Battleship Yamato was an Imperial Japanese Navy battleship. Yamato and Musashi were the largest battleships in the world, displacing 65,000 tons and armed with 460mm main guns.
Design work for Yamato began in 1934. After modifications, the design was accepted in March 1937 for a 68,000-ton vessel. The battleship was built at a specially prepared dock at Kure naval shipyards from November 1937. Yamato was launched on August 8, 1940, and commissioned on December 16, 1941.
There were intended to be four ships of this class, but Shinano was converted to an aircraft carrier during construction (sunk 1944) and the unnamed Warship Number 111 was scrapped in 1943 when around 30% complete.
Service History
Battleship Yamato was the flagship of Isoroku Yamamoto from February 1942. Replaced as flagship by Musashi, she spent much of 1943 in harbour at Truk. Her anti-aircraft defences were greatly increased in 1943 at Kure, but as she returned to Truk on December 25, 1943, she was badly damaged by a torpedo from USS Skate and was not fully repaired until April 1944.
She returned to the conflict and joined the Japanese fleet in the Battle of the Philippine Sea (June) and the Battles of Leyte Gulf and Samar Gulf (October), during which she first fired her main guns.
Operation Ten-Go: Final Mission
Yamato's final mission was as part of Operation Ten-Go following the invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945. She and her escorts were sent to attack the US fleet supporting the landings. The Yamato was to beach herself and fight as a shore battery until destroyed. She was given only enough fuel for a one-way trip.
On April 6, the Yamato, a cruiser and eight destroyers left port at Tokuyama. They were sighted on April 7 as they exited the Inland Sea. The US Navy launched around 400 aircraft to intercept.
At 12:32 on 7 April 1945, Yamato was attacked by a first wave of 280 aircraft from Task Force 58. By 14:23, having taken 10 torpedo and 7 bomb hits, Yamato's forward ammunition magazines detonated. The smoke from the explosion — over 4 miles high — was seen 100 miles away on Kyushu. 2,498 of the 2,700 crew were lost, including Vice Admiral Seiichi Ito.
The wreckage lies in around 300 metres of water and has been surveyed in 1985 and 1999.
Specifications
Battleship Yamato Technical Data
Armament (1941)
- 9 × 460mm guns in 3 triple turrets
- 12 × 155mm guns in 4 triple turrets
- 12 × 12.7mm guns in 6 twin turrets
- 24 × 25mm AA guns; 8 × 13mm AA guns
By 1945, six of the 155mm and all 13mm guns had been removed and AA defences had been boosted to 146 × 25mm guns.
Armour
- 600mm on front of turrets
- 409mm side armour
- 198mm armoured deck