Yamato on trials, 1941
General characteristics per Plan No. A-104F6
Displacement:	Trial displacement of 68,200 British tons (69,294 tonnes) Standard displacement of 64,000 British tons (65,027 tonnes) Photo #80-G-704702 Yamato running trials in 1941. ... Maximum displacement of 72,000 British tons (72,820 tonnes)
Length:	256 m (839.88 ft) at water-line 263 m (862.85 ft) overall
Beam:	38.9 m (130.90 ft)
Draught:	10.4 m (34.12 ft)
Propulsion:	12 Kanpon boilers, driving 4 steam turbines 150,000 shp (110 MW) Four 3-bladed propellers, 6.0 m (19.7 ft) diameter
Speed:	27 knots (50 km/h)
Range:	7,200 nautical miles (13,334 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h)
Complement:	2,750
Armor:	650 mm on face of turrets 410 mm side armor, inclined 20 degrees 200 mm armored deck
Armament:	9 x 46 cm (18.1 inch) (3 × 3) 12 × 15.5 cm (6.1 inch) (4 × 3) 12 × 12.7 cm (6 × 2) 24 × 25 mm AA (8 × 3) 4 × 13 mm AA (2 × 2) The Yamato under construction. ...
Aircraft:	7, 2 catapults

The Yamato class battleships (大和型戦艦, Yamatogatasenka^?) of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) were the largest naval vessels of World War II and were the largest, heaviest battleships ever constructed to this day, displacing 72,800 metric tons (at full load) and armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 inch) main guns. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) (: 大日本帝國海軍 Shinjitai: 大日本帝国海軍   or 日本海軍 Nippon Kaigun), officially Navy of Empire of Greater Japan, also known as the Japanese Navy or Combined Fleet was the Navy of Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japans constitutional renunciation of the use of force... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The firepower of a battleship demonstrated by USS Iowa A battleship is a large, heavily-armored warship with a main battery consisting of the largest caliber of guns. ...

Design and construction

Japanese naval strategy after World War I included plans for the construction of a fleet powerful enough to intimidate likely opponents, in particular the United States Navy. Although these plans were curtailed by Japan's participation in the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, the IJN continued technical studies and by 1933 had concluded that any new class of battleship would feature main armament of 46 cm. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... The Washington Naval Treaty limited the naval armaments of its five signatories: the United States, the British Empire, the Empire of Japan, the French Third Republic, and Italy. ...

International sanctions in 1934 led Japan to announce its withdrawal from the Washington Treaty, by which time the IJN was already at work on the design for a super-battleship that would be known as the Yamato class.

Preliminary studies called for a ship featuring a main battery comprising at least eight 46 cm guns, a secondary battery comprising four turrets armed with either triple 15.3 cm or double 20 cm guns, defensive armor capable of withstanding a bombardment equivalent to the ship's own main battery from a range of 20,000 to 35,000 meters, a top speed of 30 knots, and a cruising range of 8,000 nautical miles (14,800 km) at a speed of 18 knots.

The earliest version of Plan No. A-140 ("A" indicating "battleship" and "140" indicating that this was the 140th warship designed by the IJN) was completed in March 1935, showing a ship 294 m long at the waterline with a 41.2 m beam, a 10.4 m draught, and a trial displacement of 69,500 British tons. One notable feature of this and other early designs is that all three turrets of the main battery are concentrated forward of the ship's superstructure.

In all, 22 different preliminary designs were drawn up during the period lasting until October 1935, when Plan Nos. A-140F3 and A-140F4 were issued.

Refinement of the design continued as detailed studies were made, and testing of models in a model basin led to the adoption of a semitransom stern and a bulbous bow, which reduced hull resistance by 8%, and when Plan No. A-140F5 was issued in July 1936, it called for a ship 253 m long at the waterline with a 38.9 m beam, a 10.4 m draught, and a trial displacement of 65,200 British tons. A ship model basin may be either a physical basin or tank used to carry out hydrodynamic tests with ship models, or the organization (often a company) that owns and operates such a facility. ... Transom (probably a corruption of Latin transtrum, a thwart, in a boat; equivalents are French traverse, croisillon, German Losholz) is the architectural term given to the horizontal lintel or beam which is framed across a window, dividing it into stages or heights. ... Aft of the Soleil Royal, by Jean Bérain the Elder. ... The bulbous bow of the U.S. Navy carrier USS Ronald Reagan is clearly visible in this photograph. ...

