Musashi

Musashi (武蔵), named after the ancient Japanese Musashi Province, was a battleship belonging to the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was the second and final ship of the Yamato class to be completed as a battleship. With her sister ship, Yamato, she was a member of the largest and most heavily armed and armored class of battleships ever constructed.

[edit] History

In June of 1937, executives from the Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard, including Director Kensuke Watanabe and yard engineer Kumao Baba, were ordered to begin preparations for construction and fitting out of one of the new series of battleships. Expansions of the Number 2 slipway had originally inspired naval executives to issue Nagasaki Shipyard the lucrative contract. Floating cranes of 150 and 350 metric tons capacity were built for heavy lifts. Built under the strictest of security, including the erection of large screens to hide the construction from the U.S. consulate across the bay, the battleship was launched November 1, 1940, and spent the better part of eighteen months fitting out. The completion date was revised to accommodate the changes requested by the Navy, including strengthening armor on the 15.5 cm turrets, and the installation of extra communications gear.

Commissioned on 5 August 1942, she proceeded to Truk Lagoon, where Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto made Musashi his flagship. After he was killed on 18 April 1943 (having been shot down by a special U.S. Army Air Forces operation) in the Solomons theater of operations, Musashi returned to Japan carrying his ashes. Musashi returned to Truk on 5 August 1943, and remained there until 10 February 1944. Her only activity during this time was a sortie toward the Marshall Islands, which resulted in no contact with American forces. On 29 March 1944, Musashi was hit by one torpedo from the submarine USS Tunny, and had to return to Japan for repairs and modifications to her anti-aircraft armament.

She formed part of Vice-Admiral Takeo Kurita's Centre Force along with Yamato at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. During this battle on 24 October 1944, she was attacked in the Sibuyan Sea by American carrier-based aircraft: first at 10:27 AM by eight SB2C Helldiver dive bombers from the USS Intrepid armed with 500-lb (227 kg) bombs. Wave after wave of American aircraft from the USS Intrepid, Essex and Lexington eventually scored 17 bomb and 20 torpedo hits and 18 near misses. Most of the ship's destruction was due to David S. McCampbell and Air Group 15. The Musashi capsized to port, and sank at 7:25 PM on October 24, taking more than 1000 of her 2399 crew with her; 1376 of the crew were rescued by the destroyers Kiyoshimo and Shimakaze. That battle was the only time that the Mushashi had fired her guns in anger, using the "San Shiki" (the Beehive) Model 13 anti-aircraft shell.[1]

For more details on this class of ship, see the entry for Yamato.