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Musashi Press Release – Paul Allen

PHILIPPINES – March 4, 2015 – Philanthropist and entrepreneur, Paul G. Allen, has located the Musashi, one of the two largest and most technologically advanced battleships in naval history. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the conclusion of World War II, and the finding of the battleship is a significant milestone in the annals…

PHILIPPINES – March 4, 2015 – Philanthropist and entrepreneur, Paul G. Allen, has located the Musashi, one of the two largest and most technologically advanced battleships in naval history. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the conclusion of World War II, and the finding of the battleship is a significant milestone in the annals of naval history.

Mr. Allen and his team of researchers began their search for the Musashi more than eight years ago. Using historical records from four countries, detailed undersea topographical data and advanced technology aboard his yacht, M/Y Octopus, Mr. Allen and his team located the battleship in the Sibuyan Sea on March 1, 2015.

via Musashi Press Release – Paul Allen.

The Musashi and her sister Yamoto were stupendous ships.

Of course, a good argument could be made that Japan would have been far better served devoting those resources to cruiser and destroyer production.

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  1. Shaun Evertson

    Here’s a fun question to ponder — could today’s U.S. Navy sink the Musashi?

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  2. Shaun Evertson

    Without nukes?

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  3. David Navarre

    Could a ‘swarm’ of LCS’s do it? I mean, not that we can afford a swarm, though that was the idea — build a whole bunch of ’em. Since there will never be more than a handful of LCSs, I’d say no.

    If you allowed the Navy to use whatever it wanted, easily.

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  4. Quartermaster

    I’m not sure they could sink Yamato or Musashi today. They’d stand a pretty good chance with a torpedo from a sum, but other than that, I doubt it.

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  5. Jason

    Easy-peasy. A couple of 2000-lb JDAMs with penetrating warheads would handle it without any problems.

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  6. xbradtc

    Sure. An LGB with a BLU-109 warhead would have little problem penetrating the topside armor, and delayed fuzing would blow out the bottom.

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  7. jjak

    Guided bombs alone would probably be enough as they could be launched from outside Yamato’s defensive fire, and are precise enough that we could make multiple hits in one area if a single bomb alone can’t penetrate. Air-launched guided missiles would probably also work, though it would probably require multiple hits (and be unlikely to hit the same spot multiple times.

    Modern torpedoes from a sub would probably do it as well, maybe even in one shot.

    Not sure it could be done using only the surface fleet though.

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  8. TrT

    Maybe not
    A 16″ shell weighs about 2000lbs

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  9. Jason

    Warhead design has come along way since 1944. In addition the ship’s deck protection was designed to defeat shells impacting at shallow angles <20°, which a JDAM probably wouldn't do, though that likely depends on the exact flight profile of the bomb.

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  10. Shaun Evertson

    I’m thinking doable but hard. Torpedo probably the best bet fused to detonate beneath the keel. Shinano was killed by four MK 14’s. Shinano didn’t have full/trained DC complement, however. Yamato/Musashi had 75 percent 8 inch and 25 percent 9 inch deck armor, and BB deck armor was designed with plunging 14-15-16 inch in mind. Given that armor, watertight integrity set and competent DC it would be a challenge for any air strikers. Doable, but a tough nut and would tie up a lot of assets.

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  11. Quartermaster

    I think if they had spent the money on at least two more Carrier Task Forces, and implemented a plan that had been submitted to produce 120,000 pilots, the war would have been far more difficult for the US than it was.

    If they had paid more attention to cryptographic measures, and not used their codes as long as they did, battles such as Midway probably would have had a different outcome. Even so, the victory at Midway had a very large component of luck.

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  12. Casey Tompkins

    QM, that’s plausible, but the problem is that they would have needed to start such a program back in 1940 or 1941 for success. Are you referring to a plan that one of the authors of Zero! actually proposed (or cited a 3rd party)? Imperial command thought the proposition insane.

    At the time the Japanese military was obsessed with “spirit” over mere material concerns. I seriously doubt they had the capacity to look that far ahead, or plan logistically.

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