Anatomy of Yamato
10. Heavy Armor
The ship's steel armor weighed 23,000 tons—more than 30
percent of
Yamato's total weight. The Imperial Navy developed new ways
to harden steel and otherwise improve armor technology for the ship.
Plates of armor 25 inches thick—the heaviest armor ever
mounted on a warship—shielded the turrets of her main guns.
The side of the ship could survive the impact of 3,000-pound
armor-piercing projectiles like those shot from the ship's big guns.
But Yamato's bow and stern were not as well protected. Most
of the torpedoes that ultimately sank the ship struck there, below
the waterline, where she was most vulnerable.