Japanese battleship Nagato , named for Nagato Province , was a dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy ( IJN ) during the 1910s and was the lead ship of her class . She carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 . The ship was modernized in 1934 – 36 with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style . " Nagato " briefly participated in the Second Sino - Japanese War in 1937 and was the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto during the attack on Pearl Harbor . Other than participating in the Battle of Midway in June 1942 , where she did not see any combat , the ship spent most of the first two years of the Pacific War training in home waters . She was transferred to Truk in mid - 1943 , but did not see any combat until the Battle of the Philippine Sea in mid - 1944 when she was attacked by American aircraft . " Nagato " did not fire her main armament against enemy vessels until the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 . She was lightly damaged during the battle and returned to Japan the following month for repairs . The IJN was running out of fuel by this time and decided not to fully repair her . " Nagato " was converted into a floating anti - aircraft platform and assigned to coastal defense duties . In mid - 1946 , the ship was a target for nuclear weapon tests during Operation Crossroads . She survived the first test with little damage , but was sunk by the second test . Description . The ship had a length of between perpendiculars and overall . She had a beam of and a draft of . " Nagato " displaced at standard load and at full load . Her crew consisted of 1 , 333 officers and enlisted men as built and 1 , 368 in 1935 . During World War II , the crew totalled around 1 , 734 men in 1944 . In 1930 , " Nagato " s bow was remodeled to reduce the amount of spray produced when steaming into a head sea . This increased her overall length by to . During her 1934 – 36 reconstruction , the ship ' s stern was lengthened by to improve her speed and her forward superstructure was rebuilt into a pagoda mast . She was given torpedo bulge s to improve her underwater protection and to compensate for the weight of the additional armor and equipment . These changes increased her overall length to , her beam to and her draft to . Her displacement increased over to at deep load . The ship ' s metacentric height at deep load was . In November 1944 , the tops of " Nagato " s mainmast and funnel were removed to improve the arcs of fire for her anti - aircraft guns . Propulsion . " Nagato " was equipped with four Gihon geared steam turbines , each of which drove one propeller shaft . The turbines were designed to produce a total of , using steam provided by 21 Kampon water - tube boilers ; 15 of these were oil - fired while the remaining half - dozen consumed a mixture of coal and oil . The ship had a stowage capacity of of coal and of fuel oil , giving her a range of at a speed of . The ship exceeded her designed speed of during her sea trials , reaching at . During a refit in 1924 the fore funnel was rebuilt in a serpentine shape in an unsuccessful effort to prevent smoke interference with the bridge and fire - control system s . That funnel was eliminated during the ship ' s 1930s reconstruction when her boilers were replaced by ten oil - fired Kampon boilers , which had a working pressure of and temperature of . In addition her turbines were replaced by lighter , more modern , units . When " Nagato " conducted her post - reconstruction trials , she reached a speed of with . Additional fuel oil was stored in the bottoms of the newly added torpedo bulges , which increased her capacity to and thus her range to at 16 knots . Armament . " Nagato " s eight 45 - caliber 41 - centimeter guns were mounted in two pairs of twin - gun , superfiring turrets fore and aft . Numbered one through four from front to rear , the hydraulically powered turrets gave the guns an elevation range of −2 to + 35 degrees . The rate of fire for the guns was around two rounds per minute . The turrets aboard the " Nagato " - class ships were replaced in the mid - 1930s using the turrets stored from the unfinished s . While in storage the turrets were modified to increase their range of elevation to – 3 to + 43 degrees , which increased the gun ' s maximum range from . The ship ' s secondary armament of twenty 50 - caliber 14 - centimeter guns was mounted in casemate s on the upper sides of the hull and in the superstructure . The manually operated guns had a maximum range of and fired at a rate of six to 10 rounds per minute . Anti - aircraft defense was provided by four 40 - caliber 3rd Year Type three - inch AA gun s in single mounts . The high - angle guns had a maximum elevation of + 75 degrees , and had a rate of fire of 13 to 20 rounds per minute . The ship was also fitted with eight torpedo tube s , four on each broadside , two above water and two submerged . Around 1926 , the four above - water torpedo tubes were removed and the ship received three additional 76 mm AA guns that were situated around the base of the foremast . They were replaced by eight 40 - caliber 12 . 