The Yamato was sunk by U.S. carrier-borne aircraft on April 7, 1945, as it sailed toward Okinawa where its commanders were ordered to beach the vessel and use its mighty arsenal as a gun battery.

Yamato was sunk during the closing days of the Pacific War in 1945 while making a sortie to Okinawa Prefecture on a suicide mission. The lathe is about 17 meters long, 5 meters wide and 5 meters high.