Something else I forgot to mention was the Shinano the forgotten sister of the Yamato which was converted to a Carrier after the loss at Midway...and sinking by USS Archerfish...That incident is the best example as to why the Japanese mega battleships were mere Halloween costumes. I pulled what I said from a number of sources but this is one is a good one... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC6LN3U5ELk
Thanks, dpetty. Halloween costumes — great analogy! This issue made its way into the movie. The film has a wonderful plot and it deals with the purpose of building of these ships on multiple levels.
I’m going to watch that youtube.
And the Shinano is an interesting story itself! Found a link to that:
https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Shinano
I read a great book “Sink ‘Em All” by VADM Charles Lockwood who was in charge of US Submarines in the Pacific in WWII.
In it, he discussed how in the days following the Japanese surrender, the US forces took over the Yokosuka base where the IJN Shinano had been built in her giant drydocks (which I was fascinated by as a young kid because they were big enough to fit an aircraft carrier in, biggest in the Pacific at the time when I lived on the base there)
The USS Archerfish, which sunk the Shinano needed some work, and they put it in the very drydock the Shinano had been built in.
There were Japanese shipyard workers, who the US contracted immediately to work on US Navy ships, and the Commander of the Archerfish said those same Japanese shipyard workers were viewing the Archerfish with a degree of palpable hostility, knowing full well she had sunk the huge ship they had proudly built in that very drydock.
The Captain of the USS Archerfish decided to break the ice by opening the submarine for tours, and all the Japanese workers filed through the Archerfish...everything was fine after that!
What a great idea. I am sure he had to think of the risk, but...he accepted that and it paid off...:)