About the Legendary 46 cm Main Gun Battleship Yamato

Yamato was the lead ship of her class of battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Along with her sister ship, Musashi, she was a super-dreadnought battleship armed with the largest 46-centimeter (18.1-inch) guns in history. She was the world's largest battleship. Built at the Kure Naval Arsenal. Commissioned on December 16, 1941 (Showa 16), she sank on April 7, 1945 (Showa 20) during Operation Ten-Go (the Battle of East China Sea / Battle of坊ノ岬沖).

Builder
Kure Naval Arsenal
Operator
Imperial Japanese Navy
Class
Yamato-class battleship
Construction cost
Approx. 137,802,000 yen
(March 1936 Ministry of Navy Technical Department estimate)
Affiliation
Imperial Japanese Navy, 2nd Fleet (At the final stage)
Ship history
Plan
Third Naval Armaments Supplement Programme
Laid down
November 4, 1937
Launched
August 8, 1940
Commissioned
December 16, 1941
Fate
April 7, 1945, 2:23 PM, off Cape Bo (30°43′17″N 128°04′00″E) in Kagoshima Prefecture; struck by numerous aerial torpedoes on her port side, unable to correct her list, she capsized and subsequently blew up and sank
Struck
August 31, 1945[1]
Specifications
Displacement
64,000 tons (Standard)
69,000 tons (Trial)
72,809 tons (Full load)
Length
263.0 m
Waterline length
256.0 m
Beam
38.9 m
Draft
10.4 m
Flight deck
Flush deck (only the third ship, Shinano, while under construction)
Boilers
12 Kampon Ro-Go boilers
Main engines
Kampon turbines
Power
153,553 shp
Propulsion
4 shafts
Max speed
27.46 knots (approx. 50.8 km/h) (Trial results)
Range
7,200 nautical miles (13,334 km) at 16 knots (approx. 29.6 km/h)
Crew
At commissioning: 2,500
At final stage: 3,332
Armament
At commissioning
3 × triple 45-caliber Type 94 46 cm guns[Note 2] (9 guns)
4 × triple 60-caliber Third Year Type 15.5 cm guns[Note 3] (12 guns)
6 × twin 40-caliber Type 89 12.7 cm dual-purpose guns (12 guns)
8 × triple 25 mm AA guns (16 guns)
2 × twin 13 mm AA machine guns (4 guns)
At final stage
3 × triple 45-caliber 46 cm guns (9 guns)
2 × triple 60-caliber 15.5 cm guns (6 guns)
12 × twin 40-caliber 12.7 cm dual-purpose guns (24 guns)
52 × triple 25 mm AA guns (156 guns)
6 × single 25 mm AA guns (6 guns)
2 × twin 13 mm AA machine guns (4 guns)
Armor
Belt 410 mm + 15 mm (inclined at 20 degrees)
Torpedo bulkhead 205-75 mm
Forecastle deck 35-50 mm
Main deck 200-230 mm
Total deck armor 250 mm
Bulkhead 340-300 mm
Main turret shield 660 mm
Main turret side 250 mm
Main turret rear 190 mm
Main turret roof 270 mm
Main turret barbette 560-380 mm
Conning tower 500-380 mm
Aircraft carried
5 aircraft (2 catapults)
Mitsubishi F1M (Type Zero Observation Seaplane)
Aichi E13A (Type Zero Reconnaissance Seaplane)
Radar
Type 2 Mark 2 Model 1 air search radar (No. 21) / Experimental Type 2 Mark 2 Model 2 surface search radar (No. 22) / Type 3 Mark 1 Model 3 air search radar (No. 13)
Sonar
Type 0 hydrophone
Other
Sister ship: 2nd ship Musashi

3rd ship Shinano (built as an aircraft carrier) Citation source: Google AI