I am just beginind to build a Tamiya 1/350 YAMATO battleship.
Seraching a lot of references about it on the web I find our community with my google search.
The forum of 2003 speak about the Yamato, his gun and his tragic final day.
Don't forget that of a complement of more than 2.800 men only 269 survived.
Because I have learned, I think everything about the Yamato and Mushashi
I want jus to confirm and infirm some afterfacts.
First the Yamato wreck is well know, the wreck was visited two times, in 1985 and in 1999.
The big ship is broken in two by 1300 feet of water.
The two part are at 150 m apart.
The bow is righ on the bottom, cut between turret one and two.
The rest of the hull is upside down and the superstructure had probably blow of in the final explosion , a mid part is missing but it's beleived that the rest form all the debris field including the superstructure.
The three big turret are on the bottom ocean upside down with the complete barbette and are in a still good state
In fact the ship was completly devasted by one of two huge explosion.s
It's also beleived that is not the after turret magasines wich have blow of the ship but the magazines of the small artillery which have blow of the main turret magazines
The wreck is nearly unrecognizable by the devasting explosions.
Some photos of the wreck are visible at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Yamato
...........click on the contents: external links, and check the list.
This site is also a very good source about IJN and other axis WWII ship.
The following site give some illustration and 3D rendering of the final minutes of the two ship:
http://www.bismarck-class.dk/miscellaneous/miscellaneous_menu.htlm
Speaking about the Mushashi the wreck is not discover as far as I know.
It's beleived and hoping that the wreck is in a better state that the Yamato one.
Some witness speak about a under water explosion.
The only problem is if the ship is upside down.
A lot of the IJN wrecks are researched or are on the way to be discovered, refer to the web.
By example a part of the carrier Akagi was found around 2001, but not the hull wreck.
These wrecks are difficult to find because of poor position of the sinking and the deep of pacific ocean; the Akagi part was find under more than 3miles of water!
About the gun of these titans, they have nearly the same effect that the us 400mm but its clear that in short distance they would be devastator.
The spread was better that a lot have say, and they could reach a target at more than 40.000 yards
After the war the US had made reseach about the impact of the US IOWA class battleship shell on the armor of the turret of the titans.
If in short range the shell penetrates the casemate, at further distance the result is not so evident, it's depend of the angle of the falling shell.
Unfortenatly, only 27 gun of 460mmm were ever made.
The rest of them were brought in USA after the war for research and ballistics results.
It's reported that the guns where scrapped in the 50's
It's also reported that the japanese were worked on a 500mm gun, find by US at the end of war.
They would have be on a future battleship of nearly 100.000 tons armed with four twin turret of 500mm.
To conclude, these titans had'nt no chance to survive with air attacks.
Between their conception (1936)and the end of the war, the bombs and the torpedoes have nearly quadrupled in size, weight and devasting effects.
It's nearly impossible even with today standard to make a casemate which resist of a falling bomb from 350 feet and weigthing more than 1000 ibs.