Build the Musashi: The Birth and Death of the World's Greatest Battleship

This is an easily readable, attention-holding account of the secret construction of one of the three largest ships ever built up to 1944. The author gives detailed insight into the naval architects, the naval commanders, shipyard workers, and ship's personnel who planned, built, commanded, and lived in the Musashi. Central to this story is the incredible extent the Japanese went to in order to hide the battleship's existence from the outside world. Monumental camoflage efforts, security procedures, and clandestine actions fill the chapters. Detailed descriptions are provided on the technical aspects of building and launching a 68,000 hunk of steel carrying the largest (18.1" dia. shells) naval guns in the world. The political infighting amongst the Japanese military factions in developing the strategies to use the Musashi and her two sisters, Yamato and Shinano (converted to an aircraft carrier) is covered quite well. Photographs and descriptions of the Musashi's combat employment and eventual sinking by an overwhelming amount of ordnance in the Sibuyan Sea in October 1944 are well done and clearly constructed. This book is a fast-reading saga which gives us a fascinating picture of a determined people and the pride they placed in creating a magnificent seagoing monument to the last of the Japanese warrior empire.