Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Chapter 776 Discovery of the Japanese Fleet

Compared with the previous farewell parties before the Japanese Navy went on an expedition, where there was laughter and talking, this is obviously a completely different picture. At this farewell party, the officers and soldiers of the Japanese Navy were more filled with grief and sadness before death.

On the afternoon of April 6, 1945, on the Japanese Navy battleship Yamato of the Kamikaze Fleet of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, all 3,000 naval officers and soldiers gathered on the deck to listen to the captain read out the attack order sent by Admiral Toyoda Soetake, commander of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet.

Afterwards, all 3,000 Japanese naval officers and soldiers on the Japanese Navy battleship Yamato sang the national anthem and military songs, shouted "Long live the country" three times, and then weighed anchor and set sail.

Since the Shimonoseki Strait has now been blocked by mines laid by American warships, the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet had to go south along Kyushu Island via the Bungo Channel.

At 6 o'clock in the morning on April 7, 1945, the Kamikaze Fleet of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet passed through the Osumi Strait. After passing Cape Sata, the southernmost tip of Kyushu Island, Japan, the commander of the Kamikaze Fleet of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, Vice Admiral Seiichi Ito, decided to sail west at a heading of 280 degrees to avoid the search of American aircraft as much as possible, and then turn to sail to Okinawa Island after dusk.

In fact, as early as when the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Maritime Kamikaze Fleet passed through the Bungo Channel, it had already been discovered by the United States Navy's "Threadfin" and "Sticky Fish" submarines patrolling the Bungo Channel. The mission of these two United States Navy submarines was to monitor the activities of Japanese Navy warships in the Bungo Channel.

Therefore, the US Navy's "Threadfin" and "Sticky Fish" submarines did not attack the warships of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet, but quickly reported the intelligence of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet's deployment to Admiral RA Spruance, commander of the Allied Fifth Fleet in the Pacific Theater.

After receiving the report that the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet had been dispatched, Admiral RA Spruance, commander of the Allied Fifth Fleet in the Pacific Theater, immediately ordered Rear Admiral Dayo, commander of the 54th Task Force of the United States Navy, to command six battleships, seven cruisers and 21 destroyers to advance rapidly northward from the waters of Okinawa Island, in an effort to lure the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet southward as much as possible.

The Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet was deprived of effective support from the Japanese Army's shore-based aviation force, and could not quickly withdraw to the Japanese mainland. Then the United States Navy's 58th Task Force's aircraft carrier-based aircraft could be used to attack the warships of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet.

And if the carrier-based aircraft of the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy failed to destroy the Kamikaze Fleet of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, the battleships and cruisers of the 54th Task Force of the United States Navy would use the firepower of their naval guns to annihilate the ships of the Kamikaze Fleet of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet.

At the same time, Admiral RA Spruance, commander of the Allied Fifth Fleet in the Pacific Theater, ordered Vice Admiral Mitchell, commander of the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy, to prepare for battle.

After receiving the combat order, Lieutenant General Mitchell, commander of the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy, immediately led the ships of the 1st, 3rd and 4th Battalions of the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy to sail to the northeastern waters of Okinawa Island, preparing to occupy a favorable attack position.

As for the 2nd Battalion of the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy, it was not scheduled to participate in this battle because it was currently conducting water replenishment on the sea east of Okinawa Island.

At dawn on April 7, 1945, Vice Admiral Mitchell, commander of the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy, ordered 40 aircraft to search the sea north of Okinawa Island in a fan-shaped formation. The aircraft responsible for the assault mission were on standby on the deck of the aircraft carrier, ready to take off and attack as soon as they spotted the Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet.

At 8:32, a reconnaissance plane that took off from the USS Essex, an aircraft carrier of the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy, discovered the Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet sailing at a speed of twelve knots and a heading of three hundred degrees southwest of Zhenlie Island.

After receiving the news, the two seaplanes of the United States Navy that took off from the Kerama Islands and were responsible for air patrol missions immediately rushed to the waters where the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet was located to track and monitor it.

At 9:15, Vice Admiral Mitchell, commander of the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy, dispatched 16 fighter jets to track and monitor the Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet.

The United States' aircraft continued to circle outside the anti-aircraft gun range of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet warships. After overcoming the difficulties of bad weather, they always maintained contact with the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet warships, and continuously reported the position, course and speed of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet to Vice Admiral Mitchell, commander of the United States Navy's 58th Task Force.

At 12:30, American planes flew over the warships of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet. At this time, the warships of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet were arranged in a diamond formation, with the Japanese Navy's "Yamato" battleship in the center, and cruisers and destroyers around the "Yamato" battleship, traveling at a speed of 26 knots.

As a symbol of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, the giant battleship "Yamato" with a displacement of 68,000 tons was also the main target of attack by American aircraft. Facing the attack of 386 American aircraft in the air, the anti-aircraft guns on the warships in the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Maritime Kamikaze Fleet became the only means of air defense.

Of course, the five fighter planes that took off from the Japanese land airport formed the only reinforcement force for the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Maritime Kamikaze Special Attack Fleet, but these five Japanese fighter planes were quickly shot down by the American fighter planes in the air.

The first wave of attacks by the American aircraft began at 12:40. The Japanese Navy's Yamato battleship, as the main target of the American aircraft, was hit by multiple bombs and torpedoes. One of the torpedoes dropped by the American torpedo attack aircraft penetrated the outer compartment on the port side of the Japanese Navy's Yamato battleship, causing the Yamato battleship to take on serious water.

Although the Japanese Navy battleship Yamato tried to correct the tilt angle by reverse flooding and continue sailing, in the subsequent more concentrated and fierce second wave of attacks by American aircraft, a large number of torpedoes hit the port side of the Japanese Navy battleship Yamato from different directions.