Yamato was one of two super battleships built by the Japanese in the years leading up to Japan’s war against the United States. She displaced nearly 73,000 tons in the water and fired nine 40-cm guns, the biggest guns ever put on a warship. She played little part in the war until the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The Japanese admiral, on the verge of a stunning victory against the outmaneuvered Admiral Halsey, turned back. If he hadn’t, his fleet could have destroyed the American invasion fleet supporting the troops invading the Philippines.
By early 1945, Japan was running out of fuel to operate its fleets. Yamato was ordered on a one-way mission to Okinawa, where she was supposed to beach herself and fight to the end. She and the other ships in her task force were detected and sunk by American planes.
Here’s the death of Yamato as portrayed in a Japanese film, Otoko-Tachi no Yamato.
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