The IJN Yamato named after the ancient Yamato Province of Japan, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, she was lead ship of the Yamato class. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the largest and heaviest battleships ever constructed, displacing 72,800 tonnes at full load, and armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 inch) main guns.
Laid down in 1937 and formally commissioned a week after the Pearl Harbor attack in late 1941, Yamato was designed to counter the numerically superior battleship fleet of the United States, Japan's main rival in the Pacific. Throughout 1942 she served as the flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, and in June 1942 Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto directed the fleet from her bridge during the Battle of Midway, a disastrous defeat for Japan. Musashi took over as the Combined Fleet flagship in early 1943, and Yamato spent the rest of the year, and much of 1944, moving between the major Japanese naval bases of Truk and Kure in response to American threats. Although she was present at the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, Yamato played no part in the battle.
Yamato was sunk by American forces in April, 1945, with the loss of most of her crew.
IJN Yamato in Days of Infamy[]
At a meeting with Minoru Genda, Commander Mitsuo Fuchida thought about the super battleships Yamato and Musashi while discussing the use of land based bombers for naval support. Although he felt great pride at them being the most powerful battleships afloat, he had to admit that they were pretty much useless in a modern war with aircraft carriers. He grimly wished that the steel and labor that built them had gone into carriers instead.
IJN Yamato in "News From the Front"[]
After the disastrous loss at the Battle of Midway, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on June 7, 1942 that the Yamato was attacking the island of Midway with its 18 inch guns.
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