Yamato's film: 3 videos

[Yava]

ORIGINAL: Apollo11


Are there any figures how many USN planes were downed and damaged by Japanese AA on Yamato?


Leo "Apollo11"

10 planes... 4 bombers, 3 torpedo planes and 3 fighters...4 pilots killed, 8 other crew members killed.

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

Thanks for info guys!




BTW Oleg, I can't "see" you talking about war with beautiful Adele Stephens in your Avatar... [8D]


Leo "Apollo11"

[Oleg Mastruko]

ORIGINAL: dtravel
Two questions though.  One, no escorts?  Two, did Japan actually make anti-aircraft rounds for her 18" guns?  [;)]

Escorts are omitted so that filmmakers can concentrate on Yamato drama (I guess [;)]) Also, there was half-hour pause between first wave (which achieved only couple relatively minor hits) and devastating second wave that sunk the ship. In the movie, apparently, it's all described as one huge ultraviolent crescendo, with no visible respite between attacks.

18in guns had AA ammo - look for Sen Shiki or San Shiki on Google and should be able to find something. Both Yamato and Musashi fired San Shiki in their final moments - rather inefficiently. To add insult to the injury - Musashi never fired anything else BUT Sen Shiki in combat from her main guns, never firing on another warship, ever.

O.

[Oleg Mastruko]

ORIGINAL: Apollo11

BTW Oleg, I can't "see" you talking about war with beautiful Adele Stephens in your Avatar... [8D]

It's explained in my sig, but I think I'll go back to Meterazzi soon [:D]

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

ORIGINAL: Oleg Mastruko

Escorts are omitted so that filmmakers can concentrate on Yamato drama (I guess [;)]) Also, there was half-hour pause between first wave (which achieved only couple relatively minor hits) and devastating second wave that sunk the ship. In the movie, apparently, it's all described as one huge ultraviolent crescendo, with no visible respite between attacks.

CL + couple of DDs - right?


BTW, as can be graphically seen in the movie Japanese used 3x 20mm AA mounts but had clips with just 13 shells in it (those are the boxes AA crews tries to move around)... utter stupidity...


Leo "Apollo11"

[Nikademus]

1 CL and a half dozen DD's give or take. Yahagi was disabled almost immediately though and was dead in the water leaving Yamato to fend for herself.

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

Ah... idiot me... should have searched for myself... [:)]

Operation Ten-Go (Wikipedia)


Leo "Apollo11"

[Iridium]

ORIGINAL: Oleg Mastruko

Escorts are omitted so that filmmakers can concentrate on Yamato drama (I guess [;)]) Also, there was half-hour pause between first wave (which achieved only couple relatively minor hits) and devastating second wave that sunk the ship. In the movie, apparently, it's all described as one huge ultraviolent crescendo, with no visible respite between attacks.

18in guns had AA ammo - look for Sen Shiki or San Shiki on Google and should be able to find something. Both Yamato and Musashi fired San Shiki in their final moments - rather inefficiently. To add insult to the injury - Musashi never fired anything else BUT Sen Shiki in combat from her main guns, never firing on another warship, ever.

O.

In fact Musashi even jammed her main guns while firing San Shiki rounds. Though to be honest, what they fired in the movie looked like a standard AA shell. San Shiki was a nasty cone of steel slivers and fire. Any type of AA shell made for such a large caliber gun is bound to be useless. Oddly enough it seemed most crew casualties (in film) were caused by 50 cals, seems to be done for dramatic reasons. Since the numerous engineers and other below deck crew members are almost forgotten in the movie.

[BigDuke66]

Really interesting clips.

Anyway of getting them down on harddisk instead of watching them online?

[YankeeAirRat]

Yes the Japanese did make a type of round that was similar to a shotgun shell. I don't remember how successful it was in combat. The Japanese also trained thier BB crews also used to just fire main mount rounds in the the water in an attempt to down aircraft with the large splashes.

These look like shots from the movie Otoko-tachi no Yamato (or Battleship Yamato in english).

[mlees]

Oddly enough it seemed most crew casualties (in film) were caused by 50 cals, seems to be done for dramatic reasons.

This little plot device makes the attacks seem more "personal".

A crew member dying when a bomb hits the ship makes me think "Oh well. That's war. The Yanks are trying to sink a battleship, after all."

But you can't sink a battleship with machine guns. An attack like that makes me think "Oh my! They are deliberately trying to kill people here!"

But IRL, the fighter escorts will do this to suppress and divide up AA fire. (A diving fighter may look a lot like a diving dive bomber.)

[Yava]

ORIGINAL: mlees

Oddly enough it seemed most crew casualties (in film) were caused by 50 cals, seems to be done for dramatic reasons.

