66) was used to repair the Wisconsin after she suffered a collision at sea. The Kentucky's keel was laid in 1944 but she wasn't scrapped until 1958.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The Yamato was built at great cost during the height of the War. Previous to its single engagement it had a reputation as a floating hotel for Imperial Navy brass. The Army, fliers and common Japanese had suffered terribly because of a War that the Navy was preceived to have started. By the time the Yamato set sail no one expected it to come back, few expected to even score against the Americans, and in the event it did not. Its demise probably provided US Navy fliers invaluable target practice. Japan would have been better served if it had been scuttled.

[stacytec]

Sing it with me...

"we're off, to save the day, to save the human race..."

[Gator101]

That's true.

I once heard a story that after a kamikaze hit on a US battleship the next command that came over the loudspeaker was "Sailors, man your brooms!"

(...of course I have heard the same story to describe a hit on a British carrier which had an armored flight deck)

[fso301]

[Lazamataz]

Yeah, that's big.

But how would it fare against this?

[edzo4]

who were the bad guys? I just remember rushing home after school to watch, I remember the space marines and the comet but little else

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

You're correct. Not even the most optimistic person in the Imperial Navy thought Yamato would make it back from Okinawa. I don't know if this is accurate or not, but I remember reading that she only had enough fuel to reach Okinawa, where she would beach herself and fight as a very large shore based battery. When that was no longer possible, her crew was to fight as naval infantry.

[numberonepal]

If you ever get a chance to see the Alabama in Mobile, I highly suggest it. Katrina did a number on the park, and especially the planes in the Aviation Pavillion, but the Alabama & Drum are in fine shape. I took my nephew yesterday and it was a blast. It would be better if they'd let me shoot those double 40's though.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

Unlike a few visionaries such as Nimitz and Yamamoto, before WW2, most of the admirals considered the carrier as a scout who would find the enemy fleet so the battlewagons could go in and slug it out.

[stacytec]

http://www.desslok.com/INFO/storyint.htm

As always, the The Gamilons were eliminated using everyone's favorite weapon of mass destruction, the wave motion gun!

[Tallguy]

If only Halsey had left his fast battleships back to guard San Bernardino Strait in 1944 this "what if" may have been answered.

The major role of the fast battleships was to protect the CV's from a major surface combatant like the Yamato. The thinking was that it might be possible during adverse weather conditions, or in narrow waters, to catch a carrier unready. The fast battleship, because it could keep pace with the CV's, was ideal for that role. In addition you could put a lot of AAA guns on a battlewagon to help drive off enemy aircraft.

That said, Halsey left his slow battleships to cover San Bernadino Strait, and took his fast BB's with him as insurance. Had Halsey known that the Japanese CV's posed no threat (they didn't have any aircraft embarked), he might have reacted differently.

[blam]

I saw this battleship last week. It was damaged during the Katrina hurricane but is open to the public now.

[Tallguy]

Ever see that flick with Kirk Douglas where the USS Nimitz is transported back in time to December 6th 1941?

The single worst acting job ever done by Kirk Douglas had to be "The Final Countdown". I swear he just mailed that one in.

[70times7]

That looks like an LPD (?)

[Gator101]

Yep...and if I remember correctly, the admirals at first dismissed the effectiveness of air power at Taranto and Pearl Harbor because they were surprise attacks on ships that were sitting ducks. The sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse at sea and ready for battle 3 days after Pearl Harbor helped put an end to that argument.

Of course, if your battleships were sunk at anchor at least you might have a chance to recover them.