DID THE YAMATO EVER DO ANYTHING???

This is true to an extent, but don't forget, when the USN really got into it's expansion in 1940, the thinking then was that Britain might be overwhelmed and the USN would then be required to be able to control both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, not to mention the Indian Ocean. As it eventuated, the RN required no help, except in ASW, to keep the Atlantic free of Axis naval forces. The USN was accordingly free to employ most of it's heavy units in the Pacific.

 

I will have to check my sources but do you know when they began focusing fighting ships to the Pacific? I specifically remember reading that in late 42 to early 43, something like 2 out of every 3 fighting ships were still being allocated to the Atlantic for the Germany First policy. This at a time when US naval forces were in dire need of addition ships to push up the Solomons.

I think I read that in South Pacific Destroyer by Russell Crenshaw, but It will be a few days before I can confirm where I read it. I recently moved and all my books are in boxes somewhere......

 

Thanks a bunch Jeff!

 

Probably true if you simply count naval units, but when the ratio of heavy units (i.e. warships larger than a destroyer) is considered it is probably closer to 1:1 in 1942 and by mid-1943 it began shifting in favor of the Pacific at a tremendous rate. It no doubt varied during the war, but after November, 1943, when Nimitz's long awaited Central Pacific Offensive got under way, the ratio of heavy units deployed to the Pacific to those in the Atlantic was lop-sided in favor of the Pacific. The European war was an Army affair, while the Pacific war was the Navy's show.

 

hey guys,
Kind of a dumb question about Yamato and Musashi or my nicknames for both ships, Yammer and Sashi.. they both great ships.. were can i fined any good photos of both ships?
Nikki

 

Nikki,

try here: http://tinyurl.com/ygybs85

 

Hey Joe,
Thanks for that! there both great ships! Both ships took a Good deal pf damage before sinking!
Nikki

 

These ships were a waste of precious natural resources. I don't know what I would have done instead.

 

I think the answer to the orginal question of the Yamato doing anything to contribute to the Japanese war effort is yes if you consider the resources her and her sister ship Musashi tied up.
There is no secret that these ships were respected and feared by the American Navy. If these ships had been used properly in Leyte Gulf or if they had been used in the Ironbottom Sound actions, I suspect the outcomes would have favored the Japanese.
People can argue that the aircraft carriers and submarines overshadowed the battleship for top spot all day long. Here's something to think about; what looks more menacing, a battleship or an aircraft carrier?
The only reason an aircraft carrier is considered powerful is because of it's ability to project power. It launches planes to conduct combat operations. Their shipboard armament, is almost nonexistant and would never be able to hold it's own in a ship to ship action.
The only reason a submarine is considered powerful is because it can use stealth to attack. What happens when their torpedoes are exhausted? During the war, a lot of subs were lost from depth charge or gun attacks.
The battleship, regardless of country of origin was and still is one of the most powerful types of ships ever built. I like to say that they hold the most concentrated amount of conventional floating firepower compared to anything else in the world. I will concede one thing to the carrier, it was proven how devastating they can be used when launching airstrikes.
You want an example of the battleship's worth? Look in the 1980's when President Ronald Reagan reactivated the Iowa class battleships. They can carry cruise missiles and are even more powerful at sea.
I have to say that if I had been alive during the war and was a ship's captain, I would have wanted a battleship. Wars are won and lost by the decisions made.

 

According to this website here it cost 1.7 Billion dollars to modernize and reactive the Iowa's in the 80's. Add in the cost of fuel, paying the sailors, feeding them, etc. In the end, they turned out to be a hassle. 47 sailors killed when the Iowa's number two turret exploded. How many Civilians were killed when the USS New Jersey put up a poor show shelling positions in Lebanon? The quote I heard was something along the lines of "she hit everything except her target". Firing some missiles into the desert, when frankly, another ship a third the size can fire the same missile. In the First Gulf war, the USS Missouri's anti-missile defenses caused a friendly fire incident.

You may have wanted a battleship, but for nothing more than pride. Even when reactivated in the 80's, they were to be in the role of offshore bombardment. We realized that the age of the battleship had ended, we just couldn't admit it.