7 - centimeter Type 89 dual - purpose gun s in 1932 , fitted on both sides of the fore and aft superstructures in four twin - gun mounts . When firing at surface targets , the guns had a range of ; they had a maximum ceiling of at their maximum elevation of + 90 degrees . Their maximum rate of fire was 14 rounds a minute , but their sustained rate of fire was around eight rounds per minute . Two twin - gun mounts for license - built Vickers two - pounder light AA guns were also added to the ship that same year . These guns had a maximum elevation of + 80 degrees which gave them a ceiling of . They had a maximum rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute . When the ship was reconstructed in 1934 – 36 , the remaining torpedo tubes and the two forward 14 cm guns were removed from the hull . The remaining 14 cm guns had their elevation increased to + 35 degrees which increased their range to . An unknown number of license - built 13 . 2 mm Hotchkiss machine gun s in twin mounts were added . The maximum range of these guns was , but the effective range against aircraft was . The cyclic rate was adjustable between 425 and 475 rounds per minute , but the need to change 30 - round magazines reduced the effective rate to 250 rounds per minute . The unsatisfactory two - pounders were replaced in 1939 by twenty license - built Hotchkiss 25 mm Type 96 light AA guns in a mixture of twin - gun and single mounts . This was the standard Japanese light AA gun during World War II , but it suffered from severe design shortcomings that rendered it a largely ineffective weapon . According to historian Mark Stille , the twin and triple mounts " lacked sufficient speed in train or elevation ; the gun sights were unable to handle fast targets ; the gun exhibited excessive vibration ; the magazine was too small , and , finally , the gun produced excessive muzzle blast " . These guns had an effective range of , and an effective ceiling of at an elevation of 85 degrees . The maximum effective rate of fire was only between 110 and 120 rounds per minute because of the frequent need to change the fifteen - round magazines . Additional 25 mm guns were installed during the war ; on 10 July 1944 , the ship was reported to have 98 guns on board . An additional 30 guns were added during a refit in Yokosuka in November . Two more twin 127 mm gun mounts are added at the same time abreast the funnel and her 14 cm guns were removed as she was now a floating anti - aircraft battery . Armor . The ship ' s waterline armor belt was thick and tapered to a thickness of at its bottom edge ; above it was a strake of armor . The main deck armor was while the lower deck was thick . The turrets were protected with an armor thickness of 305 mm on the face , on the sides , and on the roof . The barbette s of the turrets were protected by armor 305 mm thick , while the casemates of the 140 mm guns were protected by 25 mm armor plates . The sides of the conning tower were thick . The new 41 cm turrets installed during " Nagato " s reconstruction were more heavily armored than the original ones . Face armor was increased to , the sides to , and the roof to . The armor over the machinery and magazines was increased by 38 mm on the upper deck and 25 mm on the upper armored deck . These additions increased the weight of the ship ' s armor to , 32 . 6 percent of her displacement . In early 1941 , as a preparation for war , " Nagato " s barbette armor was reinforced with armor plates above the main deck and plates below it . Fire control and sensors . When completed in 1920 , the ship was fitted with a rangefinder in the forward superstructure . and anti - aircraft rangefinders were added in May 1921 and 1923 , respectively . The rangefinders in No . 2 and 3 Turrets were replaced by 10 - meter units in 1932 – 33 . " Nagato " was initially fitted with a Type 13 fire - control system derived from Vickers equipment received during World War I , but this was replaced by an improved Type 14 system around 1925 . It controlled the main and secondary guns ; no provision was made for anti - aircraft fire until the Type 31 fire - control director was introduced in 1932 . A modified Type 14 fire - control system was tested aboard the ship in 1935 and later approved for service as the Type 34 . A new anti - aircraft director , the Type 94 used to control the 127 mm AA guns , was introduced in 1937 , although when " Nagato " received hers is unknown . The 25 mm AA guns were controlled by a Type 95 director that was also introduced in 1937 . While in drydock in May 1943 , a Type 21 air search radar was installed on the roof of the 10 - meter rangefinder at the top of the pagoda mast . On 27 June 1944 , two Type 22 surface search radars were installed on the pagoda mast and two Type 13 early warning radar s were fitted on her mainmast . Aircraft . " Nagato " was briefly fitted with a aircraft flying - off platform on Turret No . 2 in August 1925 . Yokosuka Ro - go Ko - gata and Heinkel HD 25 floatplane s were tested from it before it was removed early the following year . An additional boom was added to the mainmast in 1926 to handle the Yokosuka E1Y now assigned to the ship . A Hansa - Brandenburg W . 33 floatplane was tested aboard " Nagato " that same year . A catapult was fitted between the mainmast and Turret No . 