Battleship Musashi: The Making and Sinking of the Worlds Biggest Battleship

Book Description

Admiral lsoroku Yamamoto, the man who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor, said that the three great follies of the world were the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids, and the battleship Musashi. Yamamoto understood that sheer size and firepower would not be decisive factors in the battle for
naval supremacy in the Pacific.

The Musashi was massive-upright it would have approached the size of the Chrysler Building. Outfitted with eighteen-inch armor plating and nine eighteen-inch guns, the largest ever mounted on a warship, the Musashi was considered by its creators to be invincible and unsinkable. Yet during its two
years of active duty with the Combined Fleet, it never fired a single shot against another ship. It was sunk, as Yamamoto had predicted, by torpedoes and bombs.

Akira Yoshimura's dramatic reconstruction of the birth of the Musashi portrays a nation preparing for total war. Under these extreme conditions, courage, genius, and integrity coexisted with brutality, folly, and paranoia. During the more than four years it took to build and outfit it, shipyard
engineers and their Navy mentors were faced with seemingly insurmountable technical problems and plagued by natural calamities and the constant fear of espionage. The solutions they found to each successive crisis were sometimes brilliant, sometimes absurd. Battleship Musashi is a tribute to the men
who achieved this engineering marvel and a testament to the excesses of bureaucratic militarism.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent read.......2007-08-12

I really enjoyed reading about the technical details involved in building this ship. It was all quite fascinating and I consumed this book over three jet-lagged nights. The Yamato class battleships were obsolete the moment they were laid down. The amount of materials and energy devoted to building these vessels would have been far better spent on 4-6 Soryu-type air craft carriers and their airwings. Fortunately for the U.S. Japan squandered a great deal of her precious resources on these dreadnoughts, even while the Japanese navy (unlike our own) was convinced that air craft carriers would be the key ships in Naval warfare. Moreover, the sinking of the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse by land based bombers shortly after Pearl Harbor should have sent shivers down the spine of any Admiral envisioning battleships as stand alone fighting ships. The idea behind these battleships was to use their longer range fire power to fight Amerian battlehips before our ships could get in range, but this was a highy suspect strategy. 1)It's very hard to get accurate targeting of ballistic projectiles at extreme ranges even if targeting is provided by airplane (Yamato and Musashi carried 9 each for this purpose) 2)Though heavily armored- more so than our Iowa class and South dakota and Washington-classes- the guns were 50 caliber whereas the smaller bore (40cm versus Yamato and Musashi's 46 cm guns) were 70 caliber and the penetrating power of the guns on US battleships would have been about the same as the larger bore lower caliber Japanese guns. 3)Guns on our ships were radar directed and more accurate. We could have "picked up" the Yamato's long before their aircraft spotted our ships. The "tragic" aspect for me is that her final and really only battle was futile. There was zero chance of accomplishing her mission in the face of overwhelming US Naval aviation. The ship was lost for no reason whatsoever. I have to wonder what would have happened in the Pacific if Japan had built more aircraft carriers instead of these obsolete thugs. I am glad that a good book on the Musashi has been wtitten. In Japan, the Yamato is still famous, but almost no one has ever heard of the Musashi. The writing itself is very engaging but there are som typos and mistranslations. For example the commanding officers of the Musashi are designated Lieutenant Commanders but this is highly unlikely. Destroyers would have been commanded by officers of this rank but even Light Cruisers would have been commanded by a Commander and a capital ship- battlehips and air craft carriers- were surely all commanded by Captains. In one of the final chapters of the book the Cruiser Maya is misclassed as a destroyer (even though she was properly classed as a cruiser pages earlier). Destroyers generally had names ending in... "Kaze" (wind)- as in Hayakaze (Fast Wind or Early Wind, depending on the character for "hayai") or ... "Shio" (current)- as in Tsuyoshio (Strong Current). These error or typos are of course minor.

Interesting construction history.......2007-05-18

This is the kind of book I enjoy reading--it has an immense engineering feat to be accomplished, major obstacles, security issues, and the project is critical to the nation as a whole. I'd give it 5 stars, but I still had that "if only" feeling, the kind you get when you've had just enough to get your interest but not enough to really satisfy you. I like technical details, and more would have been better. For instance, the specialized ship built to haul the guns isn't illustrated (I've never seen a picture of it) and is only barely described, but that ship was essential to the whole construction process. However, I realize that pictures and documentation of Japanese ships are rare due to document destruction at the end of the war, so if this is all there is, so be it.

