Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

This new stand alone release based on the legendary War in the Pacific from 2 by 3 Games adds significant improvements and changes to enhance game play, improve realism, and increase historical accuracy. With dozens of new features, new art, and engine improvements, War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition brings you the most realistic and immersive WWII Pacific Theater wargame ever!

Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition

Post Reply
User avatar
decaro
Posts: 4004
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:05 pm
Location: Stratford, Connecticut
Contact:

Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by decaro »

from PM:

"With the discovery of the Japanese battleship Musashi, sunk in the Sibuyan Sea off the Philippines in October 1944, one of the lost legends of World War II—and one of the biggest warships ever constructed—has been found.

"The search was funded by Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder. It took eight years. Last year, Allen's team closely sonar-mapped the Subuyan seafloor. This year, they sent an autonomous underwater vehicle to investigate sites of interest the survey had revealed. Musashi loomed out of the blackness at a depth of more than half a mile.

"Why spend most of a decade, and millions of dollars, to find a wreck? Because 'since my youth I have been fascinated with Second World War history,' Allen told CNBC...."

Well, aren't we all.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/militar ... ce=twitter

According to PM, the rationale for Japan's super BBs was that the IJN could never build more ships than the US, so it built a handful of ships designed to engage multiple enemies simultaneously.
Stratford, Connecticut, U.S.A.[center]Image[/center]
[center]"The Angel of Okinawa"[/center]
Home of the Chance-Vought Corsair, F4U
The best fighter-bomber of World War II
User avatar
Mundy
Posts: 2867
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2002 6:12 am
Location: Neenah

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by Mundy »

Maybe he'll get the itch to go up near Midway.
Image
User avatar
m10bob
Posts: 8583
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2002 9:09 pm
Location: Dismal Seepage Indiana

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by m10bob »

A number of years ago, I bought a book thru the Military Book Club called "I Boat Captain"..
It's author claimed the Musashi sunk itself while experimenting with a fantastic near nuclear type shell, which if successful was to be able to "sink entire fleets with one shot".
The shell was to be fired from one of its' main guns.
The author claimed it was so secret that when the thing was fired and killed perhaps the entire crew, that the Japanese navy put a lid on the whole affair.

Maybe this riddle will now be solved, one way or another..
Image

User avatar
Lokasenna
Posts: 9303
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2012 3:57 am
Location: Iowan in MD/DC

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by Lokasenna »

ORIGINAL: m10bob

A number of years ago, I bought a book thru the Military Book Club called "I Boat Captain"..
It's author claimed the Musashi sunk itself while experimenting with a fantastic near nuclear type shell, which if successful was to be able to "sink entire fleets with one shot".
The shell was to be fired from one of its' main guns.
The author claimed it was so secret that when the thing was fired and killed perhaps the entire crew, that the Japanese navy put a lid on the whole affair.

Maybe this riddle will now be solved, one way or another..

Doesn't seem like much of a riddle to me, considering the eye accounts of all the USN aviators that did sink Musashi vs. one guy's really odd yarn.

But how was the rest of that book? I honestly want to know. There are plenty of USN Silent Service books, but I've never been referred to books about/by their IJN counterparts.
User avatar
m10bob
Posts: 8583
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2002 9:09 pm
Location: Dismal Seepage Indiana

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by m10bob »

I read it approx 1977 or so..Recent DEROS from my army..I can only remember the most outlandish things about it other than basic info..I too am always curious about how "the other side" saw things..
As expected, I'm sure he criticized his leaders and their decisions,(as all revisionists must do)..

I strongly recommend "Jap Destroyer Captain" by Tameicha Hara..
Image

wdolson
Posts: 7648
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:56 pm
Location: Near Portland, OR

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by wdolson »

ORIGINAL: Mundy

Maybe he'll get the itch to go up near Midway.

Someone else searched Midway a few years back. They found the Yorktown, but I don't believe they found any of the Japanese ships, though they searched for them.

Bill
WitP AE - Test team lead, programmer
Image
User avatar
Fallschirmjager
Posts: 3555
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2002 12:46 am
Location: Chattanooga, Tennessee

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by Fallschirmjager »

ORIGINAL: wdolson

ORIGINAL: Mundy

Maybe he'll get the itch to go up near Midway.