3 in mid - 1933 , a collapsible crane was installed in a portside sponson , and the ship was equipped to operate two or three floatplanes , although no hangar was provided . The ship now operated Nakajima E4N2 biplanes until they were replaced by Nakajima E8N2 biplanes in 1938 . A more powerful catapult was installed in November 1938 to handle heavier aircraft like the one Kawanishi E7K that was added in 1939 – 40 . Mitsubishi F1M biplanes replaced the E8Ns on 11 February 1943 . Construction and service . " Nagato " , named for Nagato Province , was ordered on 12 May 1916 and laid down at the Kure Naval Arsenal on 28 August 1917 . She was launched on 9 November 1919 by Admiral Katō Tomosaburō , completed on 15 November 1920 and commissioned 10 days later with Captain Nobutaro Iida in command . " Nagato " was assigned to the 1st Battleship Division and became the flagship of Rear Admiral Sōjirō Tochinai . On 13 February 1921 , the ship was inspected by the Crown Prince , Hirohito . Captain Kanari Kabayama relieved Iida on 1 December 1921 . The ship hosted Marshal Joseph Joffre on 18 February 1922 and the Prince of Wales Edward and his aide - de - camp Lieutenant Louis Mountbatten on 12 April during the prince ' s visit to Japan . After the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake , " Nagato " loaded supplies from Kyushu for the victims on 4 September . Together with her sister ship , she sank the hulk of the obsolete battleship on 7 September 1924 during gunnery practice in Tokyo Bay in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty . The ship was transferred to the reserve of the 1st Division on 1 December . on 1 December and became a gunnery training ship . In August 1925 , aircraft handling and take - off tests were conducted aboard " Nagato " . She was reassigned as the flagship of the Combined Fleet on 1 December , flying the flag of Admiral Keisuke Okada . Captain Kiyoshi Hasegawa assumed command of the ship on 1 December 1926 . " Nagato " was again placed in reserve on 1 December 1931 and her anti - aircraft armament was upgraded the following year . In August 1933 the ship participated in fleet maneuvers north of the Marshall Islands and she began her first modernization on 1 April 1934 . This was completed on 31 January 1936 and " Nagato " was assigned to the 1st Battleship Division of the 1st Fleet . During the attempted coup d ' état on 26 February by disgruntled Army officers , the ship was deployed in Tokyo Bay and some of her sailors were landed in support of the government . In August , she transported 1 , 749 men of the 43rd Infantry Regiment of the 11th Infantry Division from Shikoku to Shanghai during the Second Sino - Japanese War . Her floatplanes bombed targets in Shanghai on 24 August before she returned to Sasebo the following day . " Nagato " became a training ship on 1 December until she again became the flagship of the Combined Fleet on 15 December 1938 . The ship participated in an Imperial Fleet Review on 11 October 1940 . She was refitted in early 1941 in preparation for war . World War II . Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto issued the code phrase " Niitaka yama nobore " ( Climb Mount Niitaka ) on 2 December 1941 from " Nagato " at anchor at Hashirajima to signal the 1st Air Fleet ( " Kido Butai " ) in the North Pacific to proceed with its attack on Pearl Harbor . When the war started for Japan on 8 December , she sortie d for the Bonin Islands , along with " Mutsu " , the battleships , , , of Battleship Division 2 , and the light carrier as distant support for the fleet attacking Pearl Harbor , and returned six days later . Yamamoto transferred his flag to the new battleship on 12 February 1942 . " Nagato " was briefly refitted 15 March – 9 April at Kure Naval Arsenal . In June 1942 " Nagato " , commanded by Captain Hideo Yano , was assigned to the Main Body of the 1st Fleet during the Battle of Midway , together with " Yamato " , " Mutsu " , " Hosho " , the light cruiser " Sendai " , nine destroyers and four auxiliary ships . Following the loss of all four carriers on 4 June , Yamamoto attempted to lure the American forces west to within range of the Japanese air groups at Wake Island , and into a night engagement with his surface forces , but the American forces withdrew and " Nagato " saw no action . After rendezvousing with the remnants of the Striking Force on 6 June , survivors from the aircraft carrier were transferred to " Nagato " . On 14 July , the ship was transferred to Battleship Division 2 and she became the flagship of the 1st Fleet . Yano was promoted to Rear Admiral on 1 November and he was replaced by Captain Yonejiro Hisamune nine days later . Nagato remained in Japanese waters training until August 1943 . On 2 August Captain Mikio Hayakawa assumed command of the ship . That month , " Nagato " , " Yamato " , " Fusō " and the escort carrier , escorted by two heavy cruisers and five destroyers transferred to Truk in the Caroline Islands . In response to the carrier raid on Tarawa on 18 September , " Nagato " and much of the fleet sortied for Eniwetok to search for the American forces before they returned to Truk on 