History

• Until 1934, the size of the Japanese navy was limited by the Washington Naval Treaty. When Japan withdrew from the treaty, the Japanese navy began to expand. Yamato was commissioned in 1937, but was not completed until 1941. Along with her sister ship, Musashi, she was intended to be capable of taking on several enemy vessels at once to compensate for the likelihood of being outnumbered. Yamato served in the Pacific during WWII, although she only saw combat on a few occasions. During an attempt to attack U.S. forces approaching the island of Okinawa, Yamato was attacked and sunk by U.S. carrier aircraft.
  
  

Armament

• Yamato carried one of the heaviest batteries of any naval vessel of the time. Her main weapons were nine 18.1-inch cannons. The projectiles launched from these massive weapons weighed over 1 ton each. In addition, four turrets, each mounting three 6-inch guns, initially added to Yamato's defense. These were reduced to two in order to increase the number of anti-aircraft guns. Yamato bristled with anti-aircraft weapons, mounting 24 heavy 5-inch AA guns as well as more than 100 25 mm AA guns.
  
  

Armor

• Yamato was as heavily armored as she was armed. The main belt of armor around the ship's hull was 16.1 inches thick, sloped to give maximum protection. The turrets and superstructure were even more heavily armored. The main turrets were protected by armor plating 25.6 inches thick, while the conning tower armor was 19.7 inches. Behind the main belt of armor, addition bulkheads, each 11.8 inches thick, protected the ship's internal compartments.
  
  

Propulsion and Crew

• The Yamato displaced more than 70,000 tons. Moving her massive bulk required a powerful propulsion system. Yamato was driven through the water by 12 boilers driving four turbines, each of which put out more than 150,000 horsepower. Each of the ship's four propellers was 6 m in diameter. The Yamato's engines consumed 70 tons of fuel per hour at her maximum speed of 27 knots. The Yamato was crewed by over 2,700 naval personnel. During the early part of the war, she served as the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.