IJN Yamato

[carman1877]

there was already one or two posts about the Yamato but those were about what was better. I am asking what you think about the ship.

where the 18 inch guns impractical?

I dont know if you ever noticed but it has 2 tunnels near the back where small boats can come out and be lowered to the ocean. and the planes that can be launched off huge catapults.

some people think that it was a waste of steel but I dont think so. I believ that it could have taken out many ships, but it was sent on a suicide mission, so well never find out. also it didn't even sink to a day after it was attacked.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE YAMATO? waste of steel, or the best ship ever.

as always pictures and sites welcome.

 

[nevidimka]

I think it was a great ship, but it was sent on a suicide mission. It should have been sent into action much earlier when Japan had the chance. Plus the ship didnt have adequate AA cover from any other ships as it was alone.

 

[carman1877]

one small problem that could have hurt it was that in order to fire its main guns they had to evacuate that part of the weather deck. this means some AA guns would have to be unmanned. also the main guns could fire anti-aircraft shells but i dont know if they did duting the last battle.

 

[kev 99]

It and Musashi, would of been pretty damn powerful if the Japanese ever got it into a surface engagement, trouble is this didn't happen until Leyte Gulf which was to late to affect much of anything.

The resources spent on them would of been far better used on more aircraft carriers, or if the Japanese displayed more aggressive intent for their surface combatants; a greater number of smaller battleships around the 35,000 - 45,000 tonnes range.

Overall for the use the Japanese got out of them they were a complete waste of resources.

 

[Wooki]

What I find fascinating about the Yamato is the blunt nosed rounds developed by the IJN in the early 1920's. This allowed IJN vessels to have a higher hit probability by increasing the overall area in which a shell could land and still achieve a hit on the target.

For example: The blunt nose shell falls 70 (edit: Shell diameters) short at an angle of 25 degrees. The supercavitating action with the water corrects the alignment of the shell and it drives into the target beneath the water line.

This was poo hooed by American specialists after the war, but has since been found to be spot on and is (in fact) used by the USA today to defeat mines from helicopters (although I am not sure if the inventor of that technology knew the IJN had preceded him by nearly 80 years).

So, this shell made the 18 inch gun adn the associated optics of the Yamato extremely deadly, as the impact of the shell beneath the waterline would have been a KE hit that a torpedo bulge would not have been able to resist as well as it would a torpedo hit.

Why the vessels of the class were not used more aggressively is a mystery.

cheers

w

 

[KonTim]

Maybe those "giants" were not be used in an more aggressive way because they were too "vulnerable" in aspect of moral and prestige that Japanese Nany afraid of loose them.

 

[alexsa]

While a strong design it had its weakneses that may have been a factor if they ever got involved in a ship to ship duel. The seconary armament was flawed given the 155mm turrets were taken from the Mogami class cruiser when they were upgunned but the armour was never thickened to match the rest of the armour on the ship. It also meant that the vesel needed additional duel purpsoe medium caliber guns for AA with the associated weight penalty

In addiiton given the configuration the blast of the main gus was such that AA armament was covered by light armour shields which would restict visibility in local AA defence. Interestingly the British 18" designs planned for the 20's all all main armament in the forward part of the ship with secondary guns mainly located ed aft out of the blast area.