View Full-Size Image

 

Examination of the wreck shows that the number of torpedoes that hit Yamato during her last battle may have reached the mind boggling total of around 20, maybe even a few more.

This is based on physical evidence from the wreck and accounts of Yamato survivors and USN pilots. Note that up to 4 torpedo impacts were delivered by Lt Stetson's late arriving Yorktown flight, hitting her near-simultaneously below the armor belt (due to the ship's list to port), causing her to capsize iess than 10 minutes later.

The exact number of torpedoes and bombs that hit the ship will never be known, but all the available evidence suggests that the total exceeded the ordnance that sunk Musashi 6 months earlier.

Thanks to Christian van der Sanden who recently (April 2024) sent me copies of the after-action diagrams from the Stetson flight, which helped to narrow the number of torpedoes from that late flight down from 6 to 4.