The aft radar compartment is one of my posts; had I not happened to be on deck watch, I might have been on duty there....I run to the ladder at the aft side of the bridge and start down. To the right of the rail, as if eating into the iron bulkhead, a chunk of flesh. I brush it off with my elbow, and it goes sliding away...

An officer who stands exposed from the chest up in a side machine gun turret happens to look around. Our eyes meet as I run.

Ensign Takada, my classmate.

With his iron helmet down over his eyes, his swarthy face smiling, he calls in his Osaka dialect, 'Take care now,' and waves his pointer.

Answering promptly, 'Wilco', I run past without a glance. Who would have thought that this was to be my last sight of you, you son of a good Osaka family, you!"

Yoshida Mitsuru, "Requiem for Battleship Yamato"

This second photo shows the smoke from the first bomb hits. Yamato is struck by 4 armor piercing bombs near the funnel and aft of the rear fire control director within the first minutes of the initial attack.