Someone else searched Midway a few years back. They found the Yorktown, but I don't believe they found any of the Japanese ships, though they searched for them.

Bill

I remember reading something a few years ago that surmised that the fires that destroyed the IJN carriers was so hot that the hulls were weakened and might have broken up before reaching bottom and have been dispersed over the years. And I also remember reading that the water where the carriers are assumed to have been lost is between 1900-2300 meters deep.
rockmedic109
Posts: 2414
Joined: Tue May 17, 2005 11:02 am
Location: Citrus Heights, CA

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by rockmedic109 »

I think that someone found a part of the Kaga. I want to say it was a gun platform, but am not positive.
User avatar
Mundy
Posts: 2867
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2002 6:12 am
Location: Neenah

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by Mundy »

ORIGINAL: rockmedic109
I think that someone found a part of the Kaga. I want to say it was a gun platform, but am not positive.

Yep.

Combined Fleet

Yorktown's actually in fairly good shape. Most of the paint intact.
Image
wdolson
Posts: 7648
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:56 pm
Location: Near Portland, OR

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by wdolson »

My father gave me a coffee table book called "Return to Midway" or something like that. I think it was a National Geographic book. I don't recall all the details, but they searched for the Japanese carriers, but eventually concluded that the recorded spots for the sinkings was off by many miles and they ran out of time to comb the seabed. The Yorktown on the other hand was relatively close to where they thought she should be.

There is another book out there that has the same approach to Iron Bottom Sound. I think they found one of the Kongos that was sunk as well as some of the other ships.

The Yorktown is in relatively cold water without a lot of animal life. The ships in Iron Bottom Sound are in warm water teeming with life and are fairly shallow, so they have become artificial reefs.

Bill
WitP AE - Test team lead, programmer
Image
User avatar
Mundy
Posts: 2867
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2002 6:12 am
Location: Neenah

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by Mundy »

An interesting article based on the Kirishima find.
 
http://www.navweaps.com/index_lundgren/Kirishima_Damage_Analysis.pdf
 
I think I read that for Kaga, they were using Nautilus' logs to get the true locations narrowed down.
Image
barkhorn45
Posts: 245
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:19 pm

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by barkhorn45 »

The captain was the man who sank the U.S.S Indianapolis.He was brought in during the post war
investigation of the sinking.The fact that the indy wasn't zigzagging at the time made no difference.
He would have sank it anyway,according to his testimony.
User avatar
Leandros
Posts: 1933
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2015 3:03 pm
Contact:

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by Leandros »

ORIGINAL: m10bob

I strongly recommend "Jap Destroyer Captain" by Tameicha Hara..

Me, too. One particular point intrigued me in his book. On several occasions in the end, just before he left with the Yamato flotilla, he mentions homing
torpedoes - that his ship, the light cruiser Yahagi, actually carried such. He also refers to them while describing the story of the sinking of Yahagi.

Fred

River Wide, Ocean Deep - a book on Operation Sea Lion - www.fredleander.com
Saving MacArthur - a book series on how The Philippines were saved - in 1942! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D3 ... rw_dp_labf
Schanilec
Posts: 4038
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:30 pm
Location: Grand Forks, ND

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by Schanilec »

ORIGINAL: Mundy

Maybe he'll get the itch to go up near Midway.
Fuso and Yamashiro aren't that far away from the Musashi.[;)]
This is one Czech that doesn't bounce.
wdolson
Posts: 7648
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:56 pm
Location: Near Portland, OR

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by wdolson »

Fuso and Yamashiro sank in fairly shallow water. I believe Yamashiro has been dived on, it's about 600 feet down. The Fuso pretty much disintegrated, so finding her would be more difficult. There is probably a lot of debris scattered across many miles of sea bed.

Bill
WitP AE - Test team lead, programmer
Image
Schanilec
Posts: 4038
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:30 pm
Location: Grand Forks, ND

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by Schanilec »

Still would be good to see. Maybe the main guns are about.
This is one Czech that doesn't bounce.
Schanilec
Posts: 4038
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:30 pm
Location: Grand Forks, ND

RE: Lost WW II IJN BB found by Billionaire

Post by Schanilec »

Still would be good to see. Maybe the main guns are about.
This is one Czech that doesn't bounce.
Post Reply

Return to “War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition”