The guns of Japanese warships weigh more than the whole American warships.

Before World War II, knowing that it could not compete with the number of American navies, imperial japanese navy quietly authorized the construction of two largest warships seen in the war, Musashi and her sister ship. The origin of these two behemoths can be traced back to Japan's withdrawal from the League of Nations in 1934. Among other things, this made Japan ignore the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the rules formulated by london navy treaty in 193, both of which were aimed at limiting the size of battleships and the right of participating countries to build battleships. The Ministry of Technology of Japan's Navy, led by engineer Keiji Fukuda, began to submit a design plan for a class of battleships, which was larger and more powerful than any previous battleships. Although "KDSP" originally planned to build five battleships, only two battleships were finally completed. As the third aircraft carrier was transformed into an aircraft carrier during the construction process,

These two completed warships, Musashi and Yamato, actually belong to their own class, and the design can replace about 73, long tons with complete equipment. For reference, the Iowa-class warships in the United States were built at about the same time. Although they were similar in length, their weight was reduced by about 4%. As a Japanese officer Naoki Ishida described, "How big is it! When you walk in, an arrow tells you which direction is the front and which is the back, otherwise you won't be able to say it. There were days when I didn't even know how to get back to my place. Everyone is like this ... I know this is a very capable warship. These guns are huge.

on that note, not only are they huge, but these warships are also equipped with nine largest guns ever used on warships, with 46mm barrels, each weighing an astonishing 3, tons. The total weight of these nine guns is about equivalent to that of American warships of Wyoming, new york and Nevada.

these weapons can fire shells weighing up to 3,2 pounds (1,45 kilograms), that is, within the weight range of a typical full-size car. Although you may think that shooting such an object must have a poor range, in fact, these guns can hit targets 25 miles (4 kilometers) away. They can also be launched at a rate of about once every 4 seconds.

It has been noticed that if an unfortunate person stands within 15 meters of it without proper protection, the shock wave emitted by one of the guns is enough to tear people's skin. This shock wave also caused the nearby anti-aircraft guns to have special armor to protect them from impact.

speaking of anti-aircraft guns, these ships were eventually equipped with about 15 25mm guns. Between these and the previously described 46 mm cannons, these warships are also equipped with 6 155 mm and 24 127 mm cannons.

furthermore, if 46mm cannons are not needed to attack distant warships, these warships are equipped with so-called "honeycomb bombs" to fire from these cannons. In short, these bullets are filled with nearly a thousand burning tubes and hundreds of pieces of steel. The round also includes a fuse and explosives, which will cause the shell to explode, and the burning tube will ignite soon afterwards, producing flames and molten steel walls, aiming at completely destroying the enemy plane. Basically, the idea here is to turn these guns into funny big shotguns, which can pick out any enemy birds from the air.

in terms of armor, every ship has a protective layer about 16 inches thick on its hull.

although you might think that all these things together will make these ships slow like syrup, it turns out that their top speed is about 27 knots (31 miles per hour). Although it is not the fastest warship in the world, it is a good choice compared with the Iowa-class warship mentioned above. The weight of the warship is reduced by about 4%, but the speed can only be accelerated by about 6 knots.

Despite their awesome strength and the full confidence of the Japanese military brass, that is, each warship is "unparalleled and unsinkable", not many battles have been seen. In fact, Yamato spent too much time protecting Japanese ports, so it was called "Yamato Hotel".

The Japanese navy is unwilling to put any warships into battle because Japan lacked fuel during the war, and these warships carried a lot of fuel everywhere. In fact, military officials believe that the loss of two warships will deal a great blow to the morale of other Japanese troops.

Of course, in the months after the end of World War II, because their troops were almost completely wiped out, Japan reluctantly began to put two warships into naval operations. Unfortunately, at this point, these super battleships far outnumber them in limited battles, so that they basically just play the role of fidgeting.

most obviously, they are particularly vulnerable to attacks by airplanes. Even the honeycomb shell mentioned earlier, the Japanese thought it would kill the plane, but it turned out to be just a visual deterrent. Some American pilots just flew directly from the incendiary shells they made.

