Operation Ten-Go sent the Yamato, a light cruiser and eight destroyers toward Okinawa with fuel, by most accounts, for a one-way voyage; the battleship was to beach itself and fight as a gun battery. Spotted by US submarines and scouts, the force was attacked by about 380 aircraft from Task Force 58. Hit by at least ten torpedoes and several bombs, the Yamato capsized and exploded. About 3,000 of its crew died. The sinking marked the end of the battleship as a decisive weapon.
The Yamato displaced about 72,000 tonnes at full load and carried nine 46-centimeter guns, the largest ever fitted to a warship. Built in secret, it was meant to outgun any American battleship. In practice it spent most of the war held back from the fighting, and by 1945 Japan had too little fuel and too few aircraft to protect it.
When the Americans landed on Okinawa on April 1, the Imperial Navy decided to send the Yamato south in a final gesture. The task force left the Inland Sea on April 6. The next day, from just after noon, waves of American dive bombers and torpedo planes attacked over about two hours. Most torpedoes struck the port side, and the ship began to list. At about 2:23 p.m. it rolled over, and its forward magazine exploded, sending up a mushroom cloud reportedly visible in Kagoshima.
Vice Admiral Seiichi Itō, who had opposed the mission, went down with the ship, as did its captain, Kōsaku Aruga. Fewer than 300 of the Yamato's crew were rescued. The Americans lost about ten aircraft and a dozen airmen.
Key people: Seiichi Itō, Kōsaku Aruga, Marc Mitscher