Yamato
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 6:57 pm
The Yamato and her sister ship, Musashi, were the greatest battleships ever built in the world. The project was initiated in 1934 when military circles in Japan started to prepare seriously for a conflict with the U.S.A. The construction of the ships began in 1937 in the yards of the Mitsubishi firm in Nagasaki. They were launched in 1940 and commissioned in 1941. The ships had a divided and flared bow, a powerful fore superstructure with tower mast, one funnel amid¬ships and a main deck that narrowed gradually. Their armament consisted of nine 18-inch (457 mm) guns situated in three turrets (two fore and one aft), twelve 6.1-inch (155 mm) guns and twelve 25-mm anti-aircraft guns. In addition to these guns, the ships had eight 609-mm torpedo tubes. Two catapults designed for seven aircraft were placed amid¬ships. The armouring of the ships was similarly unusual and particularly strong. Instead of several armoured decks of various thicknesses, both battle¬ships had a single deck, the armour plates of which were 212 mm thick, and the sides were protected by plates 4.10 mm thick and the gun turrets with 650-mm armour plates. Four Japanese-made steam turbines, generating in all 150,000 h.p., propelled the ship, giving her a maximum speed of 27 knots. The battle¬ship Yamato was sunk in April 1945 on her way to Okinawa to relieve army units. She was hit seven times by heavy bombs and torpedoed on twelve occasions.
Dimensions: length o.a. 862.3 feet (263 metres), beam 121 feet (36.9 metres), draught 35.7 feet ( to.9 metres), displacement fully-laden 72,809 tons, crew 2,500 men.
Hamlyn Concise guide SHIPS.
Bhutan SG810MS, Guinea SG1441, Guyana SG3632, Marshall Is SG1102, Montserrat 809, Upper Volta NC.
Dimensions: length o.a. 862.3 feet (263 metres), beam 121 feet (36.9 metres), draught 35.7 feet ( to.9 metres), displacement fully-laden 72,809 tons, crew 2,500 men.
Hamlyn Concise guide SHIPS.
Bhutan SG810MS, Guinea SG1441, Guyana SG3632, Marshall Is SG1102, Montserrat 809, Upper Volta NC.