Designing the Yamato - What do you mean almost yet another Nelson type?

Pinned post for Q&A :)

"It's a shame both of these were sent to the bottom..." Well, it seemed important to do so at the time.

So, is the Nelson type pretty much the naval version of the evolution of crabs?

When the time comes (hopefully FAR in the future, of course) for Drach to cross the River Styx...I'm sure he'll spend the entire voyage explaining to Charon how the Barge of the Dead could really be much more efficient if he switched it to an all-forward main battery. 😁

If you look at Japan's "8-8-8" program in 1922, you will notice that even the "No.13" design with 46cm guns had a full load displacement under 50,000 metric tons and a draft that did not exceed 35 feet. This was due to the limitations of Japan's infrastructure, industry and harbors and coastal waters. What the Japanese did during the period of the London Treaty of 1930 was to not only rebuild their entire battle line, three battlecruisers and two capital ship derived aircraft carriers, but also update their infrastructure, industry and harbors and coastal waters. The main limitation was launch displacement and deep draft. The Japanese improved their launch displacement at the two slips used to build "Yamato" and "Musashi" from ~40,000 metric tons to 55,000 metric tons. They also dredged their harbors and the lanes in their coastal waters. They improved their industries and infrastructure, such as building a special vessel to transport the guns and turrets from the IJ facility were they had been built to the construction yards. Yet even 55,000 metric tons proved too little, when combined with a full load draft limitation of 37 feet (this is why the succeeding class retained the main features of the "Yamato" class while changing the main armament from nine 46cm guns to six 51cm guns). The Japanese had to adopt the second best solution for the joint that joined the upper and lower belts, because the optimal design would have been too heavy for the target displacement. This didn't seem too matter as much when the decision was made as the joint, like the "Yamato" classes' torpedo protection system was designed to resist torpedoes and mines with a warhead of 880lbs of TNT equivalent. This was even after the Japanese themselves adopted a surface ship torpedo, the 61cm Type 93, with a warhead equivalent to 1,088lbs of TNT. Then in 1943, the British and Americans developed TORPEX for their ASW weapons, torpedoes and mines. TORPEX has the explosive effect ~50% greater than TNT. This meant that the USN's Mk.13 aerial torpedo with a 600lbs warhead which was now equivalent to 900lbs TNT could now seriously stress the "Yamato" classes' torpedo protection system. The warheads of the Mk.14 submarine and Mk.15 surface torpedoes became a definite overmatch. Yamato was hit by a Mk.14 torpedo which carried a TORPEX warhead equivalent to ~1,000lbs of TNT. The hit near the stern caused significant damage, the failure of the upper and lower belt joint failing, leading to the aft 46cm magazine flooding. IJNS Musashi was hit forward by a Mk.14 on 29 March 1944 causing a similar failure of the joint. When designed, the Japanese believed that "Yamato" could take four torpedoes with 880lbs warheads on one side, resulting in much of the hull outside the protected "raft body" being flooded (the raft body covered about 55% of the side of the class) and still reach an IJN base. Both ships of the class were by USN dive and torpedo bombers, the "Musashi" taking between eleven and nineteen Mk.13 aerial torpedoes with warheads equivalent to 900lbs of TNT before she sank and "Yamato" took between eleven and thriteen Mk.13 torpedoes. Both attacks simply overmatched the defensive capabilities of the protection of the "Yamato" class, a situation unforeseen by her designers.

Don't forget that it had Shock Cannons and Wave motion engine options with plans to take it to space.

My grandfather was dockyard foreman and was involved in the rush to shorten the Nelson. He was on the bridge when they first fired all the main guns together. He related that they watched the boat heel over and over. It approached the maximum angle and went past, then very slowly righted itself. It was made clear that the Nelson was never to fire all main guns at the same time ever again....

Somewhere there's a universe where every battleship is a Nelson, but Nelson and Rodney had aft turrets.

Next video will be: Imperial Star Destroyer another Nelson design

Glad you kept the naval gun shots in the intro. I can't help but love Naval big gun sounds. Great video as usual.

"What do you mean they are turning warships into anime waifus?"

Considering that the Japanese burned the plans for these ships after the war, what sort of design mysteries remain?

Beautiful ship drawings. They worked well with your narration. I think it's safe to say that we all walked away from this with a smile. Many thanks. 35:03 "And this, AT LAST, would be the ship that would become Yamato."

Oh sick, a history of the IJN Izumo

There’s a Japanese film out there named Yamato. Gives the whole background from the Japanese perspective. English subtitles. Very well done.

I love how the Japanese navy only seemed to take photographs of their warships while they were traveling at full speed.

It certainly was a beautiful ship design.

I love behind the scenes stuff like this. The depth of understanding on how/why they built what the built is of extreme interest to me

We need a portrayal of the true timeline where Nelson, North Carolina, and Yamato are all Nelson layout carrier hybrids!

New Drach video ... instant like