BradB’s question on his bayonet reminded me an interesting museum in Kure City (呉市, くれし), Hiroshima.
Kure was the home base of Yamato, the largest battleship in the world with full load displacement of about 72,000 tons. Displacement of an Iowa class battleship is about 57,000 tons. Kure is still a major port for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
There is a Naval History & Science Museum (Yamato Museum) in Kure. The major exhibition is a 90’ long, 1/10 scale model of Yamato.
http://yamato.kure-city.jp/english/e-index.html
The shell on the right is from 18” guns on Yamato. The left one is from 16” gun on Battleship Nagato, displacement 42,000 tons. Nagato was the flagship of the Combined Fleet in 1941, flying the flag of Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku during Pearl Harbor Attack. Both ships were built in Kure Naval Dockyard. Kure was the biggest arsenal town in Japan during WW2. After the war, the dockyard built many super tankers.
****** update *******
There were 3 Yamato class vessels:
1. Yamato
2. Musashi: sank in Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, October 1944
3. Shinano: She was converted to a carrier and broke several records:
Largest aircraft carrier until the commissioning of the supercarrier USS Enterprise in 1961
Shortest life carrier: commissioned on 11/19/44 & sank on 11/29/44 during the voyage to Kure City
Largest ship sank by a submarine: USS Archer-Fish
Captain of USS Archer-Fish, Joseph Enright wrote a book about the sinking of Shinano, Sea Assault in 2000. It’s a very good paperback.
Kure was the home base of Yamato, the largest battleship in the world with full load displacement of about 72,000 tons. Displacement of an Iowa class battleship is about 57,000 tons. Kure is still a major port for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
There is a Naval History & Science Museum (Yamato Museum) in Kure. The major exhibition is a 90’ long, 1/10 scale model of Yamato.
http://yamato.kure-city.jp/english/e-index.html
The shell on the right is from 18” guns on Yamato. The left one is from 16” gun on Battleship Nagato, displacement 42,000 tons. Nagato was the flagship of the Combined Fleet in 1941, flying the flag of Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku during Pearl Harbor Attack. Both ships were built in Kure Naval Dockyard. Kure was the biggest arsenal town in Japan during WW2. After the war, the dockyard built many super tankers.
****** update *******
There were 3 Yamato class vessels:
1. Yamato
2. Musashi: sank in Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, October 1944
3. Shinano: She was converted to a carrier and broke several records:
Largest aircraft carrier until the commissioning of the supercarrier USS Enterprise in 1961
Shortest life carrier: commissioned on 11/19/44 & sank on 11/29/44 during the voyage to Kure City
Largest ship sank by a submarine: USS Archer-Fish
Captain of USS Archer-Fish, Joseph Enright wrote a book about the sinking of Shinano, Sea Assault in 2000. It’s a very good paperback.