Yamato-class battleship

Yamato undergoing trials
Class overview
Name:	Yamato class
Builders:	Kure Naval Arsenal Yokosuka Naval Arsenal Mitsubishi Shipyard
Operators:	Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by:	Nagato class (actual) Number 13 class (planned)
Succeeded by:	A-150 class (planned)
Cost:	250,000,897 JPY
Built:	1937–42
In commission:	1941–45
Planned:	5
Completed:	3 (2 battleships, 1 converted to aircraft carrier)
Cancelled:	2
Lost:	3
General characteristics as per final plan (A-140F6)
Type:	Battleship
Displacement:	68,200 long tons (69,300 t) trial 69,988 long tons (71,111 t) standard 72,000 long tons (73,000 t) full load.
Length:	256 m (839 ft 11 in) at water-line 263 m (862 ft 10 in) overall
Beam:	36.9 m (121 ft 1 in) at Waterline,38.9 m (127 ft 7 in) at Overall
Draught:	10.4 m (34 ft 1 in)
Propulsion:	12 Kanpon boilers, driving 4 steam turbines 150,000 shp (110 MW) four 3-bladed propellers, 6 m (19 ft 8 in) diameter
Speed:	27 knots (50 km/h)
Endurance:	7,200 nautical miles @ 16 knots (13,300 km @ 30 km/h)
Complement:	2,767
Armament:	As built: 9 × 46.0 cm (18.1 in) guns (3×3). 12 × 15.5 cm (6.1 in) guns (4×3). 12 × 12.7 cm (5 in) guns (6×2). 24 × 25 mm (0.98 in) AA guns (8×3) 4 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) AA guns (2×2)
Armor:	650 mm (26 in) on face of main turrets 410 mm (16 in) side armor (400 mm (16 in) on Musashi), inclined 20 degrees 200 mm (8 in) armored deck (75%) 230 mm (9 in) armored deck (25%)
Aircraft carried:	4 Aichi E13A, 3 Mitsubishi F1M 2 catapults (Yamato, Musashi) 47 aircraft (Shinano)

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 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 1,460 kg (3,220 lb) shells over 42 km (26 mi). 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 battle by American carrier airplanes. Shinano was sunk ten days after her commissioning in November 1944 by the submarine USS Archerfish, while Yamato was sunk by US naval air power in April 1945 during Operation Ten-Go.

The design of the Yamato-class battleships was shaped by expansionist movements within the Japanese government, Japanese industrial power, and the need for a fleet powerful enough to intimidate likely adversaries.