3. Big Guns Yamato's nine main guns, mounted in three turrets, were the largest to
ever crown a warship. They fired shells 18 inches in diameter, and each
armor-piercing shell weighed as much as a small car. They also could strike at
an unprecedented range of 25 miles. Ironically, while designed to sink enemy
battleships, they were never tested against one. Yamato fought Allied
ships only once, in the Battle of Samar Gulf, where she sank one American
escort carrier and one destroyer. For her final mission, the Imperial Navy
swapped out some armor-piercing projectiles for incendiary, anti-aircraft
shells, but Yamato's awesome guns were still ill equipped for aerial
warfare.
