My grandfather was a Navy Pilot, and one of his torpedo's was responsible for taking out the Yamato. Here is some information about it. This was taken from a page of his exploits. You can
read about him here. The info below was lifted from that page:
Soon after the sinking of the Yamato, Jack was flown by the U.S. Navy to the Marianas, where he was interviewed about his experience helping to sink the Yamato for a radio broadcast which was aired back in his hometown of Dixon. A recording of the broadcast is available at the A&T Recovery website. Here is a transcription of the broadcast:
Announcer: Dixon, Illinois, here is one of your own fighting men of the United States Navy. He's attached to a great fighting carrier, a carrier that is credited with getting the last telling blows on the *** battleship Yamato. He's speaking to you from somewhere in the Marianas, where he was flown especially for a series of broadcasts. His name: Lieutenant (jg) Grant C. Young.
Just about where did you live there in Dixon, Grant?
Jack: Well, I live in the country just outside of Dixon.
Announcer: And have any names? Call you Grant out here, do they?
Jack: Uh, no, they call me Jack.
Announcer: So your name is Grant, I suppose, huh?
Jack: I imagine.
Announcer: Uh huh. How long have you been in the Navy anyhow?
Jack: Five years.
Announcer: And I understand that you had quite a time with this particular *** battleship, the Yamato. Tell us about that now. We'll pick you up just at the point where you were about ready to go in. How was the visibility at that particular time?
Jack: Very poor.
Announcer: Take it from there and tell us what happened.
Jack: Well, through a freak I got separated from the rest of my group, and I could not attack the same ships that they were attacking, which happened to be a cruiser and a destroyer. It was necessary for me to go in on this battleship all by myself.
Announcer: In other words, you made a lone run on the Yamato.
Jack: It was a lone run.
Announcer: And no other aircraft to divert the firing. Was there a lot of firing going on at you at that time?
Jack: Very much so.
Announcer: Did they hit you with any of that fire?
Jack: Yes, I picked up several holes.
Announcer: Now as you leveled off for that long (sic) run at the Yamato, and they were doing all of this firing, did you think you were going to make it?
Jack: No, I didn't.
Announcer: But you plowed right on through, huh?
Jack: Yeah, I went into a snake dance there, and jinxed very much here and there, and got in and out alright.
Announcer: And you dropped that fish -- did you see it hit, Grant?
Jack: Yes, I eased outside the anti-aircraft [fire] and made a circle to watch the fish run in.
Announcer: After it -- when it hit, what did the ship look like? Describe that, will you?
Jack: Well, it -- the ship lifted up out of the water and moved sideways. It just heaved out of the water.
Announcer: And then you knew there wasn't any doubt.
Jack: There was no doubt there.
Announcer: When you finally left the ship, what did it look like to you?
Jack: Well, it was burning and seemed to be settling a little by the stern. I wasn't there at the actual time it blew up.
Announcer: You think that was about your toughest run on a battleship or any ship?
Jack: I'd say that was a pretty tough run on any man [inaudible].
Announcer: I'd say you were entirely right. Any time you make a lone run on a ship like the Yamato, you're heading into a lot of possible trouble. You did a great job on that. I know the people of Dixon, Illinois, would be proud of you.
That was one of your own fighting men of the U.S. Navy, Dixon. He spoke to you from somewhere in the Marianas where he was flown especially for this broadcast, and as we told you earlier, he's a member of a great fighting carrier, a carrier that is credited with sinking or getting in the last telling blows on the *** battleship Yamato. His name: Lieutenant (jg) Grant C. Young.
During a telephone conversation in August 2010, Jack told me the story of his part in the sinking of the Yamato, relating substantially the same narrative as in the 1945 radio broadcast, but providing many additional details. He explained that he was in the third task force that hit the Yamato, and that the men on the U.S.S. Intrepid had set their torpedo depth at 23 feet before he and the other torpedo bombers took off. "I was in the port side attack. The other members were on the starboard side," he said. Visibility was poor and anti-aircraft fire was intense, so Jack ducked into a cloud to escape the flak. When he came out of the cloud, he was no longer with the other 11 torpedo bombers of his squadron, but found himself almost right on top of one of the ships he was to attack. That made it necessary to pull away, which ended up placing him perfectly in position to make a run at the Yamato. The Yamato had already been hit and was still going about 5 knots, but at the time Jack struck the Yamato it was listing over to the right by about 5 degrees. His torpedo hit the battleship just forward of its front turrent, and it was apparently not very long afterwards that a "tremendous explosion" erupted and the Yamato sank. "They said mine was the seventh torpedo that hit it. Who knows? There were so many bombs," Jack told me. After dropping his "fish," in the confusion of the battle he was briefly attacked by some of his Navy comrades. Bill had to frantically radio to the attacking planes, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot! I'm a Turk! I'm a Turk!" ("Turk" was the Navy nickname for torpedo bombers.) The attacking planes then ceased firing and helped escort him back to the Intrepid.
Jack's uncertainty about how many torpedos and bombs hit the Yamato is understandable, because no one can really be sure just how many hits were scored against the Yamato. Earlier accounts tallied the torpedo hits at eight, but it is now believed that from the first attack at 12:37 p.m. to the explosion at 2:23 p.m. the Yamato was hit by no less than 11 torpedos -- maybe 13 -- and eight bombs. Jack's recollection is apparently that his was seventh out of eight torpedo hits, but since his was certainly one of the last of the torpedo hits, it may actually have been ninth or 10th out of 11, or maybe 10th or 11th out of 13.
Though in this life we will never know for sure how many torpedos and bombs really hit the Yamato, there at any rate can be no doubt that the sinking of the Yamato cannot be credited to a single man. In the words of Lieut. (jg) Francis Ferry, a Navy Helldiver pilot who also was credited with a hit on the Yamato: "Dozens of Navy fliers deserve a share of the credit for sinking the Yamato. It was a group effort if there ever was one, and there are many valid stories to tell besides my own." Jack told me something similar in November 1991, at the funeral in Dixon, Illinois, of his cousin Donald N. Miller, my great-uncle. My mother had previously told me about Jack's wartime heroism, so I was pleased finally to meet him (despite the sad occasion), and I said, "You were the guy who sank the Yamato." He corrected me and said, "I was one of them -- one of them," and explained that several Navy fliers were involved.