One of the more jarring (but accurate) aspects of the book is how the Japanese handle security. "Questioning" a suspect involves torture and beatings, the whole Chinese community in Nagasaki is rounded up and terrorized, and the city itself is sometimes shut down with an air of casualness about it.

Some insights but not at all complete not for the novice.......2006-07-04

The title is somewhat deceptive as the text goes more into the secrecy around the building of the ship as it was a private yard who build Musashi. Details are given how they shielded the ship from foreign eyes as there were foreign owned houses with a view of the area.

Problems with a missing blueprint and also launching of the ship are interesting but you only get bits of the actual contruction of the ship. This book is only for the enthusiast who knows a lot of the ships already and for example has read Lengerers article of the Japanese super battleship strategy.
The book gives almost nothing about the design.
The three star is for the enthusiast but for the novice the book is only a one star. The description of the sinking is acceptable but the article from Tim Thornton in Warship no 45 (jan 88) is in my opinion better. But the secrecy problems gives interesting insights in a way that I have seldom seen.
Therefor it is difficult to rate the book, for those who are not interested in the positive aspects that I have mentioned - stay away.

NOT WHAT I EXPECTED -- BUT A PLEASANT SURPRISE NEVERTHELESS.......2006-04-30

IN A NUTSHELL: A TRUE STORY ABOUT THE MIND SET OF A DESPERATE JAPAN

The book is a short, easy, and an interesting read for most people acquainted with naval construction and operations. It is broken into two distinct parts; the construction of the ship [under a cloak of extreme secrecy], and its short life as one of a class of two, of the most extreme battleship designs ever constructed. Both the designs of the ships and the mindset of the navy that ordered them are interwoven and born of a need to somehow prevail over a greatly superior adversary. In that light, this book is fascinating as it reveals this rather empirically. In reading "Battleship Musashi", I felt and empathized with the Japanese of the era by witnessing [through the written accounts] some of the motivations and experiences of the Japanese people during the period. Many of the goals that were to be achieved with this new class of vessel embodied the rather unique hopes and ideas that the Japanese people had at the time, compared to westerners. This book stresses these cultural themes in the context of the construction and destruction of an incredible symbol of Japanese Imperial power.

Though I would have preferred reading more detailed accounts of the design criteria and ship operations, it was a fast and worthwhile read. In the end, the invincible Battleship Musashi shared the same fate as the rest of the Imperial Japanese Empire, and this book is a requiem to both.

The perspective of a young warrior........2006-02-18

This translated book will not satisfy anyone looking for explicit ship building details, or decriptions of a glorious naval battle.

As with all books that I have read, I found some information that I otherwise didn't have before I read the book. For starters, the Matsui was not the largest battleship, but the sister ship of the Yamato. I doubt whether anyone then or now could tell you which ship was technically the largest. The Matsui was the newer of the two, and had some equipment the Matsui did not have. I have read the two books written by former young officers who served on both, and this is more technical, but not by much.

You will learn from reading that the reason the Japanese had 18.1 inch guns rather than the 16 inch guns of US Batttleships was due to the US's requirement to defend both coasts and thus navigate the Panama Canal. Apparently, the design of the main battery guns required such breadth that 16 inches was the maximum.

This ship was built in the Nagasaki shipyard, which was the target of the second and last Atomic bomb. I have often heard anti US/nuclear propaganda that Nagasaki was not a military target. Anyone with any objective sense would have to concede that destroying a shipyard capable of building such a weapon qualifies as a military target.

Finally, the book provides an insight into the mindset of a young Japanese Naval officer. His view of the world around him was pragmatic and quite un-western. His service to his country had a religious zeal. Surrender does not carry the same stigma for Americans, as it did for the Japanese in WWII. Our leaders asked for sacrifice, but they did allow major forces to surrender when the end was inevitable. (The Philipines). The Nazi's and the military cabal of Tojo never considered surrender as an option, and prefered suicide as a military tactic.

For those who still argue about the morality of using atomic weapons against such an enemy, read this book. It may give you a different perspective of an "already defeated" enemy.

