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  • There is a reason why the Japanese navy decided to create the colossal Musashi

  • The production and industrial potential of Japan fell far behind that of the United States,

  • and they understood well that they had no chance of winning a naval arms

  • race going face to face with their rivals.

  • To compensate for this gap, Japan sought a venturous plan to compensate lack

  • of quantity with quality.

  • Their plan was to develop superior technology to construct a battleship wielding guns

  • with a caliber of 46cm;

  • a size never-before-seen in history.

  • Battleship Musashi was designed to be the world's most powerful battleship,

  • both in name and reality.

  • The 46-cm gun mounted on the Musashi was nothing short of that in both firepower and range.

  • Ironically, the Japanese navy's dream of naval superiority through powerful battleships

  • was shattered by none other than themselves.

  • In 1944, Musashi underwent modification to install more anti-aircraft armaments;

  • secondary guns on both sides of the ship were dismounted to make space for equipping

  • as much anti-aircraft guns as possible.

  • You may recognize this design as the one seen on battleship Yamato in World of Warships.

  • I joined the Navy back in 1942.

  • Back then, everyone was expected to enroll in the military around the age of 20,

  • and take part in the war.

  • When I joined the Navy, I've heard rumors that the Japanese Navy

  • had a colossal battleship in their disposition, those even the United States had not owned.

  • Those colossuses was indeed rumors about the Yamato and Musashi.

  • I was the only one of the graduates to be designated to the Musashi,

  • and my assigned destination was to be a top secret.

  • I was forbidden to inform any of my colleagues nor my families.

  • I've kept my silence and boarded my transport on Yokosuka to sail to the Truk Island.

  • I was posted to the 5th division, in charge of anti-aircraft guns.

  • My duty was to assist the commander in directing the anti-aircraft armaments

  • placed on the starboard side of the bridge.

  • I learnt to operate the range during my training,

  • so I was appointed to this important role even in my young age.

  • In the Battle of Leyte Gulf, my assigned post

  • was the second best place to scan the entire ship, besides the command post.

  • But since I was in the dead center of the bridge,

  • it felt as if all of the enemies' attacks were heading towards me.

  • It was utterly terrifying.

  • During the enemy aerial attack in the Sibuyan Sea,

  • a bomb struck near the bridge and damaged the gun control device.

  • Shortly after, a torpedo struck near the starboard side, right under my nose.

  • I would assume this damage also cut off the auxiliary signal circuits.

  • As a result, not a single command could be relayed to the anti-aircraft guns

  • where they had to be manually controlled individually.

  • Until the afternoon, the Musashi was hit with 5 aerial raids in total.

  • The first waves of incoming enemies were few, but I could feel the enemy focusing

  • their fire on the Musashi as her damage began to stand out.

  • After falling behind the fleet, the attack intensified,

  • and we felt as if several hundred planes were heading towards us.

  • After being hit with the 5th raid, Musashi's portside bow was

  • dipping in and out towards the water.

  • The slope gradually became steeper, and stern side of the ship was starting to rise.

  • We have tried to compensate the tip by latching off the port side anchor.

  • No matter how hard we tried, the slant was getting worse

  • By night, all crew on board were ordered to assemble above deck

  • which meant we were going to prepare for evacuation.

  • By this time, many survivors climbed out from inside the hull and gathered on the deck.

  • They were shocked to see the Musashi's deck riddled with holes and the bridge in ruins

  • Majority of the crews on board had no way of knowing of the Musashi's condition.

  • My senior officer carrying a frightened young soldier was the first to take the jump.

  • Everyone else followed his lead.

  • I was lucky enough to land on the water, but many of my comrades were not so fortunate.

  • I have heard many were torn with the sharp edges of the shell holes.

  • Later, I was rescued by the destroyer Hamakaze's cutter boat.

  • I have later learned that out of the 11 men in my squad, 9 survived.

  • My senior officer and the young soldier with him were deemed missing in action.

  • After their rescue,

  • the majority of survivors were left in the Philippines,

  • where most of them lost their lives.

  • Mr. Tsukada was pardoned to return to Japan due to his injuries

  • and spent the rest of his time during the war in his post as anti-air

  • defense on land.

There is a reason why the Japanese navy decided to create the colossal Musashi

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