The NGS took the Emperor’s comment as a criticism, and upon considering that the Second Fleet needed to be used before fuel supplies dwindled or the fleet was sunk in harbor, Admiral Soemu Toyoda and his staff ultimately decided to go ahead with their own operation, called Ten-Go Sakusen (AKA Tenichi-go sakusen, Operation Heaven Number 1) which included the Yamato. Reportedly, the Emperor inquired as to what the navy would do about the approaching Americans. On 29 March, prior to the American landings on Okinawa, the Imperial Japanese Army and the NGS briefed Emperor Hirohito on their plans for the Kikusui operations which involved the use of kamikaze aircraft against the American forces. Yet, it wasn’t until 26 March that Imperial General Headquarters ordered air attacks to be organized to oppose the Americans (p. These were followed the next day by a massive shore bombardment. 708 – 709).Ĭaptain Tameichi Hara (1967/2011), one of the IJN’s luckiest destroyer skippers, recalls that American carrier air strikes on Okinawa commenced on 23 March. Apart from the Yamato and the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, which largely comprised of what remained of the Second Fleet, a few older battleships and cruisers were still afloat, but none were ready for sea due to fuel shortages (p. The reality for the IJN was that the remaining surface forces it had were pitiful. Additionally, the Naval General Staff (NGS) contemplated launching a surface sortie with what remaining viable warships it had. With the Imperial Army assigned to the land operations, there were plans to launch a series of large kamikaze air attacks called kikusui (floating chrysanthemums) in an attempt to damage the Allied invasion fleet. As a result, the Japanese high command put the Ten (Heaven) contingency plan into motion. John Prados (1995) writes that, in what was probably its best performance, Japanese intelligence concluded that the Allies would invade Okinawa around late-March based on their analysis of Allied merchant traffic, submarine activity, and aerial reconnaissance of the Ryukyu Island chain. The Japanese were faced with the nearly impossible problem of what actions could be taken to slow or halt the American advance into the western Pacific and eventually onward to the Japanese home islands. Note: Japanese names have been rendered in the Western style of given name first followed by the family name. Japanese Intelligence, Operation Ten, and the Allied Invasion of Okinawa (Operation Iceberg) While once serving as the pride and glory of the Japanese Navy, the Yamato met her end in the traditionally stoic Japanese fashion of facing certain death in what turned out to be a completely futile gesture. What can be seen is that the battle which saw the sinking of the Yamato serves as a final note to the end of the IJN, both literally and symbolically. This post examines the final sortie of the battleship Yamato, ponders the legacy the ship left behind, and finally evaluates the utility of the operation. Unfortunately, they were up against the massive Allied naval forces approaching Okinawa. With her surface fleet and naval air forces virtually decimated through attrition from previous campaigns and battles, the IJN attempted one final, desperate push against the Allies at Okinawa with the very symbol of the navy and Japan itself, the Yamato battleship. By April of 1945, the Allied push across the Pacific had summarily turned the tide of the war against Imperial Japan. As the war moved on through 1942 to 1945, the Allied forces slowly, but surely, turned back the Axis gains. However, the IJN had banked on a short war to be decided by a decisive naval battle and were ill-suited for the war of attrition that came their way in the form of America’s industrial power. By all accounts, the Allies were in dire straits and looking for any opportunity to turn the tide on the Japanese juggernaut. In the Pacific, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was wildly successful in the six months after it struck Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. At the start of the conflict, the Axis powers were crushing virtually all resistance in their path and seemed poised to guarantee victory for themselves. World War II is filled with stories of desperation in the face of overwhelming opposition.
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