10. Heavy Armor
The ship's steel armor weighed 23,000 tons—more than 30 percent of
Yamato's total weight. The Imperial Navy developed new ways to harden
steel and otherwise improve armor technology for the ship. Plates of armor 25
inches thick—the heaviest armor ever mounted on a warship—shielded
the turrets of her main guns. The side of the ship could survive the impact of
3,000-pound armor-piercing projectiles like those shot from the ship's big
guns. But Yamato's bow and stern were not as well protected. Most of the
torpedoes that ultimately sank the ship struck there, below the waterline,
where she was most vulnerable.
