Posted on Sep 22, 2016
Sinking The WW2 Greatest Supership Yamato | Greatest Naval Disaster | Military Documentary
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WWII World War Two
Military History
Japan
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She wasn't the greatest though. Her sister Shinano was converted from a battleship to an aircraft carrier and surpassed Yamato and Musashi in size and weight. On her maiden voyage in 1944, she was hit with six torpedoes from USS Archerfish. Initially the green crew were able to make good their escape, but an hour or two later, the damage control efforts got out of control and Shinano succumbed to her injuries and sank. She is the largest warship sunk in combat and the largest ship - period - to be sunk by a submarine.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel it is sad that these proud old ships have outlived their usefulness in the modern age. They were beautiful and imposing. Love Battleships.
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PO3 Donald Murphy
Actually, their armor is proof against virtually anything. Don't know if you remember/recall, but a Kamikaze crashed Missouri at point blank range and all it did was scrape the paint. The largest non-friendly anti-ship missile can't penetrate their armor. And of course, they have four CIWS guns onboard to keep the missiles away. And as the Syrians found out in 1983, if you're where the Gunner's Mate says you are, you're getting a jam-proof 16 inch shell.
From a recruiting standpoint, they were the ultimate. People joined in droves to be onboard one or get the chance to. I remember Navy Times having a photo shoot on them virtually every issue. And the big thing when I was in, was surface sailors reenlisting from inside the gun barrels.
From a recruiting standpoint, they were the ultimate. People joined in droves to be onboard one or get the chance to. I remember Navy Times having a photo shoot on them virtually every issue. And the big thing when I was in, was surface sailors reenlisting from inside the gun barrels.
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PO3 Donald Murphy
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel - From a Cold War perspective, the Iowa's were dead cheap. The reactivation cost was slightly cheaper than a Perry Class Frigate. The US Navy had planned on an invasion of Japan so Washington Navy Yard had tons of shells and barrel sleeves. So ammo procurement wasn't an issue. Vietnam and Korea didn't use up anything near what people speculated. At 36 - 39 knots, they were relatively fast. STILL. The removal of all 40mm and 20mm handling and ammo rooms reduced the weight by just over 10%. Removing four of the twin 5 inch turrets also helped. The engines were then modified to bring them up to modern fuel standards which in turn made the entire ship very light. Putting 32 Tomahawk, 16 Harpoon and 4 CIWS on board made barely a dent in the overall weight. They were incredibly trim ships.
In a weird, perverse way, they were also a known threat. Everyone wanted to kill one. So the Soviets spent their every waking hour following them, monitoring, testing, etc, which left the rest of the ocean open for us to do everything else. We knew where every major Soviet warship would be; following a SAG. The Surface Action Group was a John Lehman invention where a battleship would be sent to a "show the flag" hotspot area where it was too dangerous to be left alone, but overkill to send a carrier. So the SAGs (two on the West coast, two on the East coast) would be built around an Iowa Class battleship, a cruiser, two destroyers and an SSN. The unit would then go where needed without having a carrier. Prior to Desert Storm, the one weapon the Soviets feared more than anything was Tomahawk and an Iowa had 32 of 'em.
From a defensive stand point, virtually the whole ship was proof against the 100 lb warhead of an Exocet. Even a dud Harpoon failed to make a scratch on one of 'em. And you can't jam a 16 inch shell. So 2000 lb of explosive made a big impression on the Syrians back in 1983. An IED like that which damaged USS Cole would have been useless against an Iowa. Missouri I believe, ran over a mine in the Persian Gulf and it did nothing. So they were value for money assets. And in my day (1980's) everyone wanted to be onboard one more than anything. Hell, Cher even filmed one of her videos on board New Jersey I believe.
In a weird, perverse way, they were also a known threat. Everyone wanted to kill one. So the Soviets spent their every waking hour following them, monitoring, testing, etc, which left the rest of the ocean open for us to do everything else. We knew where every major Soviet warship would be; following a SAG. The Surface Action Group was a John Lehman invention where a battleship would be sent to a "show the flag" hotspot area where it was too dangerous to be left alone, but overkill to send a carrier. So the SAGs (two on the West coast, two on the East coast) would be built around an Iowa Class battleship, a cruiser, two destroyers and an SSN. The unit would then go where needed without having a carrier. Prior to Desert Storm, the one weapon the Soviets feared more than anything was Tomahawk and an Iowa had 32 of 'em.
From a defensive stand point, virtually the whole ship was proof against the 100 lb warhead of an Exocet. Even a dud Harpoon failed to make a scratch on one of 'em. And you can't jam a 16 inch shell. So 2000 lb of explosive made a big impression on the Syrians back in 1983. An IED like that which damaged USS Cole would have been useless against an Iowa. Missouri I believe, ran over a mine in the Persian Gulf and it did nothing. So they were value for money assets. And in my day (1980's) everyone wanted to be onboard one more than anything. Hell, Cher even filmed one of her videos on board New Jersey I believe.
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