11. Flood Control Yamato's 1,150 watertight compartments were meant not just to prevent
unwanted flooding but, in some cases, to purposely be flooded. If the ship
listed to one side, water could be pumped into compartments on the opposite
side. Fuel could also be transferred to tanks on the upward side to help
counter the tilt. Midway through Yamato's last battle, as the ship
listed 15 degrees to port, her crew relied on the system to reduce the tilt to
five degrees. But soon all the flood-control compartments on the starboard side
were filled, and more torpedo hits and flooding on the port side capsized the
ship.
