Or was It simply It's size and armament that scared the Allies without it ever actually achieving any material results?

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"GARRY OWEN"-Traditional war-cry of the US 7th Cavalry.
"CURRAHEE"-War-cry of the US 506th PIR.
"Everybody thinks that they are going to get the chance to punch some Nazi in the face at Normandy-and those days are over, they are long gone"-Lt Chris Burnett

From what I know, its simply the Japanese version of the Tirpitz.

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"If your gonna buy the angel s**t, you might as well go for the zombie package as well."
-George Carlin

Did it actually bust up any Allied ships?

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"GARRY OWEN"-Traditional war-cry of the US 7th Cavalry.
"CURRAHEE"-War-cry of the US 506th PIR.
"Everybody thinks that they are going to get the chance to punch some Nazi in the face at Normandy-and those days are over, they are long gone"-Lt Chris Burnett

'Yamato' did fire it's main armament 'in anger' - only once, on 25th October 1944 at the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

It engaged a number of US escort carriers and destroyers off the Island of Samar. One carrier and three destroyers were sunk - but I cannot find out if the Yamato , or other Japanese units involved, did the sinking.

Still, it did do something .....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Have a look at this : -

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/s...z/yamato-k.htm

It must be the longest URL ever, but it makes interesting reading and there are some interesting photos of 'Yamato'.

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Nice, Martin!

I love that ship! And I agree. It did something. At least it is a good topic for chating, isn't it?

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun

I don't think it even scared the USN.

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"Capital! We're nearly out of ammunition! Now we can get at them with the bayonet!" General Paddy Gough, 1st Sikh War

The Musashi was her sister and she REALLY didn't do a damn thing. A beautiful ship though. At least our Iowa classes were put to good use for bombardment and anti-aircraft use.
I'll tell you one thing that is even more pathetic than Musashi.
There was actually a third sister ship of Musashi and Yamato. She was called the Shinano. Laid out as as a super battleship she was finished as a super carrier in 1945. She was a massive carrier even more armored and capable than the US Essex classes.
However...she was still being fitted out and during her trial runs in which she had no torpedo bulges or fire control...she was torpedoed by a US sub and she sliped beneath the waves before even making it out of her sea trials!

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Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. -- Sir Winston Churchill

Ron

A North Sea Trawler carried more armour than an Essex class! Shinano was not as capable, and never really could be given her conversion on the slips. The issue with later Japanese carriers (like Taiho) was always going to be shoddy construction coupled with unrefined and highly volatile fuel from Borneo. Inexperienced crews added to the mix, underlining the disaster likley to strike if they took a single hit: poor damage control = glug.

The utter futility of building these super-ships is apparent with Mushahi's suicide mission: after all what else was it good for? At least the Germans could threaten Arctic convoys, the Italians could cut the "all red route" but what was the IJN going to do with all that capital and manpower tied up in two ships?

Jumbo

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"Capital! We're nearly out of ammunition! Now we can get at them with the bayonet!" General Paddy Gough, 1st Sikh War

Yeah i agree with that, i think the Japanese had grand ideas for there super ships...but were obviously afraid of risking them until it was absolutely pointless to even have them. I mean jeez look at Guadalcanal. The Yamato sat in Truk harbor during the whole thing being used as a command post really. They should have sent her instead of the old Kirishima classes.

BUT frankly i doubt a north sea trawler could take as much pounding as an essex class carrier...umm, unless you can proove that
Besides, is a North sea trawler even divided into water tight compartments?

Oh and also Taiho was sunk before Shinano but is that why it blew up so unexpectedly? the fuel? that makes sense.
later

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Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. -- Sir Winston Churchill