WARSHIPS

IJN YAMATO

She was launched in August of 1940 in the large shipyards or Kure, lead ship of her class and one of three sisters built (the others being the MUSASHI and aircraft carrier SHINANO). These were the largest (by Gross Tonnage) and most powerful battleships ever constructed. She initially served as the flagship of the Combined Fleet, with her sister MUSASHI taking over later on. Although extremely powerful, she used up a tremendous amount of fuel and resources to operate efficiently and remained mostly behind during the war, mainly moving between naval bases and only firing her guns once at the enemy. In 1943, she would be torpedoed by the American submarine SKATE, incurring some damage but would ultimately survive and was quickly repaired.

At the end of the war, when the balance of power shifted and the tide turned against Japan, she was sent on a suicide mission to Okinawa where she was told to beach herself and fight until destroyed in order to try and slow the allies' advance and protect the island. However she would never make it as she was spotted by US Navy submarines in the Bungo Strait and sunk by carrier based aircraft, taking over 3000 of her crew with her.

The wreck wouldn’t be discovered until 2019, when she was found sitting in two pieces in 1,120 feet (340m) of water.