![]() It was while grappling with this question that Kazushi noticed a retired navy gentleman in the neighboring village. “In those days in Japan,” he says, “the first born son inherited everything, and everyone else had to shift for themselves.” For daughters that meant marriage, and for the sons, it often meant traveling to Tokyo or Osaka for work. Eve of WarĪs the youngest of three siblings, Kazushi had to make his own way in the world. ![]() Yamato’s armor alone weighed nearly half as much as the Titanic. Her four secondary cannons, measuring 155mm each, matched the biggest naval caliber in use today - and that’s not counting the other 160 or so guns bristling from her decks. The triple-barreled turrets which housed them each weighed more than an entire Fleet Destroyer of the era, and could rain shells weighing as much as a midsize car onto targets 32km away. The Yamato was around the same length as the RMS Titanic, only wider, heavier, faster, and packed with cannon shells instead of chandeliers.Īt 460mm, her “ Type 94” main guns remain the largest ever mounted on a warship. “Yamato’s construction was top secret,” explains Kazushi, “but most people in Kure worked in the naval shipyard and no doubt talked about it with their families.” Despite swearing the building team to secrecy, comparing them with their photos on entry and exit, and placing a wooden fence around the dock to screen construction, probably half the town knew about the Navy’s “big secret.” ![]() To help preserve the hoped-for tactical advantage of Yamato, the IJN built her at the Kure Naval Yard in complete secrecy. Battleship Yamato fitting out at Kure Naval Base, 1941 ![]()
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