I see both ships leaving the battle zone crippled. On the other hand, it is also likely that Washington would have taken significant damage herself in the exchange. Her effective and withering fire would have less effect on the Yamato, but still would have at least crippled the Japanese giant. My own personal opinion of this is that Washington would have bushwhacked Yamato just as she did Kirishima. In fact, her additional bulk and lower speed may have actually meant a larger number of hits from Washington. Yamato was a much more solid design, but at such knife-fighting ranges would still have been on the receiving end of a punishing volume of fire right at the place she was most vulnerable. Against Kirishima, this had the effect of demolishing the Japanese ship, and produced an uncontrolled flooding situation that would eventually sink the ship. Of those 20 hits, six were at or just below the waterline, right at the spot where Yamato's armor would have been weakest. The majority of these hits were inflicted in a 5 minuet span showing. At this range, the 16"/45 guns firing mark 8 AP "super-heavy" shells could have pierced even the Yamato's impressive hull armor.ĥ) while impressive, the Yamato's armor was also flawed, and prone to damage from hits at or just below the waterline.ĭuring the engagement, Washington scored an impressive 20 hull hits with her main battery, and almost as many superstructure hits with her secondary. Even if she did, it would have been of poor quality at best, which still would have allowed Washington to "sneak up" on her.Ĥ) Washington opened fire at a range of 8400 yards. This means that while she hits harder, she hits less often.ģ) There is question as to if Yamato had a functional radar set at the time. His heavy ships had HE and Incendiary ammunition loaded, not AP.Ģ) While Yamato had much bigger guns, her rate of fire would understandable suffer. The reasons are as follows.ġ) Kondo had equipped for bombardment.
Holding all other factors being equal, what would have happened?Īfter long thought, I think it's POSSIBLE that USS Washington could have actually sunk Yamato. Yamato was ready to sail, and this would have allowed Kirishima a chance to rest from the action the previous night. In the run up to the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, it is possible that Adm Kondo could have been given the use of the Yamato rather than the Kirishima. Saw an interesting hypothetical situation.
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