Wreck of the battleship Musashi has been found

[Ravens]

The wreck of Yamato's sister ship has been discovered off the Philippines.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-31724995

Ross.

[Ingo Degenhardt]

I think the Musashi fired it's main artillery 'into the sea', not their AAA.

[XF442]

I wonder why there are no pictures of (parts of) the hull, only bow and anchor. The other pictures show more or less large debris. Did Musashi disintegrate THAT much when it went down? I remember having read of underwater explosions...

http://www.paulallen.com/Galleries/Musashi-Discovery

Edited March 4, 2015 by XF442

[Ravens]

I think the Musashi fired it's main artillery 'into the sea', not their AAA.

You're probably correct - I believe HMS Rodney used the same tactic against attacking planes with her 16-inch guns.

Ross.

[depressed lemur]

There was some video showing one of the catapults, but not much of any detail. Maybe she did break up

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

It was on the TV news last night.

Yamato and Musashi had special 18 inch AA shells, called sanshiki-dan. Think about the 18 inch guns being turned into giant shotguns, or a Napoleonic era cannon firing canister and you get an idea of what they did. Each shell was filled with 25mm AA rounds, which spread out in all directions away from the ship, one they left the barrel. I've no idea how effective they were but the normal 25mm AA guns were not very effective.

When Yamato sank, she suffered a magazine explosion, which is why she was in bits but I've no idea if the same happened to Musashi. Again I've only seen what was on the news, which showed the bow, a catapult and were a twin 5 inch AA gun was, so I've don't know how many bits she is in. Suffice to say, if she suffered a magazine explosion too, then she'll be in many, many bits.

I recommend the anatomy of the ship book about Yamato for further info about both ships.

thanks

Mike

[Alan P]

The fragmentation rounds were filled with 1500 incendiary/shrapnel canisters of 25mm width, but they were not simply AA bullets, and were fused to explode at a set distance from the gun and throw a pattern of destruction across the path of an incoming aircraft.

Musashi hardly used any, and there are persistent rumours that the gunnery officer believed the rounds would cause excessive wear to the barrel liners. I can't believe this is true - if there was a reason for not using them, I'd guess it was due to their perceived ineffectiveness. The loss of the Mutsu was attributed to an explosion of one of these troublesome rounds, but they were used to great psychological effect at Guadalcanal as airfield bombardment rounds.

[MikeR]

According to the latest reports, she's in at least two pieces. The bow is upright whilst the stern is upside down. By the looks of it her aft magazine blew during the descent to the bottom.

Mike.

[Billydick]

'Battleship Musashi - The Making and Sinking of the World's Biggest Battleship" by Akira Yoshimura is a fascinating read.

BillyD

[Dave Swindell]

'Battleship Musashi - The Making and Sinking of the World's Biggest Battleship" by Akira Yoshimura is a fascinating read.

BillyD

+1

Musashi capsized as she sank, and a huge underwater explosion was reported shortly after she submerged, consistent with the magazine explosion that destroyed Yamato. The only one of the 3 thats likely to be in one piece is the Shinano.