In the history of the navy, there are two largest battleships, Yamato and Musashi, their appearance is a wonder in the history of the navy, and their fall carries a kind of fatalistic inevitability.
Battleship Yamato.
As one of the largest battleships in human history, let's first talk about the basic data parameters of this type of battleship, take the second ship of the Yamato-class battleship "Musashi" as an example: its standard displacement is 64,000 tons, and the full load displacement is 72,809 tons; The length of the ship is 263m, and the width is 389m, full load draft 1086m；The maximum output is 153,000 horsepower, the maximum speed is 27 knots, the endurance is 7,200 nautical miles 16 knots, and the establishment is 2,500 people; It is equipped with 3 triple 45 times the diameter 460mm main gun, 2 triple 60 times the diameter 155mm secondary guns (2 are removed after modification), 12 twin 127mm anti-aircraft guns (6 are added after modification), 45 triple 25mm anti-aircraft guns, 21 single 25mm anti-aircraft guns (140 additional guns after modification), 2 twin 132mm anti-aircraft machine guns, 7 seaplanes (2 catapults).
In terms of data alone, the battleship Musashi is slightly better than some modern aircraft carriers of major powers. From the perspective of the time, Japan had the strength and the need to build such a large battleship, and later generations believed from the perspective of God that only 2B could build such a thing, and in the context of that time, it cannot be said how much Yamato was ahead of the world trend, at least at that time.
Japanese battleship Nagato.
After World War I, all countries in the world saw the incomparable terrifying power of battleships from the Battle of Jutland, so they planned to build giant ships, and Japan also accumulated a lot of experience in shipbuilding, and battleships such as Nagato were launched at this time, and at this time the biplane could not even carry a bombshell, who could predict the development of naval aviation in the future?
At that time, when Yamato was built, there was already a lot of opposition in Japan, and a handful of people in the Admiralty said that this thing was rubbish, and it was a big stupid thing. However, because there were still a large number of officers and men of the old navy who were superstitious about the power of the cannons of giant ships, claiming that no battleship in history had been sunk by aircraft, and that Yamamoto's theory of naval aviation was too radical and empty talk. You must know that the state apparatus has inertia, and even the United States has launched Iowa and the follow-up Montana-class, after all, the aircraft carrier has not been tested in actual combat.
Battleship Iowa.
Speaking of which, one of the reasons why the Japanese Navy is obsessed with giant ship artillery comes from the 1922 Washington Naval Agreement, and everyone does not want to fight the arms race, so they can produce with peace of mind. The ratio between the US and Japanese navies was 5:3, and Japan was greatly dissatisfied, and Kato Kanji, the representative of the navy, even shouted with tears: "The war against the United States began today." However, if this agreement is not signed and the United States is allowed to build ships, what level is the United States, what level is Japan, the United States can surpass the total amount of Japanese steel production every year, and Japan can only eat dirt in the back when it engages in an arms race with the United States.
In 1939, the United States and Japan were contrasting in strength.
So, what you think is a naval treaty is the shame of the Showa boy being forced to sign 5:3, but in fact the naval treaty is the imperial waste After seeing it, he breathed a sigh of relief, and felt that he could finally take a breath of relief.
At the time of the signing of the treaty, the size of the U.S. Navy battleships was as follows: 2 Wyoming-class, 2 New York-class, 2 Nevada-class, 2 Pennsylvania-class, 3 New Mexico-class, 2 Tennessee-class, 4 Colorado-class ships under construction from 1917 to 1920, and 6 new battlecruisers Lexington-class. If no treaty had been signed, the size of the U.S. Navy's battleships in 1922 would have been 17 ships of the 7th class, and 6 ships of the 1st class of battlecruisers, for a total of 23 ships. Among them, 16-inch guns 1 class 4 ships.