Book Description

Published originally in 1935, this is an account of twenty-two years spent off and on among the Bedouins of Arabia, migrating, hunting, raiding, starving and feasting and making wonderful desert friendships. The author writes the book for 'the Lord of the land of his fathers,' the King of Arabia 'Abd el-'Aziz ibn Sa'ud el Wahhab and his governors and chiefs in Nejd, Hasa, Jauf, and Kaf and Amir Nuri Sha'lan, his family and tribe of the Ruala. An intimate account of the tradition and ancestors of the Bedouin.

Customer Reviews:

Captivating story of experiences, knowledge and triumph..........2003-11-11

This is an expanded edition of the book first published in 1935, in which the author re-counts his desert experiences in pursuit of knowledge of the Arabian horse. He later used what he learned to become a principal agent in building up the breed in the United States and Europe in the 20th century. Traveling in the Arabian Peninsula shortly before the founding of Saudi Arabia in 1932, Raswan was renowned among the tribes for his deep respect of Bedouin ways, especially horsemanship and horse breed-ing. Born in Dresden in 1893, he emigrated to the United States in 1921, where he as-sisted in the historic Davenport importation and with the establishment of the country's earliest Arabian stud farms. This edition contains 100 pages of photographs. DD

Truth often greater than fiction.......2000-06-16

Some fiction writers are dying for the structure that will set them apart from the others. Their books are crafted around an outline, a chronology, or an intuition. A story must evolve, a character must draw the reader in. If in structure only, this narrative changes the way you will read fiction. The stories, the chronology, and the manner of which they are used, create an atmosphere that engulfs the reader, teaches the reading mind that life, when witnessed and retold well, is more beautiful than fiction; a new mythology of truth is born. This book is a keystone to perceiving life, and living, as each day is a myth being told, and that all travels will bring us to tales of morality, love, and the sweet heart-ache of departure and return.

First person story of life with the Bedouin by a Westerner........1998-08-31

The author was a German soldier in WWI who lived with the Bedouin for 22 years after the war. His initial attraction was his love of Arabian horses, but he eventually acquiired the language and customs of the Ruala tribe. Incredibly violent scenes are described in great detail as he rides in raiding parties and fights gun battles with other tribes. One compelling scene describes the sound of bullets smacking into the chest of his best friend. The food scenes are also not for the faint of heart; you may not want to know what they do with the contents of a dead camel's stomach. There is also much in the book that makes one admire the laws of the desert and the nomadic customs that have evolved. This is not a scientific book or an anthropological text, but it should be of extreme interest to any one who seriously studies these people. My interest in oriental rugs caused me to pick it up at a local junk store, and I found it thoroughly engrossing.

Black Tents of Arabia (My Life Among the Bedouins)

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Black Tents of Arabia (My Life Among the Bedouins)
Carl R. Raswan
Manufacturer: Creative Age Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OKAH54

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Black Tents of Arabia: My Life Among the Bedouins
Carl R. Raswan
Manufacturer: Little, Brown
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Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NP30F4

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In the shadow of the black tents
Thierry Mauger
Manufacturer: Tihama
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007BFS0O

THE BLACK TENTS OF ARABIA (My Life Amongst the Bedouins).

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THE BLACK TENTS OF ARABIA (My Life Amongst the Bedouins).
Carl R.: Raswan
Manufacturer: Pan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000W2W7WU

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Black Tents of Arabia Signed
Carl R Raswan
Manufacturer: CREATIVE AGE PRESS INC
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Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000Q9NVWO

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Black Tents of Arabia, My Life Among the Bedouins
Carl R. RASWAN
Manufacturer: Little Brown
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Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O3KAHG

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Black Tents of Arabia; (My Life Among the Bedouins)
Carl R. Raswan
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JRC9BC

Book Description

Science and Applications of Conducting Polymers emphasizes potential industrial applications of conducting polymers. The papers presented discuss the basic physics and chemistry of conducting polymers, followed by an in-depth examination of applications. The book is ideal for researchers in polymer physics, electronics, optics, and semiconductor physics.

Biopolymers From Renewable Resources (MACROMOLECULAR SYSTEMS - MATERIALS APPROACH)

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Biopolymers From Renewable Resources (MACROMOLECULAR SYSTEMS - MATERIALS APPROACH)
D. L., ED. KAPLAN
Manufacturer: SPRINGER-VERLAG
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 354063567X

Book Description

The beneficial aspects of utilizing polymers from renewable resources, when considering synthesis, processing, disposal, and overall material lifecycle issues, suggests that this will continue to be an important and growing area of interest. The focus on greener chemistries in industry can be in part satisfied by exploring the range of polymers available from Nature. The information for each type of polymer includes aspects of synthesis, processing and properties. The wide range of polymers and their properties, including polyamides, polysaccharides, polyesters and polyphenols, among others, illustrates this diversity of materials. The reader will have a single volume which provides a resource from which to gain initial insights into this diverse field and from which key references and contacts can be drawn.

