View Full-Size Image

 

Note the deck details (particularly the rear crane and flightdeck, with one aircraft dolly clearly visible. A splotch on the negative partly blocks the view of the flight catapult).

Note the crew lined up on decks.

Also note weathering alongside the hull. Because Yamato was the flagship of the IJN, she was re-painted every time she spent a few months in port at Kure.

Please click on the "View Full-Size Image" as this photo is truly HUGE and with TONS of detail! I worked for days to clean it up and digitally enhance it. I spliced it together from three separate ultra-large photos of three different sections of the ship.

It just may be one of the most informative and valuable Yamato photos in existence.

Many thanks to Doug Hallet of SteelNavy.com who sent me the following note:

The ship appears to be entering port. The anchors are up and the flag is not flying from the stern/bow. There is some wake along the waterline. The casual scattering and increased presence of crewmen would suggest to me that they are taking in the sights as the ship heads for its assigned anchor spot. This would probably explain why the occasion grabbed someone's attention enough to take a snapshot from one of the other ships.