Yamato (??, lit. “Great Harmony”) was the lead ship of her class of battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before World War II. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing nearly 72,000 tonnes at full load and armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 in) Type 94 main guns, which were the largest guns ever mounted on a warship.

Named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, Yamato was designed to counter the numerically superior battleship fleet of the United States, Japan's main rival in the Pacific. She was laid down in 1937 and formally commissioned a week after the Pearl Harbor attack in late 1941. Throughout 1942, she served as the flagship of the Combined Fleet, and in June 1942 Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto directed the fleet from her bridge during the Battle of Midway, a disastrous defeat for Japan. Musashi took over as the Combined Fleet flagship in early 1943, and Yamato spent the rest of the year moving between the major Japanese naval bases of Truk and Kure in response to American threats. In December 1943, Yamato was torpedoed by an American submarine which necessitated repairs at Kure, where she would also be refitted with additional anti-aircraft guns and radar in early 1944. Although present at the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, she played no part in the battle.

The only time Yamato fired her main guns at enemy surface targets was in October 1944, when she was sent to engage American forces invading the Philippines during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. While threatening to sink American troop transports, they encountered a light escort carrier group of the U.S. Navy's Task Force 77, "Taffy 3", in the Battle off Samar. The Japanese turned back after American air attacks convinced them they were engaging a powerful US carrier fleet.

During 1944, the balance of naval power in the Pacific decisively turned against Japan, and by early 1945, its fleet was much depleted and badly hobbled by critical fuel shortages in the home islands. In a desperate attempt to slow the Allied advance, Yamato was dispatched on a one-way mission to Okinawa in April 1945, with orders to beach herself and fight until destroyed, thus protecting the island. The task force was spotted south of Kyushu by US submarines and aircraft, and on 7 April 1945 she was sunk by American carrier-based bombers and torpedo bombers with the loss of most of her crew.

IRL stats:

Name: Yamato
Namesake: Yamato Province, and an archaic name for Japan
Ordered: March 1937
Builder: Kure Naval Arsenal
Laid down: 4 November 1937
Launched: 8 August 1940
Commissioned: 16 December 1941
Stricken: 31 August 1944
Fate: Sunk by American planes during Operation Ten-Go, 7 April 1945
General characteristics (as built):
Class and type: Yamato-class battleship
Displacement:
65,027 t (64,000 long tons) (normal)
71,659 t (70,527 long tons) (full load)
Length:
256 m (839 ft 11 in) (waterline)
263 m (862 ft 10 in) (o/a)
Beam: 38.9 m (127 ft 7 in)
Draft: 11 m (36 ft 1 in)
Installed power:
12 Kampon boilers
150,000 shp (110,000 kW)
Propulsion: 4 shafts; 4 steam turbines
Speed: 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range: 7,200 nmi (13,300 km; 8,300 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement 3,233
Armament:
(1941)
3 × triple 46 cm (18.1 in) guns
4 × triple 15.5 cm (6.1 in) guns
6 × twin 12.7 cm (5 in) DP guns
8 × triple 2.5 cm (1 in) AA guns
2 × twin 13.2 mm (0.52 in) AA machine guns
(1945)
3 × triple 46 cm guns
2 × triple 15.5 cm guns
12 × twin 12.7 cm guns DP guns
162 × 2.5 cm AA guns
4 × 13.2 mm AA machine guns
Armor:
Waterline belt: 410 mm (16.1 in)
Deck: 200–226.5 mm (7.9–8.9 in)
Gun turrets: 650 mm (25.6 in) (face)
Barbettes: [redacted]
Conning tower: [redacted]
Bulkheads: [redacted]
Aircraft carried: 7 Nakajima E8N or Nakajima E4N floatplanes
Aviation facilities: 2 catapults

Controls:

AG 1,2: Main and secondary batteries. Fully automatic aiming.

AG 6,7: Port and Starboard AA guns. Also auto aiming guns.

Main batteries can target up to as far as 12 miles. Secondary guns are less accurate, only against larger targets at 6 miles. AA guns are accurate at 1.5mi and below.