World War II

Final Sortie of the Imperial Japanese Navy
(Operation TEN-GO)

7 April 1945
Contributed by Dan Muir

Japanese Forces

2nd Fleet, for Operation TEN-GO

Vice Admiral Seiichi Ito
Rear Admiral Nobuei Morishita

Position: Chief of Staff

BB Yamato (fleet flagship) (sunk)

Commanding officer: Rear Admiral Kosaku Ariga

Notes: 2,498 killed.

Destroyer Squadron 2

721 men were lost in the four destroyers sunk.

Rear Admiral Keizo Komura

CL Yahagi (force flagship) (sunk)

Commanding officer: Captain Tameichi Hara

Notes: 446 killed.

Destroyer Division 7

Captain Kiichi Shintani

DD Isokaze (sunk)

Commanding officer: Commander Saneo Maeda
DD Hamakaze (sunk)

Commanding officer: Commander Isami Mukoi
DD Yukikaze

Commanding officer: Commander Masamichi Terauchi

Destroyer Division 21

Captain Hisao Kotaki

DD Asashimo (sunk)

Commanding officer: Commander Yoshiro Sugihara
DD Kasumi (sunk)

Commanding officer: Commander Hiroo Yamana
DD Hatsushimo

Commanding officer: Commander Masazo Sato

Destroyer Division 41

Captain Masayoshi Yoshida

DD Fuyutsuki

Commanding officer: Commander Hidechika Sakuma
DD Suzutsuki

Commanding officer: Commander Shigetaka Amano

American Forces

Task Force 58

Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher

Task Force 58.1

Rear Admiral Clark

Aircraft Carriers

Hornet (CV-12)
Bennington (CV-20)
Belleau Wood (CVL-24)
San Jacinto (CVL-30)

Battleships

Massachusetts (BB-59)
Indiana (BB-58)

Light Cruisers

Vincennes (CL-64)
Miami (CL-89)
Vicksburg (CL-86)
San Juan (CL-54)

Destroyer Squadron 61

De Haven (DD-727)
Mansfield (DD-728)
Lyman K. Swenson (DD-729)
Collett (DD-730)
Maddox (DD-731)
Blue (DD-744)
Brush (DD-745)
Taussig (DD-746)
Samuel N. Moore (DD-747)

Destroyer Division 106

Wedderburn (DD-684)
Twinning (DD-540)
Stockham (DD-688)

Destroyer Squadron 25

John Rodgers (DD-574)
Harrison (DD-573)
McKee (DD-575)
Sigsbee (DD-502)
Kinggold (DD-500)
Schroeder (DD-501)
Dashiell (DD-659)

Task Force 58.3

Rear Admiral Sherman

Aircraft Carriers

Essex (CV-9)
Bunker Hill (CV-17)
Hancock (CV-19)
Bataan (CVL-29)

Battleships

New Jersey (BB-62)
South Dakota (BB-57)

Notes: Embarked Vice Admiral Willis Lee.

Light Cruisers

Pasadena (CL-65)
Springfield (CL-66)
Astoria (CL-90)
Wilkes-Barre (CL-103)

Destroyer Squadron 62

Ault (DD-698)
English (DD-696)
Charles S. Sperry (DD-697)
Waldron (DD-699)
Haynsworth (DD-700)
Wallace L. Lind (DD-703)
John W. Weeks (DD-701)
Hank (DD-702)
Borie (DD-704)

Destroyer Squadron 48

Erben (DD-631)
Walker (DD-517)
Hale (DD-642)
Stembel (DD-644)
Black (DD-666)
Bullard (DD-660)
Kidd (DD-661)

Other Destroyers

Chauncey (DD-667)

Task Force 58.4

Rear Admiral Radford

Aircraft Carriers

Yorktown (CV-10)
Intrepid (CV-11)
Enterprise (CV-6)

Battleships

Wisconsin (BB-64)
Missouri (BB-63)

Cruisers

Alaska (CB-1)
Guam (CB-2)
San Diego (CL-53)

Destroyer Squadron 54

Remey (DD-688)
Norman Scott (DD-690)
Mertz (DD-691)
Monssen (DD-798)
McGowan (DD-678)
McNair (DD-679)
Melvin (DD-680)

Destroyer Squadron 47

McCord (DD-534)
Trathen (DD-530)
Hazelwood (DD-531)
Heerman (DD-532)
Haggard (DD-555)
Franks (DD-554)
Hailey (DD-556)

Destroyer Division 105

Cushing (DD-797)
Colahan (DD-658)
Uhlmann (DD-687)
Benham (DD-796)

Notes

Task Force 58.4 was providing air cover at Okinawa when the Yamato force was sighted. The task force tried to close at high speed, but the action was over before it came within range.

Destroyer assignments are as of March 14th, 1945 (per "Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945") and may have differed some by 7 April 1945.

TF 58.1 and TF 58.3 attacked the Yamato force with 386 aircraft of which 10 failed to return.

Sources

"Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945" by J. Rohwer & G. Hummelchen
"Japanese Destroyer Captain" by T. Hara
"U.S. Warships of World War II" by P. Silverstone