WWII battleship IJN Musashi found

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Paul Allen and his yacht Octopus have been busy. They have found Yamato's sister ship the Musashi that was sunk at the battle of Leyte Gulf during WWII.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-31724995

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Musashi took more damage from torpedoes before sinking partly due to it's main 16inch side belt armour being inclined 20 degrees, which effectively increased it's thickness (on top of the anti-torpedo protection). Yamato's was vertical. And the 3rd ship Shinano that was converted to an aircraft carrier and only had a 6inch armour belt was sunk by 4 torpedoes.

They built a partial full scale replica of the Yamato for the 2005 film "Otoko-tachi no Yamato" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92jF-XzAOFY

Movie set - http://mokehana.web.fc2.com/e-photo-yamatomovie-se...



Edited for better action video clip.

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Talking of the Iowa class ships, USS Iowa and USS Wisconsin although currently loaned to museums have to be kept in a ready state and could be reactivated as per the National Defence Authorisation Act 2007, requiring the battleships be kept and maintained in a state of readiness should they ever be needed again. Congress has ordered that the following measures be implemented to ensure that, if need be, Iowa and Wisconsin can be returned to active duty:

1 Iowa and Wisconsin must not be altered in any way that would impair their military utility;
2 The battleships must be preserved in their present condition through the continued use of cathodic protection, dehumidification systems, and any other preservation methods as needed;
3 Spare parts and unique equipment such as the 16-inch (410 mm) gun barrels and projectiles be preserved in adequate numbers to support Iowa and Wisconsin, if reactivated;
4 The navy must prepare plans for the rapid reactivation of Iowa and Wisconsin should they be returned to the navy in the event of a national emergency

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That's Iowa demonstrating it's guns after it's 1984 recommisioning

another view, kaboom

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Inertiatic said:

Yep - Yamato and Mushashi were both sunk by planes. Big beasts but ultimately white elephants. Same as Bismark and Tirpitz really.

Edited by Inertiatic on Friday 6th March 19:51

Yamato was on a suicide mission on it's own, Musashi had no air cover, Bismarck was on it's own and Tirpitz was stationary in a Norwegian fjord. Repluse and PoW had no air cover. Aircraft carriers on their own or with little escort were also sunk such, Hermes, Glorious, Courageous and Ark Royal. Doesn't make them white elephants. Glorious was sunk by the big guns of the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

When used properly within a battle group they were very effective, in the Pacific, Salerno landings, Normandy. Post Pearl Harbour the USN never lost a Battleship but they operated in every theatre of the US Navy's war effort.

A big ship can carry a lot of big weapons, more Harpoon and Cruise missiles for long range precision attacks than a smaller lighter built cruiser or destroyer, but if you have a target within 20-25 miles then you do not want to be on the end of 9x16" shells hitting you twice every minute.

The Iowa's might cost a lot to run, but in terms of years of service and cost-effectiveness they are a bargain.

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You also have to remember that KGV would have had to steam at low speed (20-23knts max) or leave Rodney behind when a un-damaged Bismarck could have sped to Brest at 30. Even at max speed it was still slower than the Bismarck.

Then you have the what if scenario, of Bismarck, Scharnhost and Gneisenau heading out.

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What was in the area to fight the Bismarck - KGV (needed refuelling) and is slower and has less fire power and armour than Bismarck, Rodney very slow and hadn't had a refit for years, Ramillies very old, very slow then Repulse and Renown, the only ones fast enough but under gunned and under armoured. So what you would have if Bismarck had made it to Brest would be a 3 ship force faster and more powerful than anything we had in the area tying up resources from other theatres and severely constricting other operations in the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Pacific. Italy might have actually achieved something in the Med and the Japanese would have been a bigger threat to India and Australia in the East.





Anyway, back to Musashi.

This is a piece of Yamato class 26 inch thick armour plating, the thickest on the ship (frontal armour to main gun turrets) found at Kure Naval Base at the end of WWII and tested by the USN, the big hole was made by a 16" shell. Range would have been quote short though. Or they would probably have missed

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V8 Fettler said:

No requirement to transfer the whole Med fleet! Link was to demonstrate the RN strength in depth.

On that link there are many minesweepers and destroyers & cruisers that are on convoy escort that can not take on the Bismarck alone or en mass. The only ships listed on that link of yours are actually the same as I have already mentioned, without Ramillies.

KGV slower than the 3 German ships, 27kts
Sister ship PoW (in dry dock repair due to it's last encounter)
Repluse, fast enough but not enough firepower and thinly armoured
Nelson & Rodney, way too slow (23kt max)

Aircraft carriers
Argus, very small slow WWI era flat top usually demoted to transport duties.
Furious, ferrying aircraft to the Med/Malta
Victorious, based out of Gib but needed for many operations and if out hunting the BSG then there's nothing covering the Med, especially after Ark Royal is sunk.
Audacity, small escort carrier used for convoy duties.

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V8 Fettler said:

RN cruisers and destroyers not capable of taking on larger enemy vessels? That would have been news for the RN 1939 - 1945. Cruisers played a vital role in the destruction of the Bismarck and the Scharnhorst. You've completely ignored the "T" class boats, specifically designed to deal with enemy capital ships.

You seriously think a 6 inch or even 8 inch gunned cruiser could fight 1 one 1 with Bismarck, Sharn or Gne? That's why Norfolk and Suffolk didn't do anything in the Denmark Strait, they would stand a chance. Even in a big group they would be outranged by the guns of the German ships. They were only involved at Bismarck's end because it was only making minimum speed and was turning directly towards the RN ships.

Any by T-Class, you mean the T-Class Destroyers, the ones that weren't commissioned until late 1943.