Although hundreds of anti-aircraft guns have made it, brave pilots are still needed to dive and bomb these warships. The number of planes that Americans can throw at these warships at the same time and the chaos of the war finally prove that these shells are equally worthless in practice.

At this point in the war, Japan's own planes were absurdly surpassed in number and class, which didn't help. There was almost no air cover to protect large warships. See our article. How were kamikaze pilots selected? )

Musashi finally lost the Battle of Leyte Bay in October 1944 and sank it with 19 torpedoes and 17 bombs.

As for the Yamato, it took part in her last engagement in the "Ten Brothers Operation" in April 1945, which was a deliberate suicide mission.

The Yamato will be the last and last effort to repel the spear point of the United States. Its crew was ordered to use its main battery to destroy the invading troops as much as possible on the beach near Okinawa. In essence, this ship will be used as a base on the island, and nearly 3, crew members who do not need to operate weapons on board will fight against any enemy they encounter.

The mission plan was flawed from the beginning, and some Japanese naval officials performed it. They noticed that even if they arrived at the target island at the first time according to the stipulated plan, there was no chance, including no air support, and they carried out the plan in broad daylight.

The result is correct-on the April route, on July 7th, 1945, the Yamato and its accompanying ships were completely and quickly defeated by the joint attack of six cruisers, 21 destroyers, seven battleships and hundreds of planes.

A surviving member of the Yamato crew, junior officer Yoshida Mitsuru, said that the battle they all knew was a suicide mission from the beginning,

How many times have we followed this in the target practice? I have an illusion that we have been searching under the same conditions, in the same battle position and even in the same mood.

There is no doubt that what happened in front of my eyes was actual combat-but how can I convince myself of this fact? The light spot is not an imaginary enemy, but an enemy ready to kill at any time. Location: Not our training waters, but hostile waters.

more than one hundred enemy planes attacked! "Is that the navigator? That's it?"

... The battle has begun ...

When I was numb with excitement, I saw my own excitement; I grinned when I gritted my teeth. A sailor near me was knocked down by shrapnel. In the loud noise, I can distinguish the sound of his skull hitting the bulkhead; In the smell of gunpowder around, I smell blood ...

The trajectory of the torpedo is a beautiful white on the water, as if someone were pulling a needle in the water; They pressed in, aiming at the big and silent intersection from a dozen different directions. By observing their distance and angle on the plotting board, we changed the course and made it run parallel to the torpedo, but we hardly succeeded in avoiding them.

we deal with the closest and most urgent one first; When we reach a point far enough away from it, we can be sure that we have avoided it, and we turn to the next one. Dealing with these problems requires vigilance, calculation and decision. These pilots repeated attacks accurately and calmly, which fully demonstrated the unimaginable power of our enemy.

finally, it took only two hours for the U.S. military to destroy the only most powerful ship built during World War II and most of its small fleets when it set out. When the smoke cleared, about 4, people died in Japan, while only about 12 people died in the United States, and some others were injured.

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Bonus fact: As early as World War II in imperial japanese navy, they planned to build a warship bigger than Yamato Musashi as part of a more powerful warship they called "Super Yamato". These ships, if built, will have 51 mm guns, with a displacement of over 82, tons, and may move at a speed of nearly 3 knots. However, due to lack of resources, Japan has never built these ships. Expanded to refer to the floating Musashi fortress, a symbol of the Japanese navy's ambition, and now a war tomb has killed Yamato-building the historical Yamato-armament. World War II: Battleship Yamato and Battleship Death: Sinking Yamato Musashi, the American plane sank Yamato-the world's largest battleship. Image source design a-15 Battleship Action Ten Battleship Yamato.