![]() Shortly afterward, another bomb hit the aft shelter deck and exploded at the base of the No. An ensign briefly assumed command until a severely burned commander (the main battery gunnery officer) took charge. At 1552, Nagato took a direct hit by a 500-pound bomb, which killed her commanding officer, Rear Admiral Miki Otsuka, along with the executive officer, the radar officer, and 12 other sailors. Three waves of 592 aircraft struck Yokosuka and other targets toward Tokyo, led by 62 TBM Avengers, each armed with four 500-pound bombs, which attacked the 154 heavy anti-aircraft guns and 225 machine guns around Yokosuka harbor.Īt 1540, 60 Helldivers dove on Nagato, led by planes from Yorktown and Randolph. The raid was originally scheduled for 0400, but was delayed due to bad weather. In order to maximize underwater hull damage, the dive-bombers had orders to aim for near misses. In addition, she was heavily camouflaged with netting to include potted pine trees and other plants.Ĭommencing about 1540 on 18 July, about 100 SB2C Helldiver dive-bombers from carriers Essex (CV-9), Yorktown (CV-10), Randolph (CV-15) and Shangri-La (CV-38) attacked the NAGATO, followed by F6F Hellcats from Belleau Wood (CVL-24). Moreover, she was anchored in water that was too shallow for torpedoes. Her secondary battery was also removed and dispersed to be used in an anti-landing role at Yokosuka. Most of her anti-aircraft weapons were removed and placed on high hills around the ship. (There is a meticulously accurate full-scale replica of Nagato in the opening scene of the 1970 Pearl Harbor movie Tora! Tora! Tora! The super-battleship Yamato was commissioned on 16 December 1941 and Yamamoto shifted his flag to her in February 1942.) By the spring of 1945, Nagato had been relegated to a floating coastal defense battery to defend against landings in Sagami Wan and Tokyo Bay. Nagato was the flagship of the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Although some argued that attacking the ships was unnecessary as the Japanese navy was a spent force, Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz wanted them destroyed, and Admiral William Halsey carried out his orders.įollowing strikes by Task Force 38 carrier aircraft in the Tokyo area on 10 July, photo-reconnaissance analysis revealed Japanese battleship Nagato deep in a cove at Yokosuka. Japanese ships contributed to the anti-aircraft defenses of several major bases, several of which, especially the main naval base at Kure, were already heavily defended by shore-based anti-aircraft weapons, making air attacks on the bases a formidable prospect. ![]() By July 1945, what was left of the Imperial Japanese Navy was immobilized in Japanese ports due to lack of fuel and critical maintenance.
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