Yamato Class

A history on the loss of Musashi:
With word of the American Invasion of the Philippines came orders for all remaining units of the Japanese surface fleet to mobilize for the long-awaited “Decisive Battle” which Musashi and Yamato were built for, and after receiving a final coat of dark paint on their decks for overnight movements into the Philippine Islands, Musashi joined Yamato at Brunei and along with three other battleships, ten heavy cruisers and fifteen destroyers sailed out for battle on October 22nd, 1944 as the “Center Force”.
Musashi off Brunei:
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As Musashi and the Center Force passed along the coast of Palawan Island under the cover of darkness that evening, they ran straight into an American submarine picket line which reported and attacked the formation, causing the loss of three heavy cruisers and the entire formation’s element of surprise. The Battle of the Sibuyan Sea began at 0810hrs when lookouts sighted a single American aircraft shadowing the formation out of gun range. Two hours passed without further contact as the ships continued at high speed through the Sibuyan Sea, but Musashi’s lookouts sighted 30 American aircraft targeting center force at 1018hrs. The ships began avasive maneuvers with Yamato and Musashi opening fire with "bee hive" anti air 18 inch shells.

Yamato and Musashi drew much of the attention from the American pilots in the first wave. Musashi was struck by a torpedo amidships that resulted in a 5 degree list to starboard as 3,000 tons seawater flooded the ship and one direct hit from dive bombers which caused minor damage to the ship’s hull but jammed her main armament director. Correcting her list and securing her damaged compartments as the first American wave withdrew, damage control parties aboard Musashi were unable to restore her gun director by the time the second and third wave of inbound aircraft were detected shortly before noon. Musashi was struck with three more torpedoes on her Portside midship area and hit with two bombs, one of which severed a steam main that filled her number 2 engine room and forced its abandonment. As air attacks continued, Musashi’s crew were able to switch control of the main battery from her jammed primary director to the secondary director, enabling the ship’s main armament to fire on the aircraft. Musashi’s turret crews were loading her second salvo when a near-miss bomb impact on her bow caused a loaded shell to cook off in the barrel of her #1 turret’s center gun, destroying the turrets elevating mechanism and knocking the gun out of action in addition to causing several casualties.

Yamato or Musashi maneuvering with fleet:
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Still making 22 knots as the second wave of American aircraft withdrew, Musashi’s crew were given less than an hour to effect damage control before the next wave of American aircraft were overhead. Musashi took a further five torpedo hits on both sides while dive bombers struck the ship with six more direct hits. counter flooding measures returned the ship to an even keel but the additional water weight and heavy damage to the ships fore section brought Musashi down by the bow and reduced her speed to 20 knots, leaving her steadily falling behind the main body as it was attacked by a fourth wave of American planes at 1412hrs. Spared further damage during this attack, reports from American pilots that the battleship was steaming alone and heavily damaged brought much of the fifth wave of 69 aircraft towards Musashi at 1455hrs, resulting in three torpedoes and four bomb hits on the ship which reduced her speed to only 13 knots as the last of her available counter-flooding spaces were used to keep the ship on an even keel. The sixth wave of 75 torpedo and dive bombers moved in, with 37 of the aircraft directing their attacks on the battered Musashi. This strike sent eleven torpedoes into Musashi, causing extensive flooding and knocking off the ship’s outer portside propeller shaft.

Two photos of Musashi on fire and under concentrated attack:
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Down 26ft by the bow, her foredeck awash, making only 10 knots and listing 10 degrees to Port, Musashi remained afloat despite having absorbed a total of 19 torpedoes, 17 bombs and 18 near miss explosions. As the entire center force turned West to retreat from the Sibuyan Sea, Musashi’s crew attempted damage control measures to get the ship back into formation, but the damage she sustained prevented such maneuvers. After passing the order at 1621hrs to flood the ships starboard crew's spaces, boiler rooms and number 3 engine room in a final attempt to correct her list, Musashi’s captain turned the ship Northward towards Quezon in an attempt to beach her. Shortly after making her final course change, Musashi’s remaining engine failed and went dead in the water. As her surviving crew mustered topside and prepared to abandon ship onto awaiting destroyers, the Musashi’s colors were struck at 1915hrs as her list passed 12 degrees and began to increase, followed fifteen minutes later by the order to remove the emperors portrait and abandon ship as the list passed 30 degrees to Port. With her surviving crew safely off the ship, Musashi rolled onto her port side and sank bow first 1936hrs on October 24th, 1944, taking 1,023 of her crew with her.

A final photo of Musashi down by the bow and sinking:
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An here depicted is the Musashi as lost in the Sibuyan Sea. Some minor details to rigging have been added along with sandbags encompassing deck bound 25mm triple mounts in an attempt to protect the crews from splintering and strafing. The boxes seen around the 25mm positions are wooden ready use ammunition boxes that were set near the positions since they were a ways from the ammunition hoists focused at midships. Only the aft four 25mm tri mounts received the shields while the rest of her AA was left open, one way that Musashi could be told a part from Yamato, which received far more comprehensive superstructure and Air defense modification:
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