Untitled Document
“Nagato” Battleship
«I think I will die in battle,
while onboard “Nagato”.
Yamamoto Isuroku.
The admiral's fate was to die not in a naval battle, but
in the air, aboard a “Mitsubishi G4M” bomber. But the battleship Nagato
and the admiral have shared much over the years. When Yamamoto
was appointed the head Navy commander, he first stepped aboard
the flagship on September 1, 1939. This battleship
had been the Japanese navy flagship since December 15, 1938, even though
she was considered obsolete. It was aboard “Nagato” where the famous “Pearl-Harbor”
assault and the Midway battle were planned. The battleship and the admiral
parted on February 12, 1942, when “Yamato” was assigned as the new flagship.
But rumors claim that Yamamoto liked the old battleship better.
“Nagato” – class battleships (“Nagato” herself and her
sister ship “Mutsu”) are the reflection of the American “Colorado” – class
battleships in some way – they were designed and built at the end of WWI.
“Nagato” was started on August 28, 1917 and launched on November 9, 1919.
As usual, Japanese surpassed their rivals on quality, not on quantity of
their weapons: while Americans used 16-inch guns (406mm), Japanese guns had
410mm caliber, which gave certain advantages in shell weight and armor piercing
qualities, though they were also officially called 16-inch. “Nagato” was
the first battleship to carry the unified 16-inch main guns, in which she
took the lead over “Colorado”. At the same time, those battleships were Japan’s
first to be designed and built without any help from Great Britain. At the
time of its launch, “Nagato’s” combination of speed, armor and firepower
was unrivalled. The ship could reach 26.5 knots, which was carefully hidden
by secretive Japanese, and the rest of the world believed her to be able
to reach only 23 knots. The battleship had a displacement of 32.750 tons
and carried 8 410mm guns in four two-gun turrets.
From 1934 to 1936 the battleship underwent capital modernization, which resulted in increased torpedo protection and a single exhaust pipe instead of two pipes. The ship’s stern was also rebuilt. The battleship’s standard displacement reached 39.000 tons, and full displacement reached 45.800 tons. The deck-cabin sported numerous surveillance and artillery system control posts, which led to its distinctive pagoda-like appearance.
“Nagato” took part in the Midway atoll battle in June 1942, in the Philippine Sea battle in June 1944, and in the Leyte bay battle in October 1944. For the most part of the war the ship was in training raids and planned repairs, from time to time she was used for transporting troops and participating in various experiments.
“Nagato” appeared to be the luckiest Japanese battleship – she was the only one to survive the war, having received only a few bombs. Her path has ended on the Bikini atoll, where she served as a dummy target for the American A-bomb tests. During the test on July 1, 1946 “Nagato” wasn’t badly damaged, but on July 25, on the test of the world’s first underwater atomic explosion, “Nagato” received irreparable damaged and sank in 4.5 days.
“Nagato” Battleship in the "Pacific Storm"
|
