![]() Its massive armor was the heaviest ever installed on a dreadnought-class battleship, making it virtually impregnable to the guns of any ship in the world. Displacing 71,659 tons and capable of 27 knots, the Yamato possessed the greatest firepower ever mounted on a vessel - more than 150 guns, including nine 18.1-inchers that could hurl 3,200-pound armor-piercing shells on a trajectory of 22.5 miles. Its name was Yamato, the mightiest warship yet constructed. With a single question, the fate of Japan’s greatest warship - and the Imperial Japanese Navy - had been decided. It was not acceptable that the army should make so great a sacrifice while the navy’s ships remained clear of the battle for Okinawa. Did the emperor understand that the navy had been reduced to a handful of ships? Did he know there was nothing the navy could do to alter the situation at Okinawa? None of the officers was sure how to answer. Over 100,000 army troops were prepared to die to defend Okinawa, and several thousand kamikaze pilots would be sacrificed. ![]() The admiral explained that an additional 1,500 army aircraft would be available. ![]() How many aircraft would be used in the attacks? Two thousand, an admiral told him. Occasionally the emperor stopped, squinting through his wire framed spectacles, to ask questions. The chiefs had presented to Hirohito the plan for the coming counteroffensive at Okinawa. Killing the Yamato: The Final Mission of Japan's Mightiest Warship CloseĪt the conference table were the emperor’s military advisers, the chiefs of staff of the army and the navy, and their immediate subordinates. ![]()
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