The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Yamato, the largest and most heavily armed battleship ever built, is shown underway at sea in this colorized historical photograph. Commissioned in December 1941, Yamato and her 18.1-inch main guns represented the pinnacle of battleship design before naval air power made such vessels obsolete. She was sunk by American carrier aircraft on April 7, 1945, during a one-way mission toward Okinawa. Project: 218122