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While in Hiroshima this year, I visited the Kure Maritime Museum (呉市海事歴史科学館), also known as the "Yamato Museum." Kure was (and is) a major shipbuilding city, and the museum there is a treasure trove of history. Here are a few photos I took there. That's the decommissioned submarine Akishio across the street, attached to the JMSDF Kure Museum (which I also went to). The traffic barriers are armor piercing shells. The pier just outside the museum is a 1:1 mockup of the Yamato's deck. I took this from the forward anchor position, facing where the #1 turret would be. Only a small fraction of the ship is represented, but it's still huge. This is a 41cm (16") gun salvaged from the battleship Mutsu. One of the first things you see when entering the museum is the famous 1:10 scale model of the Yamato. She is glorious. The museum has a lot of static displays as well. Type 2 torpedo. Kaiten suicide torpedo. Kairyu midget submarine. Zero Model 62 fighter-bomber. Type 91 AP and Type 3 AAA-incendiary shells for the Yamato's 46cm main guns. Two more shots of the Yamato. There were many other exhibits, including the history of the city of Kure, naval battles of the IJN, the evolution of shipbuilding, and a multitude of smaller-scale model ships. If you happen to visit Japan and have any interest in warships or military history, I highly recommend this museum.

I am going to be visiting the USS North Carolina museum this week and I fly out tomorrow afternoon. Do any of our WWII modders have any request on any part of the ship or object aboard that they would liked photographed? I probably will not be able to log in to CombatAce while I am away but I should still be able to check the site. I will probably be visiting the ship Thursday so you have about 24-hours to make any request. No promises I will get what you want, but I figured I should offer.