This little plot device makes the attacks seem more "personal".

A crew member dying when a bomb hits the ship makes me think "Oh well. That's war. The Yanks are trying to sink a battleship, after all."

But you can't sink a battleship with machine guns. An attack like that makes me think "Oh my! They are deliberately trying to kill people here!"

But IRL, the fighter escorts will do this to suppress and divide up AA fire. (A diving fighter may look a lot like a diving dive bomber.)

Well said [:)]

[Nikademus]

I'd say its fair game....given that after Yamato sank US gunners in some of the bombers machine gunned the survivors bobbing in the water (Spur; "A Glorious Way to Die)

[patrickl]

Hi,

ORIGINAL: Apollo11

Hi all,

ORIGINAL: patrickl

if you have bought your dvd player last year or two - yours should be able to play all dvds regardless of the region. [:D]

Where did you get this from? [;)]

All officially sold DVD players (both for PCs and stand alone devices) are still sold as regional locked... this wasn't changed...

The only thing that did change is the possibilities of breaking that region lock using various region free firmwares or remote control hacks (i.e. to enter specific codes stream via original service remote or some general purpose programmable remote controller)...


Leo "Apollo11"

Well, quite a number of DVD players sold in Singapore can view all region codes. I got my Panasonic for USD100.[:D]

Pat

[Charles2222]

ORIGINAL: Nikademus

I'd say its fair game....given that after Yamato sank US gunners in some of the bombers machine gunned the survivors bobbing in the water (Spur; "A Glorious Way to Die)

If they machine-gunned the AA crews and nobody seems to deny this, then how is giving it extra drama that much worse? I suppose only a direct witness could tell you whether the hits were overly dramatic or not, but I for one couldn't imagine them being so accurate, to where they're seemingly killing all but one crew member with each burst. Seems with machine guns on a plane the best you could expect is taking out half the crew per pass, as the bullets aren't steady, nor the eye of the pilot that good to have so many dramatic hits, unless some of what you're seeing is actually supposed to depict more than one fighter going at the same gun simultaneously. Watch some of those real life war films and you see how undisciplined the gunfire is from those fighters and they're pretty fortunate if they get more than one burst onto a simple plane parked on an airfield. The plane wavers too much, and the fire unpredictable enough to be the sharpshooters those guys in the movie were. It almost seems it's easier for fighter pilots to hit opposing fighters in their sight than to hit ground targets (even defenseless, unmoving ones like on airfields) with more than one burst.

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

Perhaps, in few years, we get to see German movie about Bismarck (if done how "Das Boot" was it would be excellent!)...


Leo "Apollo11"

[Nikademus]

I'm not sure i understand your point. Yes, straffing a warship was not necessary an overly accurate tactic. It was employed mainly to distract and disrupt the aim of the gunners. The Japanese employed the same tactic themselves back in the hey days of their own carrier force. As for bloody.....given Kobiyashi's account, the straffing was bloody enough when they hit. The greater carnage was caused by bomb hits in unarmored areas of the superstructure. Like in the case of Prince of Wales....a makeshift sickbay once more became a magnetic attraction and was turned into a charnal house.

As for the movie.....Producers of any movie always have to walk the thin line between being entertaining, informative and deliberately provoking of outrage. I remember the silly opening scene in U-571 where the Germans machine gunned the survivors. A stupid plot device meant to stir the emotions of the viewers (and hopefully make them overlook the general awfulness of the movie.)

[mlees]

Charles_22:

If they machine-gunned the AA crews and nobody seems to deny this, then how is giving it extra drama that much worse?

Well, I never said it was "worse", inaccurate, or even bad film making. I merely said that I do not think that the director put it in the movie solely for accuracy. (Note: I have only seen the clips linked above. I cannot find a DvD to buy, and in any case, I will wait for one with English subtitles.)

Another poster stated that they felt that a lot of "strafing" attacks are shown. (Post #48) I took this as an impression the movie may leave with me as well, if I had seen it whole.

I considered it a dramatic plot device, primarilly intended to evoke a specific reaction/emotion from the viewers.

[Yava]

I think that as usuall lately it is to show the cruel face of war, but to some point it also shows the "bad" Americans, like in the scene where that hospital point is destroyed.

[Nikademus]

Well we didn't wear white hats, particularily in the Pacific. Bergerud commented on how the racial and no-quarter aspect of the war, a tone set by the Japanese, quickly filtered to the Americans and Australians. Eye for an eye was alive and well. Its unfortunate but i won't stand on judgement rock. It was a brutal war. Its just unfortunate and my admiration goes to those who were able to step above it.