And what about the Imperial Navy? King Kong class: King Kong, Kirishima, Haruna, Hiei; Fuso Class: Fuso, Yamashiro, Ise Class: Ise, Hinata; Nagato class: Nagato, Mutsu. Among them, Mutsu is under construction, 2 Kaga and 4 Amagi-class are under construction. If the treaty is not signed, the best case scenario for the IJN (English abbreviation for the Imperial Japanese Navy) in 1922 will be 3 ships of the 7 classes of battleships and 2 ships of the 6 classes of the battlecruisers, for a total of 13 ships. The only advantage is probably the 410-mm guns, possibly 3 class 5 ships.
The Kongo-class battleship Haruna.
Doesn't seem like a big deal, right? But in fact, the problem is bigger. As a British foreign trade ship, the Kongo-class carried a 14-inch gun but only 8 inches of armor belt, and the Fuso-class has always had problems as an experimental ship, such as the rudder design is not suitable for the hull, resulting in the stability of the Fuso ship is unique among the battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
In general, it is quite difficult to maintain a straight line of sailing, and when turning 180 degrees, the ship will stop at a sudden speed drop. For example, although it has 12 356 mm guns, the firepower is better than that of the battleships of the great powers, but because the main gun's brake and retreat machine uses water pressure power, if the salvo ship can not supply enough steam pressure, it will make the brake and retreat machine return to the position too slow, so the battleship's shooting technique is to use 2 main guns to achieve the best efficiency by cross-firing. Two of the 6 turrets are in the middle of the hull, resulting in the heavy armor belt defense part extending too long, the space for transformation is narrow, the artillery will have an impact on the superstructure and interfere with each other when firing, and the gun ** wind will cover the whole ship when the main gun is fired in a salvo.
So in the real sense, those who can go to the battle line are 7 ships of the 4th level. The navy is the branch of the armed forces that best reflects the disparity in national strength in the 20 th century. Around 1920, in order to meet the tide of naval competition, the United States started construction of 4 battleships and 6 battle cruisers in one go.
The shipyards of the Philadelphia shipyards of the United States during World War II.
In the face of this desperate disparity in national strength, the Japanese did not think about how to make a living, integrate the resources of Northeast China, Inner Mongolia, North China, and the Korean Peninsula, and take advantage of the international situation to make a fortune in a hurry, but how to deceive the 100-year-old comrade of US imperialism by not emphasizing martial virtues.
The only difference is that some people want to defeat the United States in a hollow mind, while some people vainly try to sneak attack and force the United States to draw with them, and the typical representative is Yamamoto Isoroku, who clearly pointed out: Victory in the early stage is not the goal, but a bargaining chip, and it is a condition for promoting US-Japan peace talks.
The heavier the ship, the better the protection, and the larger the caliber of the artillery, this is not a proportional increase in power, the power of 406 caliber artillery and 305 caliber artillery is very different, and four 30,000-ton ships may not be able to beat one 70,000-ton one. Therefore, Japan has to build a 70,000-ton monster to compete with the Pacific Fleet of the US imperialists.
Scene of the battleship Yamato being attacked by carrier-based aircraft.
So it seems to me that the Yamato-class, and all these superships on the drawings, are the product of a car that goes crazy from the driver to the passengers and hangs the throttle in 6th gear on the downhill road. The tragedy of the Yamato-class is also doomed, and its encounter is very in line with nihilism, unrealistic right-wing war fanaticism, thinking that the 20-kilometer Jiusan Mine will beat the rice animal fleet to the ground, and then Yamato will lead the Showa warship to attack 800 sea eagles and 3,000 magnified forces, and use 460 heavy artillery long-range regiments to destroy the remnants of the rice animals.
But they forgot that they had no night combat equipment and radar to work with; Forget that Jiusan Lei's fragile gyroscope simply cannot withstand the impact of entering the water at combat speed; Forget that it has a maximum range of 460 and 42 km, but it simply does not have a matching fire control radar and observation configuration. I forgot whether I could withstand the financial pressure brought by the three super warships and related supporting facilities.
