TA78014 1/350 Japanese Yamato Battleship

In 1917 the Japanese Navy began planning a strong "Eight-Eight" squadron. This was to comprise
eight new battleships including the Nagato, Mutsu, Kaga, Tosa, Kii and Owari, and eight new battle
cruisers including the Amagi, Akagi, Takao and Atago. In addition four new ships as yet unnamed
were to be leviathans with a load displacement of 47,500 tons and carrying eight 46cm guns as their
main armament. However, under the Treaty of Washington signed in 1921, the possession of capital
ships was limited and the building of new ships was prohibited for 10years. Although the Nagato and
Mutsu were completed and the Akagi and Kaga were changed into aircraft carriers, the grand plan was
 never realized. In 1929-30 when the restrictions imposed were coming to an end, Japan planned to build
 battleships of 35,000 tons. However, the Washington treaty was followed by the London Treaty in 1930,
and this plan was not realized either.

In October 1934 the Japanese Navy started plans for a new superdreadnought battleship, and after 22
months a proposal called A140-F5 was adopted. Substantial modifications were made and in March 1937
the final proposal for a 68,200 ton ship was adopted and building started at Kure Naval Dockyard on November
 4th 1937. On August 8th 1940 the Yamato was launched and it was completed on the 16th December 1941.
 The most characteristic feature of the Yamato was the nine 46cm guns, the biggest ever mounted on a ship.
 For camouflage the guns were called 40cm guns of type 94. They had a maximum range of 41,000 meters
and could penetrate a 43cm armour plate from a distance of 30,000 meters. The rate of fire was two rounds
per minute. An armour piercing projectile of type 91 weighed 1.4 tons. The gun barrel weighed about 166 tons
 and the revolving part of the turret was as heavy as 2,265 tons. In addition to the powerful 46cm guns, the
 Yamato carried twelve 15.5 guns. The Yamato had excellent protection. Its hull was short and broad for its
 displacement. The turrets, bridge, machinery, etc. were disposed near the centre where the armour
protection was concentrated. Of nearly 43,000 tons of steel, 21,266 tons was armour plating- more than 3
0% of the load displacement. The length of the Yamato was 256 metres, the breadth 34.6 metes and it had
a draft of 10 metres. To gauge how huge the Yamato was, the height from keel to top of bridge was more
than 50 metres, the hull contained six decks and the bridge structure thirteen decks. There were about
400 speaking tubes, 750 telephones and eight generators with a total output of no less than 4,800 kw,
enough to supply a small town.

The Yamato first saw service in the Battle of Midway in June 1942, but it was not until October 25th 1944
that the 45cms guns were first used in action. On April 6th 1945 the Yamato took part in "Operation Ten
No.1" (Operation kikusui), and on the 7th April early in the morning the Japanese unit was spotted by an
 enemy plane and in the afternoon it was attacked by more than 300 enemy aircraft. The Yamato was hit by
 ten torpedoes and eight bombs and at 2.23 p.m. it sank