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Why was the Japanese battleship Yamato sent toward Okinawa on a one-way mission?
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Battle of Okinawa
U.S. Marines battling for control of a ridge near Naha, Okinawa, May 1945.
The Japanese battleship Yamato was sent toward Okinawa on a one-way mission as a desperate attempt to counter the Allied invasion.12
The Japanese military command hoped that the Yamato could finish off the Allied fleet after it had been sufficiently weakened by a massive wave of kamikaze air attacks. The mission was inherently suicidal, as the ship was deployed without sufficient air cover and carried only enough fuel for a one-way voyage to the island. Ultimately, the Yamato was intercepted by U.S. forces, struck repeatedly by bombs and aerial torpedoes, and sunk on April 7, 1945.12