Man West Virginia and the Ghosts of Pearl (save Pennsylvania) werent satisfied with Melvin torpedoing Fusou (did she split in half or just simply capsize?) and blasted the living shit out of Yamashiro to boot.
Man West Virginia and the Ghosts of Pearl (save Pennsylvania) werent satisfied with Melvin torpedoing Fusou (did she split in half or just simply capsize?) and blasted the living shit out of Yamashiro to boot.
Bennion got the kill on Yamashiro. Talk about ultimate karmic vengeance, since Bennion was named after the CO of West Virginia.
The YAMASHIRO . . . continued to close the enemy as she advanced. Shortly after being taken under fire she started to burn. At 0356 she turned to the west and at 0405 she was hit by a torpedo fired by the BENNION. . . . At 0359 the BENNION had fired a second salvo of five intermediate speed torpedoes at what she thought was a second battleship, and [hit] the YAMASHIRO. . . . At 0419, she [YAMASHIRO] suddenly sank. (Emphasis added.)
The Bennion ’s torpedo hit on the Yamashiro is confirmed in the appendices of the Naval War College battle report, as well. The analysis had made extensive use of the interrogations of Japanese survivors, including a warrant officer from the battleship.
Fusou (did she split in half or just simply capsize?)
In Battle of Surigao Strait, Tully asserts that the idea that:
a 35,000-ton battleship, with its sturdy construction and great weight, could suffer a magazine explosion strong enough to break it in two, and yet the surviving sections retain balance and buoyancy enough to remain afloat, [confounds] common sense and probability.
Fusou most probably listed and capsized from mortal torpedo strikes to starboard. The two large fires, reported by both sides, were likely two burning oil slicks.
This meant that the impacts of shells and torpedoes were much more likely to cause the fuel reserves to detonate and catch fire, as well as be harder to put out. When the fuel tanks took a shock, they started leaking fuel that almost immediately caught fire all around the ship. The reports that she was split in half were because she was leaking fuel out both sides near the same point, making it look like the silhouette was cut in half, but she was probably still a single hull that just had major leaking, flaming holes.
This is also a large part of why almost nobody survived the Fusous - anyone who tried to abandon ship would have to almost literally dive into a sea of fire. The destroyers that tried to rescue survivors were simply shelled to oblivion by the USN that was simply blasting the bajesus out of the blips on radar until there was nothing still on the surface to show up on radar, and the destroyers wound up sinking inside those infernos with nearly all their crews, as well. (Michishio, Asagumo, and Yamagumo.) Less than 10% of the crews of those ships sunk survived, whereas most other ships (barring being torpedoed by a sub too far away for rescue) could evacuate 60-80% of their crews.
Shigure was the sole survivor simply because she retreated early having taken moderate damage fairly early on.
The battle of Surigao Strait. Battleship Fusou received four torpedo hits from the destroyer Melvin and fell out of formation. 20 minutes later, her ammunition stores caught fire. Fusou was engulfed in a large explosion, and her hull was split in two, the bow and stern floating separately.Destroyer Yamagumo was sunk by enemy fire. Michishio and Asagumo were unnavigable. Yamashiro was hit by torpdoes and her speed was slowed. Shigure led Mogami northwards.
At 0340, Vice Admiral Nishimura issued his final order from Yamashiro "I am under torpedo attack, all ships advance and engage the enemy without regard for me". At the time, Nishimura was not aware that Fusou had already fallen.
Still in the dark as to Fusou's fate, Yamashiro receives
enemy cannon fire, setting her ammunition stores on fire, resulting in a massive explosion and sinking.Is nee-sama still fighting?But it's OK. Since I'll fight with Fusou nee-sama till the very end...
