IJN Yamato (戦艦大和) was the lead ship of the Yamato-class of Battleships. Yamato along with Musashi were the largest Battleships ever built, being equipped with the 18.1 in (46 cm) Type 94 naval gun. These were the largest guns put on a warship.

History

Yamato first saw action as flagship for Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto during the Battle of Midway (Operation MI) in June 1942. After Midway, Yamato was largely stationed at Truk Lagoon. On 25 December 1943, while escorting a convoy, the Yamato was attacked by USS Skate SS-305, a US Navy Balao class Submarine. One torpedo hit the Yamato, which forced her to head to Kure Harbor for repairs in January 1944. Because of this, Yamato was not at Truk when the US Navy staged Operation Hailstone.

In June 1944, both Yamato and Musashi took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, escorting Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's Mobile Fleet. Yamato mistakenly at one point during the battle opened fire on returning Japanese carrier aircraft.

During the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Yamato and Musashi were assigned to Admiral Takeo Kurita's Center Force. The Center Force's mission was to disrupt the US landing on Leyte. On 24 October 1944 during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, Center Force came under attack by US Navy aircraft, with the Musashi being sunk. Yamato was hit only by two bombs from aircraft assigned to the USS Essex CV-9. On 25 October, Yamato took part in the Battle of Samar, mistaking the US Taffy 3 group of Destroyers and Escort Carriers for a larger force of US Warships.

On 19 March 1945, Yamato came under attack by US Navy aircraft while sailing near Kure. When the US began landing on Okinawa, the Imperial Japanese Navy organized Operation Ten-Go (天号作戦) to halt the US invasion. On 6 April 1945, Yamato and several escort vessels left the port of Tokuyama. That same day, US submarines spotted the group and on 7 April, the US Carrier force near Okinawa launched a 386 aircraft three-wave strike force on Yamato and her fleet. After sustaining damage for several hours, Yamato sank at 2:23PM.

Legacy

Due to Yamato being the poetic name for Japan, as well as the ship's own technological significance and last battle, the ship is often memorialized in Japanese culture.