Information on this class has been compiled by Jeff Donahoo


Standard Displacement: 64,000 tons
Complement: 2,700

Length: 863′ 
Beam: 127’9″ 
Draught: 34’3″ (mean)

Armament: 
9-18.1″/45cal 
12-6.1″/55cal 
12-5″/40cal
115-25mm

Armor: 
16″ side
9″ deck

Machinery: 4 shaft Kanpon turbines
Boilers: 12 Kanpon 
S.H.P.: 147,950=27 knots
Oil: 6,200 tons 
Radius: 7,200 miles @ 16 knots

Ships in class:

Musashi
Meaning: Ancient Prefecture
Builder: Mitsubishi Zosenho, Nagasaki 
Ordered: #2 1937 3rd Replacement Program
Laid Down: 3/29/38
Launched: 11/1/40 
Completed: 8/5/42 
Fate: sunk, 10/24/44 
Fleet Assignments:
BatDiv 1 8/42-10/44
Wartime Commanders:
Capt Arima Kaoru 12/41-6/43
Capt Komuro Keizo 6/43-12/43
Capt Asakura Toyoji 12/43-8/44
*Capt Inoguchi Toshihara 8/44-10/44
Service Notes:
3/29/44 torpedoed by USS Tunny (SS-282)
10/24/44 sunk by US naval aircraft at 1935hrs (12.50N 122.35E)
in the Sibuyan Sea 991 ships crew and 135 Maya 
survivors (total: 1,024) dead, 1,376 ships crew and 
634 Maya survivors are saved (total: 2,010)


Shinano
Meaning: Ancient Prefecture in central Honshu 
Builder: Yokosuka Kaigun Kosho 
Ordered: #110 1939 4th Replacement Program
Laid Down: 5/4/40 
Launched: 10/5/44 
Completed: 11/18/44 
Fate: sunk, 11/28/44 
Fleet Assignments:
None-not fully completed.0
Wartime Commanders:
*Capt Abe Toshio -11/44
Service Notes:
6/42 conversion to aircraft carrier begins
11/28/44 sunk at 1100hrs 160 miles SE Cape Muroto, Japan 
(32.00N 137.00E) by USS Archerfish (SS-311)
1,435 dead 1,080 saved

Note: Shinano converted into an aircraft carrier while under construction. 111 cancelled (30% complete) at the out break of the war. Musashi and Yamato had 6-6.1″ removed and replaced by 12-5″/40 and more 25mm


Yamato
Meaning: Ancient name for Japan 
Builder: Kure Kaigun Kosho 
Ordered: #1 1937 3rd Replacement Program
Laid Down: 11/4/37 
Launched: 8/8/40 
Completed: 12/16/41 
Fate: sunk, 4/7/45 
Fleet Assignments:
Bat Div 1 12/41-11/44
2nd Fleet 11/44-4/45
Wartime Commanders:
Capt Takayanagi Gihachi 8/41-12/42
Capt Matsuda Chiaki 12/42 -9/43
Capt Ono Takeji 9/43-1/44
Capt Morishita Nobuei 1/44-11/44
*RA Ariga Kosaku 11/44-4/45
Service Notes
12/25/43 torpedoed by USS Skate (SS-305) 
1/44 6 6.1″ removed, 12 5″ added
10/24/44 two bomb hits
10/26/44 two bomb hits
4/7/45 1423hrs sunk 130 miles WSW Kagoshima (30.22N 128.04E)
2,498 dead 269 saved

UnNamed
Meaning: n/a
Builder: 
Ordered: 111 1939 4th Replacement Program
Laid Down: 11/7/40
Launched: n/a 
Completed: n/a 
Fate: cancelled
Fleet Assignments:
n/a
Wartime Commanders:
n/a
Service Notes
Cancelled 12/41 30% complete

In the course of researching the battleship Yamato I decided to procure a 1/350 Tamiya Yamato battleship model. A few weeks after I bought the Yamato, I found a discounted 1/350 Trumpeter HMS Dreadnought. I then spent the next month or two building both ships as I suspected having the first dreadnought and the last dreadnought side by side would be an interesting display. I was not disappointed.


The sheer difference in the two ships was astounding. Seeing the two specifications on paper was one thing, but seeing the two ships side by side was something else entirely.

The Dreadnought was commission in 1907 and that is the version of the ship I built. I wanted the first dreadnought, in her first configuration to compare with the “last” battleship (or at least the largest battleship ever) in her near last layout.

The Yamato was built in her late 1944 configuration: the two triple 6″ guns on either beam had been removed, but her single 25mm guns had not yet been replaced with triple 25mm mounts

Here is the side by side specs comparison. Remember that these two ships were commissioned a mere 34 years apart! The technological advances that occurred in those 34 years is evident, even to the untrained eye!

Red text is the specifications of the Yamato and blue text is the Dreadnought

  • Ship Name: YAMATO DREADNOUGHT
  • Commissioned: 1941 1907
  • Displacement: 70,527 LT 18,120 LT
  • LOA: 839′-11″ 527′-0″
  • Beam: 127′-7″ 82′-0″
  • Compliment: 2,800 700
  • Main Battery: 3 x triple 18.1″ (9) 5 x twin 12″ (10)
  • Secondary Battery: 2 x triple 6.1″ (6) 27 x single 5″ (27)
  • Tertiary Battery: 12 x twin 5″ (24) None
  • AA Battery: 162 25mm None
  • Aircraft: 7 None

Commissioned

1941