23 September , having failed to locate the American force . The Japanese had intercepted some American radio traffic that suggested an attack on Wake Island , and on 17 October , " Nagato " and the bulk of the 1st Fleet sailed for Eniwetok to be in a position to intercept any such attack . The fleet arrived on 19 October , departed four days later , and arrived back at Truk on 26 October . Hayakawa was promoted to Rear Admiral on 1 November and he was relieved on 25 December by Captain Yuji Kobe . On 1 February 1944 , " Nagato " departed Truk with " Fusō " to avoid an American air raid , and arrived at Palau on 4 February . They left on 16 February to escape another air raid . The ships arrived on 21 February at Lingga Island , near Singapore , and the ship became the flagship of Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki , commander of Battleship Division 1 , on 25 February until he transferred his flag to " Yamato " on 5 May . Aside from a brief refit at Singapore , the ship remained at Lingga training until 11 May when she was transferred to Tawitawi on 12 May . She was now assigned to the 1st Mobile Fleet , under the command of Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa . On 10 June , Battleship Division 1 departed Tawitawi for Batjan in preparation for Operation Kon , a planned counterattack against the American invasion of Biak . Two days later , when word reached Ugaki of American attacks on Saipan , his force was diverted to the Mariana Islands . The battleships rendezvoused with Ozawa ' s main force on 16 June . During the Battle of the Philippine Sea , " Nagato " escorted the aircraft carriers , and the light carrier . She fired 41 cm Type 3 " Sankaidan " incendiary anti - aircraft shrapnel shell s at aircraft from the light carrier that were attacking " Jun ' yō " and claimed to have shot down two Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber s . The ship was strafe d by American aircraft during the battle , but was not damaged nor suffered any casualties . During the battle " Nagato " rescued survivors from " Hiyō " that were transferred to the carrier once the ship reached Okinawa on 22 June . She continued on to Kure where she was refitted with additional radars and light AA guns . Undocked on 8 July , " Nagato " loaded a regiment of the 28th Infantry Division the following day and delivered them at Okinawa on 11 July . She arrived at Lingga via Manila on 20 July . Battle of Leyte Gulf . Kobe was promoted to Rear Admiral on 15 October . Three days later , " Nagato " sailed for Brunei Bay , Borneo , to join the main Japanese fleet in preparation for " Operation " Sho " - 1 " , the counterattack planned against the American landings at Leyte . The Japanese plan called for Ozawa ' s carrier forces to lure the American carrier fleets north of Leyte so that Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita ' s 1st Diversion Force ( also known as the Center Force ) could enter Leyte Gulf and destroy American forces landing on the island . " Nagato " , together with the rest of Kurita ' s force , departed Brunei for the Philippines on 22 October . In the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea on 24 October , " Nagato " was attacked by multiple waves of American dive bombers and fighters . At 14 : 16 she was hit by two bombs dropped by planes from the fleet carrier and the light carrier . The first bomb disabled five of her casemate guns , jammed one of her Type 89 gun mounts , and damaged the air intake to No . 1 boiler room , immobilizing one propeller shaft for 24 minutes until the boiler was put back on line . Damage from the second bomb is unknown . The two bombs killed 52 men between them ; the number of wounded is not known . On the morning of 25 October , the 1st Diversion Force passed through the San Bernardino Strait and headed for Leyte Gulf to attack the American forces supporting the invasion . In the Battle off Samar , " Nagato " engaged the escort carriers and destroyers of Task Group 77 . 4 . 3 , codenamed " Taffy 3 " . At 06 : 01 she opened fire on three escort carriers , the first time she had ever fired her guns at an enemy ship , but missed . At 06 : 54 the destroyer fired a spread of torpedoes at the fast battleship ; the torpedoes missed " Haruna " and headed for " Yamato " and " Nagato " which were on a parallel course . The two battleships were forced 10 miles ( 16 km ) away from the engagement before the torpedoes ran out of fuel . Turning back , " Nagato " engaged the American escort carriers and their screening ships , firing forty - five 410 mm and ninety - two 140 mm shells , claiming to have damaged one cruiser , partially due to poor visibility as the defending escorts laid smoke screen s , and numerous rain squalls . At 09 : 10 Kurita ordered his ships to break off the engagement and head north . At 10 : 20 he ordered the fleet south once more , but as they came under increasingly severe air attack he ordered a retreat again at 12 : 36 . At 12 : 43 " Nagato " was hit in the bow by two bombs , but the damage was not severe . Four gunners were washed overboard at 16 : 56 as the ship made a sharp turn to avoid dive - bomber attacks ; a destroyer was detached to rescue