Calling all Yamato (大和) and Musashi (武蔵) fans

[ceefood]

In the photo a few posts above with a Yamato class Battleship in the right background,are my eyes deceiving me or does she look like she has some sort of disruptive camouflage painted on her? .........Please feel free to shoot me if I am being thick!!!

If you mean some dark lines going diagonally across the hull like I have arrows pointed to then I would agree but photo is small & could be trick of light maybe?

[Atma]

Not that I mind but I would love to paint an IJN Yamato or IJN Mushasi in a hypothetical camouflage.
Note that the surviving/semi-sunk battleships of Imepial Japanes Navy - IJN Nagato, IJN Haruna, IJN Ise and IJN Hyuga - all had camouflage, dominated by Green. Also the IJN Takao and IJN Myoko in Singapore where also in camouflage but in a gray combination, I dont have information/Im not sure about the IJN Sakawa, IJN Oyodo and IJN Tone if they had camouflage.

[Jon C Ryckert]

I remember seeing a picture of Musashi in Garzke and Dullins 'Axis battleship' book. The pic was taken on the port side deck, next to the 8" guns, looking up at the superstructure. I always thought that it was either camo or some fresh paint had been applied. Consensus at that time was that it was not camo. Take a look at that pic if you have it (bucketfoot?). Maybe we need to re-think the whole camo thing. FWIW.

[ceefood]

even if it was camo I would personally not paint any models with it cause I like the clean look Yamato already has

I might do it on my 6' RC big gun combat Yamato but then again maybe the above still applies??

[redoctober27]

Atma, IJN Sakawa, IJN Oyodo and IJN Tone did have camouflage at there time of sinking/ surrender. IJN Sakawa did have some amounts of a camo lines panted threw out her turrets mainly her A turret and a little on her bridge. IJN Tone had green painting threw out her hull and I bileave the same with IJN Oyodo. There are two pics that I know of with her on her side showing a camouflage on her hull Also I just came across a colored pic of IJN Aoba in green paint but this may be a bad digital-re-colorized photo of her. i have seen some post war pics of her in all grey, minus this one odd ball photo.

[Atma]

I always thought IJN Aoba was in camouflage too, anyway it seems that all the major surving warships of Imperial Japanese Navy(Battleships, Heavy cruisers and Light cruisers) where in camouflage by the end of the war. Of course the Aircraft carriers too, but that is a fact widely know.

[redoctober27]

Hey Atma sorry to keep bugging ya with ship modifications and all but you wouldn't know if there was a double MG placed in on the tower of Yamato would you? I have just noticed that the kure model shows her with one right above the bridge. would this be a ten-go modification? sorry for lack of pic but the one i have is too big a wont post.

[Atma]

IJN Yamato and IJN Mushasi had in both sides of her bridge a double 13mm AA gun, mostly for morale than shooting airplanes.

[Atma]

The caption says takao class looking towards Yamato class, without specifying which ship of each class is actually shown. The weave is actually a bag shaped net placed ever the blast bag, possible to draw in the lose folds of the bag and keep them from flapping or ripping during recoil against the embrasure or mentlet of the turret. It's not part of the bag. I've seen pre-war photos of takao class with the same bags. Pre-war photos of mogami's 6" turrets do not Show the same net over the blast bags. But notice the 6" turret has a semi-circular metal frame around each gun barrel embrasure to keep the blast bag from flapping during recoil, so it may not need the nets.

Not all cruisers had that bag shaped net. Check this 1941 picture of IJN Kako:

But I belive that the bag shaped net was there to keep the blast bag in place.

[chuck]

IJN Yamato and IJN Mushasi had in both sides of her bridge a double 13mm AA gun, mostly for morale than shooting airplanes.

The double 13mm mount was pretty much standard on Japanese cruisers and battleships, and was the only AA armament on some Japanese destroyers at the beginning of the war. So I suspect they were considered useful. Another point, major Japanese warships operated in hostile littorial environment in China prior to WWII, unlike major warships of any other navy. So those machine guns could have also been useful for sampan busting, as USN uses 50 cal machine gun now, against small, potentially hostile boats.

[Atma]

Another point, major Japanese warships operated in hostile littorial environment in China prior to WWII, unlike major warships of any other navy. So those machine guns could have also been useful for sampan busting, as USN uses 50 cal machine gun now, against small, potentially hostile boats.

I never thought of that, indeed.

[Atma]

Well already a wealth of modeling magazines(in Japanese) have built up of the new Tamiya's IJN Yamato.

[CapStan]

Not identical. Pics of Yamato shows Pete, not Dave.



The Tabular Records of Movement also refer to the planes as Pete's, so I guess it's a minor error?

Thank you. The 'Pete' looks like a two-place aircraft, not three.

[Atma]

Yes, Pete was two place aircraft, and IJN Yamato or IJN Musashi never used a Dave floatplane.

[bucketfoot-al]

Hello all.

You might be interested to know that I have just uploaded more than 30 new archive photos (mostly of the engagement off Samar Island during the Battle of Leyte Gulf and off Okinawa in April 1945) featuring Battleship Yamato.

I have also identified all of the Japanese destroyers photographed during the battle of Okinawa during Operation Ten-ichi-go.

The link to the site:

http://www.battleshipyamato.com

[redoctober27]

bucketfoot-al thank so much for an amazing website!!!!! I have been looking at your webpage for a year or two now and im so thrilled to have seen the new pics!!! keep up the good work!!

[bucketfoot-al]

Thanks Red. I appreciate it. I have some more books coming from Japan soon, odds are there won't be anything much new there, but we can always hope something new will turn up in someone's old chest in the attic either in Japan or here in the US. (But then, had the imperial Japanese intelligence service not destroyed all military records in the run-up to the U.S. occupation in 1945, the "Yamato Mystique" would undoubtedly be less mysterious today, if I may say. )

[Atma]

Great job there indeed on your site

[mermaid]

Hello all.

You might be interested to know that I have just uploaded more than 30 new archive photos (mostly of the engagement off Samar Island during the Battle of Leyte Gulf and off Okinawa in April 1945) featuring Battleship Yamato.
...

The link to the site:

http://www.battleshipyamato.com

The pictures are super!
Evidently Yamato was sunk by an atomic bomb explosion.

[Atma]

IJN Yamato class was ineed the culmination in battleship fire power and protection.