In 1937, Japan's industrial output was $6.4 billion, and the United States' industrial output was $64.5 billion. Under the circumstance that the industrial output value is less than one-tenth of the national strength of the US imperialists, the Showa boy only remembers the shame of being suppressed by the Americans, so he must give the US imperialism a little color, and pathologically feel that he will definitely be able to fight.
Captain Toshihei Inoguchi.
For example, Toshihei Inoguchi, the captain of the "Musashi", knew that the air force was already the protagonist, and the basic air supremacy of the IJN had been completely lost, but he did not conduct air defense training in Musashi, but engaged in kendo, judo, and bushido. When they found out that the Americans were overwhelmed with planes, they felt that it was really unfair and shouted that they had the ability to bomb the battleships. On the contrary, the two ships "Ise" and "Hyuga" worked hard to coordinate air defense and move, and since 1943 they have escaped many times, and finally sink in their home port.
And the thoughts, feelings, and operational ideas of people like Toshihei Inoguchi are the most incredible, because they have turned war from a science into a metaphysics.
Even if the Combined Fleet felt that it would certainly not be able to defeat the US imperialists, it would at least show the world a kind of Japanese self-confidence, and this self-confidence was at least on the two ships "Yamato" and "Musashi" that could be seen and touched. However, from the subsequent historical itinerary, we have never seen what kind of small shock Japan these naval flowers gave to the world, and they only used the simplest - bragging to defeat the United States. The Yamato Hotel and the Musashi Hotel are not called for nothing.
Before the bombing and sinking of Nazi Germany's battleship Tirpitz, it was a thorn in the side of the British The picture shows the battleship Tirpitz anchored in a Norwegian harbor.
It is said that these two giant ships should be their own superior forces, and they should take the initiative to attack and crush the US imperialism while the naval aviation is still not too slippery, and as a result, these two giant ships have completely become a nest fleet, neither of which exists in the fleet, but the kind of lying nest that squatted on Liugong Island at the end of the Beiyang Navy and did not pose any threat to the Japanese fleet at all. It was able to contain so many British troops with one ship, and finally it took time and effort to sink it, even if the ship did not move, but it was always a thorn in the side in the eyes of the British.
Yamato Musashi is different, it is two living treasures in the eyes of the US military, and these two fathers have always been in Truk, 108,000 miles away from the battle line, and even farther away from Pearl Harbor, so they can't attract firepower at all. In the end, the Japanese Navy has been crushed by others, and the power of naval aviation is undoubtedly manifested, and then you will be released, except for a few more tablets on the Yasukuni Shrine, there is no other value. Musashi still died well and sank in battle. Yamato is completely suicidal stupidity, and can only borrow a sentence, and those who can't win the war can only use suicide to cover up their incompetence.
Onishi Takijiro (June 2, 1891 – August 16, 1945) was a vice admiral in the Japanese Navy, a 40th naval academy officer, and successively served as the commander of the 1st Air Fleet and the deputy director of the Military Command Department. He was the advocate of the victory of the aviation forces and the founder of the "kamikaze".
In fact, at the end of 1937, when the decision-making level of the Japanese Navy decided to devote all their efforts to building the super battleship "Yamato", Takijiro Onishi, who later served as the commander of the First Air Fleet and vice director of the Military Command Department, said to Koga Mineichi, then vice minister of the Military Command Department, "It was absolutely a mistake to build the 'Yamato.'" The cost of building the 'Yamato' is enough for me to build 3,000 planes, and if you give me 3,000 planes, I promise that I can blow up all the fleets of the US military."
But Koga Mineichi's explanation is comparable to a Soviet joke: "Onishi-kun, you must understand that the emperor does not have a carriage with eight horses, and he can't go out, and the navy of the Great Japanese Empire works like a battleship." What others have, we have! "Even Koga Mineichi knew at that time that this thing was just a guard of honor for the Son of Heaven to satisfy the vanity of the saint, and if the honor guard could win the war, it would be a hell of a thing.