12. Tower Bridge
The tower bridge was the ship's control center. Perched at its top, 100 feet
above the weather deck, was a rangefinder with state-of-the-art optics. Similar
rangefinders aided targeting at Yamato's three main gun turrets. Their
range estimation would have been critical in battles with distant enemy ships.
But like Yamato's modern radar and sonar equipment, the rangefinders
were little help in her final showdown with Allied planes. Yamato
veteran Naoyoshi Ishida, who was stationed on the tower bridge, could see the
American pilots with his unaided eyes.
