"Operation Ten-go: Deyo's battle wagons?" Topic

Any info on the composition of Deyo's battle line would be appreciated.

VSB

According to Wikipedia:

As a contingency, Spruance ordered Admiral Deyo to assemble a force of six battleships (USS Massachusetts, Indiana, New Jersey, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Missouri), together with seven cruisers (including the battlecruisers USS Alaska and Guam) and 21 destroyers, and to prepare for a surface engagement with Yamato should the airstrikes prove unsuccessful.

link

That collection would have done the trick!

After being informed of Mitscher's launches, Spruance agreed that the airstrikes could go ahead as planned.As a contingency, Spruance ordered Admiral Deyo to assemble a force of six battleships (USS Massachusetts, Indiana, New Jersey, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Missouri), together with seven cruisers (including the battlecruisers USS Alaska and Guam) and 21 destroyers, and to prepare for a surface engagement with Yamato should the airstrikes prove unsuccessful.

I think the article got it wrong. Willis Lee commanded those battleships, and Deyo was ordered to form his battle line BEFORE the launches.

The same article in Wikipedia also says (earlier than the above quote):

"Upon receiving contact reports early on 7 April, U.S. 5th Fleet commander Admiral Raymond Spruance ordered Task Force 54, which consisted of veteran battleships under the command of Admiral Morton Deyo (which were engaged in shore bombardment), to intercept and destroy the Japanese sortie. Deyo moved to execute his orders, but Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, who commanded Task Force 58 (TF 58), preempted Spruance and Deyo by launching a massive air strike from his carriers, without informing Spruance until after the launches were completed."

So the article conflicts with itself (go Wikipedia!)

The sequene of events is:
Spruance orders Deyo to assemble the old battleships
Mitscher launches without permission
Spruance orders Lee to assemble the fast battleships

Here is what I have found in the meantime:

"Following up on intel from CINCPAC Adm. Spruance alerted a task force (TF 54) made up of aging battleships to stand by for possible surface action against the remnants of the Imperial Japanese Navy. "

Read more: link

And

"On 7 April Adm. Spruance ordered Bertram J. Rodgers, Commander of Task Force 54, which consisted of Battleship Div. 6, a group of aging, WWI vintage battleships, BB-43 Tennessee, BB-42 Idaho, BB-36 Nevada, BB-35 Texas, BB-34 New York, BB-33 Arkansas, to stand by for surface action in case Yamato and its escort vessels made it to the Okinawa AO. These aging relics from WWI were throw-aways, and Spruance knew it."

Which is in part wrong because Rodgers commanded TF 54 Prior to Okinawa, but was superceded by Deyo for Okinawa, leaving Rodgers in command of only part of Deyo's TF 54. Further I think it gets the battle line wrong because on another site I just found :

TF54.5 battle line:

Idaho, Tennessee, Colorado, West Virginia, New Mexico, Maryland.

Deyo also had Arkansas, Texas, New York and Nevada on hand, but wisely left these older than old ships out of the picture.

""On 7 April Adm. Spruance ordered Bertram J. Rodgers, Commander of Task Force 54, which consisted of Battleship Div. 6, a group of aging, WWI vintage battleships, BB-43 Tennessee, BB-42 Idaho, BB-36 Nevada, BB-35 Texas, BB-34 New York, BB-33 Arkansas, to stand by for surface action in case Yamato and its escort vessels made it to the Okinawa AO. These aging relics from WWI were throw-aways, and Spruance knew it."

Which is in part wrong because Rodgers commanded TF 54 Prior to Okinawa, but was superceded by Deyo for Okinawa, leaving Rodgers in command of only part of Deyo's TF 54.
Further I think it gets the battle line wrong

Shoot… just disregard that entire article. Battleship Div 6. was a fast battleship division. Deyo commanded Bat Div 4. Somebody was making things up apparently.

Or got royally twisted up (it happens…). Take heart VSB; you're not the first (nor the last) to be had by bad research… (we'll ALL been there…).

As a contingency, Spruance ordered Admiral Deyo to assemble a force of six battleships (USS Massachusetts, Indiana, New Jersey, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Missouri), together with seven cruisers (including the battlecruisers USS Alaska and Guam) and 21 destroyers, and to prepare for a surface engagement with Yamato should the airstrikes prove unsuccessful.

Ouch! Considering that those 12" guns on the BCs hit as hard (pierce as much armor) as the 16" guns on the battleships, the Yamato would have been toast!

Even one-on-one versus and Iowa, the Yamato is in trouble. Facing the equivalent of 4 Iowas (Wisconsin, Missouri, Alaska and Guam) would have been a very short and ugly mugging. Adding 4 more battleships just makes it more like a curbstomping…

Those DDs could have taken the Yamato alone, assuming their torpedoes wanted to play nice.

I'd have to disagree on your assessment of the 12" gun. According to navweaps.org, The shells thrown by the 16" mk 7's on the Iowas weighed more than twice as much, carried more than twice as much explosive, and could penetrate half again as much armor at any range. The 12" mk 8 was much closer in performance to the US 14".

"These aging relics from WWI were throw-aways, and Spruance knew it."

I'd love to see some first-hand evidence that Spruance believed that. First it assumes they couldn't beat the Japanese fleet that sortied, second it assumes Spruance would have thrown away the what, 2,000 sailors per ship that were in them?

Sounds like someone was abusing their powers of prose…