carrier aircraft the Shinano which was converted to the largest aircraft carrier till then, was torpedoed ten days after her commissioning in November 1944 by the submarine USS Archerfish and Yamato, also ravaged by carrier planes, in April 1945 during Operation Ten-Go.Īfter the end of the First World War, many navies-including those of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Imperial Japan-continued and expanded construction programs that had begun during the conflict. Navy Musashi while participating in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, as part of Admiral Takeo Kurita's Center Force, lost to U.S. raids on Japanese bases.Īll three ships were sunk by the U.S. 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 U.S. The class carried the largest naval artillery ever fitted to a warship, nine 460-mm (18.1 in) naval guns, each capable of firing 1,460 kg (3,220 lb) shells over 42 km (26 mi).ĭue to the threat of U.S.
A third hull laid down in 1940 was converted to an aircraft carrier, Shinano, during construction.ĭisplacing 72,000 long tons (73,000 t) at full load, the completed battleships were the heaviest ever constructed. The Yamato-class battleships ( 大和型戦艦, Yamato-gata senkan) were two battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), Yamato and Musashi, laid down leading up to World War II and completed as designed.