The Yamato: Rise, Fall & Legacy in World War II Combat 

I know that's fine, but the ship existed, so why not make a video about it

What ships did Yamato sink? Yamato obtained three 1st- salvo 18" hits on U.S.S. Johnston from just over 20,000 yards. Johnston was fatally damaged by the hits and eventually sunk. Yamato also obtained one 1st- salvo 18" hit on U.S.S. Gambier Bay from just under 22,000 yards from a six- gun salvo which was aimed entirely by the ship's Type 22 radar because of a lack of a visual to the target until about a minute after opening fire. Gambier Bay was crippled from the hit and was slowed, leading to her sinking later. Yamato also dropped two 18" shells right alongside U.S.S. White Plains from just over 34,000 yards. One of them exploded and the damage took White Plains out of front- line service for the rest of the war. This was gunnery unequalled by any other capital ship during the war. By comparison, none of the Iowa class BBs ever obtained a main battery hit on any vessel of destroyer size or larger during WW2. U.S.S. Massachusetts was firing at a stationary target off Casablanca, U.S.S. Washington bombarded Kirishima from short right down to point blank range at 2nd Guadalcanal, and the vast majority of rounds from the U.S. battleline at Surigao Strait were straddles- and not hits as originally believed (the wrecks of both Fuso and Yamashiro have been explored. From a gunnery standpoint, both ships are essentially intact and were sunk primarily by torpedo attack from U.S. destroyers). Having said that, I agree with you that the construction of Yamato represented a net loss to Japan. That's largely true of all the post- treaty battleships in WW2, but of Yamato far more than the others.

@@manilajohn0182 Thank you for the agreement and the perfect comment

Ahh The Yah..ma..doe.

@@manilajohn0182 Perfect comment and thank you for the favor

It's a matter of opinion, but these big ships certainly served to present the strength of the country

But of course it was one of the biggest ships in Japan

"Big" doesn't mean a goddamn thing; what?! ..yeah, they were heavy; fat; and, sported not the highest caliber; but, the largest diameter guns. They too, were restrictive; both physically; and, by human. I got a lot of respect for all navies; axis' & allied alike; incl. the IJN & JMSDF. But, the Yamato(s) were held in the rear almost the entire war; hence "Hotel Yamato". I'll bet, the crews aboard the wartime Kongo(s) despised the crews aboard the 'biggest..'. Even today; like the RMS Titanic; they two get high praise; and, for 'absolutely' nothing.

@@chrismulligan6987 I don't think it's absolutely worth it, but I respect your opinion

In the context of the war as a whole, I agree with you. The Yamato class did very little to justify the expense of manpower and resources in their construction. That, however, is largely true of all of the post- treaty battleships- only three of which (King George V, Duke of York, and Washington) can be positively said to have sunk another capital ship. One of the reasons for this was the unexpected impact of naval air power on capital ship deployment throughout the war. Another was the reluctance of the senior leadership of some navies (the Imperial Japanese Navy being one) to commit irreplaceable ships to combat. All this being said, the fact still remains that the Yamato class battleships were- by far- the most powerful battleships ever constructed. No other capital ship adequately compares to them. They simply went unused to an appreciable degree- and that's not the fault of the design. Cheers...

@@manilajohn0182 Yes, I agree that it was underutilized.