Plan No. A-140F6 was finalized at the end of March 1937, and a construction order issued at the begininng of August to the Kure Naval Dockyards, where a construction dock was deepened, gantry crane capacity increased to 100 metric tonnes, and part of the dock roofed over to prevent observation of work. Construction began on 4 November 1937 and continued for nearly three years. Yamato was launched on 8 August 1940 and commissioned on 16 December 1941. Kure (呉市; -shi) is a city located in Hiroshima, Japan. ... is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Yamato (大和), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ... is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ...

Construction of the second hull began six months later at the Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard, where Musashi was launched on 1 November 1940 and commissioned 5 August 1942. Musashi (武蔵), named after the ancient Japanese Musashi Province, was a battleship belonging to the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was the second and final ship of the Yamato class to be completed as a battleship. ... is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 217th day of the year (218th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Construction of Hull Number 110 began in May 1940 at the Yokosuka Naval Dockyards and was not expected to be completed until 1945. Following devastation of Japan's carrier forces at the Battle of Midway, however, the decision was made to convert this hull to an aircraft carrier and expedite its completion. Shinano was launched 8 October 1944 and commissioned the following 19 November. Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders Chester W. Nimitz Frank J. Fletcher Raymond A. Spruance Isoroku Yamamoto Chuichi Nagumo Tamon Yamaguchi † Strength 3 carriers, ~50 support ships, 233 carrier aircraft, 127 land-based aircraft 4 carriers, 7 battleships, ~150 support ships, 248 carrier aircraft, 16 floatplanes Casualties 1 carrier... Shinano (Japanese:信濃) was an aircraft carrier operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. It was laid down as the third of five projected Yamato-class battleships. ... is the 281st day of the year (282nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

A total of five Yamato class battleships were planned. Hull Number 111 was scrapped in 1943 when only 30% complete, and a proposed fifth hull, Number 797, proposed in the 1942 5th Supplementary Program, was never ordered.

Plans for a "super Yamato class", with 50.8 cm guns, provisionally designated as Hull Number 798 and Hull Number 799, were abandoned in 1942. The Super Yamato class (超大和型戦艦) of battleships was designed to be even larger and more powerful than the Yamato class, already the largest battleships in history. ...

Deployment

Like their German counterpart, the Tirpitz, Yamato and Musashi made little direct impact during the war. The Musashi did not engage any Allied battleships during the war, yet the Yamato did have limited success when in October 1944 she opened fire on US escort carriers and destroyers. It was the first and last of her battles with enemy ships. She fired a total 104 rounds of 46cm projectiles as a result of which one escort carrier and one destroyer were sunk. Tirpitz was the second Bismarck class battleship of the German Kriegsmarine, sistership of Bismarck. ...

Both Yamato and Musashi were sunk by the bane of capital warships: overwhelming air power. Musashi was sunk by repeated aerial attack during the Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 24, 1944. After being hit by an estimated 17 torpedoes and 20 bombs, she went down with 1,700 of her 2,400 man crew. Combatants  United States  Australia Empire of Japan Commanders William Halsey, Jr (3rd Fleet) Thomas C. Kinkaid (7th Fleet) Takeo Kurita (Centre Force) Shoji Nishimura â€  (Southern Force) Kiyohide Shima (Southern Force) Jisaburo Ozawa (Northern Force) Strength 17 aircraft carriers 18 escort carriers 12 battleships 24 cruisers 141 destroyers and destroyer escorts... October 24 is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

The end of Yamato was even less glorious. Having seen little action during the previous four years (She served as Yamamoto's flagship during the Midway operation, as well as the action off Samar on 25 October 1944) she was sent on a planned suicide mission against the U.S. Navy forces massing for the attack on Okinawa. On April 7, 1945 she was hit by successive waves of US carrier based aircraft and sank after absorbing 8 bombs and at least 13 torpedo hits. Fewer than 300 out of 3332 crew onboard survived. is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ...

The book "Sea of Thunder" covers the extent of the Yamato's role in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and its commander Admiral Kurita. In addition, in 2005, Nova made a documentary titled: Sinking the Supership. It covers a diving expedition that discovers the wreckage and explores the final moments of this mother of battleships.

References

• Nakamura, Masao, ed. Yamato-gata Senkan (Yamato Class Battleships). GAKKEN, Tokyo ISBN 4-05-601261-X

Media

Junya Sato wrote and directed the film Otoko-tachi no Yamato (English title: Yamato) in 2005. Junya Sato (佐藤純彌 Satō Junya) is a Japanese film director. ...

External links

• Japanese Imperial Navy - Plancia di Comando