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No. 11581
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The Yamato-class battleships (大和型戦艦 Yamato-gata senkan?) were battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) constructed and operated during World War II. Displacing 72,000 long tons (73,000 t) at full load, the vessels were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed. The class carried the largest naval artillery ever fitted to a warship, nine 460-millimetre (18.1 in) naval guns, each capable of firing 2,998-pound (1,360 kg) shells over 26 miles (42 km). Two battleships of the class (Yamato and Musashi) were completed, while a third (Shinano) was converted to an aircraft carrier during construction.
Due to the threat of American submarines and aircraft carriers, both Yamato and Musashi spent the majority of their careers in naval bases at Brunei, Truk, and Kure—deploying on several occasions in response to American raids on Japanese bases—before participating in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, as part of Admiral Kurita's Centre Force. Musashi was sunk during the course of the battle by American carrier airplanes. Shinano was sunk ten days after her commissioning in November 1944 by the submarine USS Archer-Fish, while Yamato was sunk in April 1945 during Operation Ten-Go.
Although the primary armament of the Yamato-class was officially designated as the 40 cm/45 caliber (15.9 in) Type 94, it actually took the form of nine 46 cm/45 caliber (18.1 in) guns—the largest guns ever fitted to a warship—mounted in three 3-gun turrets, each of which weighed 2,774 metric tons. Each gun was 21.13 metres (69.3 ft) long and weighed 147.3 metric tons (145.0 long tons). High-explosive armour-piercing shells were used which were capable of being fired 42.0 kilometres (26.1 mi) at a rate of 1½ to 2 per minute. The main guns were also capable of firing 1,360 kg (3,000 lb) 3 Shiki tsûjôdan ("Common Type 3") anti-aircraft shells.[A 3] A time fuze was used to set how far away the shells would explode (although they were commonly set to go off 1,000 metres (1,100 yd) away). Upon detonation, each of these shells would release 900 incendiary-filled tubes in a 20° cone facing towards incoming aircraft; a bursting charge was then used to explode the shell itself so that more steel splinters were created, and then the tubes would ignite. The tubes would burn for five seconds at about 3,000 °C (5,430 °F) and would start a flame that was around 5 metres (16 ft) long. Even though they comprised 40% of the total main ammunition load by 1944, 3 Shiki tsûjôdan were rarely used in combat against enemy aircraft due to the severe damage the firing of these shells inflicted on the barrels of the main guns; indeed, one of the shells may have exploded early and disabled one of Musashi's guns during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea. The shells were intended to put up a barrage of flame that any aircraft attempting to attack would have to navigate through. However, U.S. pilots considered these shells to be more of a pyrotechnics display than a competent anti-aircraft weapon.
In the original design, the Yamato-class' secondary armament comprised twelve 6.1-inch (15 cm) guns mounted in four triple turrets (one forward, one aft, two midships), and twelve 5-inch (13 cm) guns in six double-turrets (three on each side amidships). In addition, the Yamato-class originally carried twenty-four 1-inch (2.5 cm) anti-aircraft guns, primarily mounted amidships. In 1944, Yamato—the sole remaining member of the class—underwent significant anti-aircraft upgrades, with the configuration of secondary armament changed to six 6.1-inch (15 cm) guns, twenty-four 5-inch (13 cm) guns, and one hundred and sixty-two 1-inch (2.5 cm) antiaircraft guns, in preparation for operations in Leyte Gulf.
The armament on Shinano was quite different from that of her sister vessels due to her conversion. As the carrier was designed for a support role, significant antiaircraft weaponry was installed on the vessel: sixteen 5-inch (13 cm) guns, one hundred twenty-five 1-inch (25 mm) antiaircraft guns, and three hundred thirty-six 5-inch (13 cm) antiaircraft rocket launchers in twelve twenty-eight barrel turrets. None of these guns were ever used against an enemy vessel or aircraft. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamato_class_battleship
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