them , but they could not be found . As it retreated back to Brunei on 26 October , the Japanese fleet came under repeated air attacks . " Nagato " and " Yamato " used " Sankaidan " shells against them and claimed to have shot down several bombers . Over the course of the last two days she fired ninety - nine 410 mm and six hundred fifty - three 140 mm shells , suffering 38 crewmen killed and 105 wounded during the same time . On 15 November the ship was assigned to Battleship Division 3 of the 2nd Fleet . After an aerial attack at Brunei on 16 November , " Nagato " , " Yamato " , and the fast battleship left the following day , bound for Kure . En route , " Kongō " and one of the escorting destroyers was sunk by on 21 November . On 25 November , she arrived at Yokosuka , Japan for repairs . Lack of fuel and materials meant that she could not be brought back into service and she was turned into a floating anti - aircraft battery . Her funnel and mainmast were removed to improve the arcs of fire of her AA guns , which were increased by two Type 89 mounts and nine triple 25 mm gun mounts . Her forward secondary guns were removed in compensation . Captain Kiyomi Shibuya relieved Kobe in command of " Nagato " on 25 November . Battleship Division 3 was disbanded on 1 January 1945 and the ship was reassigned to Battleship Division 1 . That formation was disbanded on 10 February and she was assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District as a coastal defence ship . A coal - burning donkey boiler was installed pierside for heating and cooking purposes and a converted submarine chaser was moored alongside to provide steam and electricity ; her anti - aircraft guns lacked full power and were only partially operational . On 20 April , " Nagato " was reduced to reserve and retired Rear Admiral Miki Otsuka assumed command a week later . In June 1945 , all of her secondary guns and about half of her anti - aircraft armament was moved ashore , together with her rangefinders and searchlights . Her crew was therefore reduced to less than 1 , 000 officers and enlisted men . On 18 July 1945 , the heavily camouflaged ship was attacked by fighter bombers and torpedo bombers from five American carriers . " Nagato " was hit by two bombs , the first bomb struck the bridge and killed her captain , executive officer , and twelve sailors when it detonated upon hitting the roof of the conning tower . The second 500 - pound bomb struck the deck aft of the mainmast and detonated when it hit No . 3 barbette . It failed to damage the barbette or the turret above it , but blew a hole nearly in diameter in the deck above the officer ' s lounge , killing 21 men and damaging four 25 mm guns on the deck above . A dud rocket of uncertain size hit the ship ' s fantail , but failed to do any significant damage . Captain Shuichi Sugino was appointed as " Nagato " s new captain on 24 July , but he was unable to take up his appointment until 20 August . Retired Rear Admiral Masamichi Ikeguchi was assigned as the ship ' s interim captain until Sugino arrived . Sailors from the battleship , Underwater Demolition Team 18 , and the high - speed transport secured the battleship on 30 August and Captain Cornelius Flynn , executive officer of the " Iowa " , assumed command . " Nagato " was stricken from the Navy List on 15 September . After the war . The ship was selected to participate as a target ship in Operation Crossroads , a series of nuclear weapon tests held at Bikini Atoll in mid - 1946 . In mid - March , " Nagato " departed Yokosuka for Eniwetok under the command of Captain W . J . Whipple with an American crew of about 180 men supplementing her Japanese crew . The ship was only capable of a speed of from her two operating propeller shafts . Her hull had not been repaired from the underwater damage sustained during the attack on 18 July and she leaked enough that her pumps could not keep up . Her consort , the light cruiser broke down on 28 March and " Nagato " attempted to take her in tow , but one of her boilers malfunctioned and the ship ran out of fuel in bad weather . The ship had a list of seven degrees to port by the time tugboats from Eniwetok arrived on 30 March . Towed at a speed of , the ship reached Eniwetok on 4 April where she received temporary repairs . On her trip to Bikini in May , " Nagato " reached . Operation Crossroads began with the first blast ( Test Able ) , an air burst on 1 July 1946 ; she was from ground zero and was only lightly damaged . A skeleton crew boarded " Nagato " to assess the damage and prepare her for the next test on 25 July . As a test , they operated one of her boilers for 36 hours without any problems . For Test Baker , an underwater explosion , the ship was positioned from ground zero . " Nagato " rode out the tsunami of water from the explosion with little apparent damage ; she had a slight starboard list of two degrees after the tsunami dissipated . A more thorough assessment could not be made because she was dangerously radioactive . Her list gradually increased over the next five days and she capsized during the night of 29 / 30 July . " The Times " has named the " Nagato " as one of the top ten wreck diving sites in the world .