Yamato

Yamato, named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was the first built (the lead ship) of the Yamato class. She and her sister ship Musashi were the largest, heaviest battleships ever constructed, weighing 72,802 tons at full load. She carried nine 460 mm (18.1 inch) guns, the largest guns ever fitted to any warship. The Yamato class was built after the Japanese withdrew from the Washington Naval Treaty at the Second London Conference of 1936. The treaty, as extended by the London Naval Treaty of 1930, forbade signatories to build battleships before 1937. Scale: 1:144
Size of Model: 1830mm x 200mm x 400mm
Material: Fiberglass Hull, wood deck, resin & brass fittings
Drive System: 4 x 540 type motors, 4 x shaft & propellers
R/C system: 2 channel radio with one servo and one ESC The class was designed to be superior to any ship that the United States was likely to produce. The 46-cm (18.1-inch) main guns were selected over 40.6-cm (16-inch) ones because the width of the Panama Canal would make it impractical for the U.S. Navy to construct a battleship with the same caliber guns without severe design restrictions or an inadequate defensive arrangement. To further confuse the intelligence agencies of other countries, Yamato's main guns were officially named 40.6 cm Special, and civilians were never notified of the true nature of the guns. This worked so well that as late as 1945, the U.S. believed that the Yamato had 406-mm (16-inch guns) and a 45,000-ton displacement, comparable to the Iowa class battleship. Funding for the Yamato class was also scattered among various projects so that the huge costs would not be immediately noticeable.

Her final mission was as part of Operation Ten-Go following the invasion of Okinawa on 1 April 1945. She was sent on a suicide mission (commanded by Admiral Seiichi Ito) to attack the U.S. fleet supporting the U.S. troops landing on the west of the island; her mission was to beach herself on the coast, in effect becoming an unsinkable gun battery. On 6 April Yamato and her escorts, the light cruiser Yahagi and 8 destroyers, left port at Tokuyama. They were sighted on 7 April by American aircraft as they exited the Inland Sea southwards. The U.S. Navy launched 386 aircraft to intercept the task force, and the planes engaged the ships starting at 12:30 that afternoon. Yamato took 8 bombs and 12 torpedo hits before, at about 14:23, she capsized to port and her aft magazines detonated. She sank while still some 200 km from Okinawa. Of her crew 2,475 were lost, and the 269 survivors were picked up by the escorting destroyers.