7. Living Conditions Yamato had a reputation as the most comfortable ship in the Japanese
navy. For part of the war, she was the navy's flagship and home to the highest
naval commanders, who were catered to. But even low-ranking sailors fared
well—eating white rice rather than barley—because Yamato
spent many months in port. She was the first Japanese warship equipped with air
conditioning, although it didn't cool all living quarters. There was also
relative elbow room for her crew of 2,800 men: 10 square feet of living space
per man, compared to only three to four square feet on Japanese destroyers.