Polymers from Renewable Resources: Biopolyesters and Biocatalysis (Acs Symposium Series)

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Polymers from Renewable Resources: Biopolyesters and Biocatalysis (Acs Symposium Series)

Manufacturer: An American Chemical Society Publication
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0841236461

Book Description

This book is part two of a 3-volume series on polymers from renewable resources. The entire set focuses on gathering contributions from the leading workers in specific areas of research pertaining to this field, such as agroproteins, modification of natural polymers, and environmentally benign synthesis and processing. Each book is an up-to-the-minute guide on a wide range of the studies in this emerging field from polysaccharides to polyesters, biostable polymers to the regulatory issues that are critical to the development of new commercial biodegradable products.

Polymer Surfaces: From Physics to Technology

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Polymer Surfaces: From Physics to Technology
Fabio Garbassi , M. Morra , and Ernesto Occhiello
Manufacturer: Wiley
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0471971006

Book Description

As the use and applications of polymers increase, so does the interactions of polymer surfaces with other materials. This updated paperback edition of this well-received, popular book presents a comprehensive approach to all aspects of polymer surfaces, from fundamental theory through applications, making it essential reading for everyone studying or working with polymers.
- From the Reviews of the Cloth Edition "...both informative and a pleasure to read....the favorable reaction derives from the volume's organization and presentation of its material to ensure maximum utility." Polymer News
- Divided into four comprehensive sections: physical principles of polymer surfaces, characterization, modifications of properties, and applications.
- Includes the most recent patent information.

Additive Migration from Plastics into Food; A Guide for Analytical Chemists

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Additive Migration from Plastics into Food; A Guide for Analytical Chemists
T., R. Crompton
Manufacturer: Smithers Rapra Technology
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1847350569

Additive Migration from Plastics into Foods; A Guide for Analytical Chemists

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Additive Migration from Plastics into Foods; A Guide for Analytical Chemists
T., R. Crompton
Manufacturer: Smithers Rapra Technology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Food Additives | Nutrition | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1847350550

Book Description

Plastics are now being used on a large scale for the packaging of fatty and aqueous foodstuffs and beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Thus it is likely that some transfer of polymer additives will occur - adventitious impurities such as monomers, oligomers, catalyst remnants and residual polymerisation solvents and low molecular weight polymer fractions - from the plastic into the packaged material with the consequent risk of a toxic hazard to the consumer. This book covers all aspects of the migration of additives into food and gives detailed information on the analytical determination of the additives in various plastics. This book will be of interest to those engaged in the implementation of packaging legislation, including management, analytical chemists and the manufacturers of foods, beverages, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics and also scientific and toxicologists in the packaging industry.

Biopolymers from Polysaccharides and Agroproteins

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Biopolymers from Polysaccharides and Agroproteins

Manufacturer: An American Chemical Society Publication
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0841236453

Book Description

This book is part one of a 3-volume series on polymers from renewable resources. The entire set focuses on gathering contributions from the leading workers in specific areas of research pertaining to this field, such as agroproteins, modification of natural polymers, and environmentally benign synthesis and processing. Each book is an up-to-the-minute guide on a wide range of the studies in this emerging field from polysaccharides to polyesters, biostable polymers to the regulatory issues that are critical to the development of new commercial biodegradable products.

Celluloid: Collectibles from the Dawn of Plastics (Schiffer Book for Collectors)

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Celluloid: Collectibles from the Dawn of Plastics (Schiffer Book for Collectors)
Robert Brenner
Manufacturer: Schiffer Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0764308335

Book Description

A sweeping survey of the early world of plastics is presented here in text and over 500 color photographs of celluloid toys, ornaments, jewelry, greeting cards, dolls, and much more. Advertisements from early twentieth century catalog pages futher chronicle the artifacts made with this enchanting early plastic. Celluloid objects of many forms and functions are included, ranging from holiday items and novelties to children's play things and utilitarian objects--all of which would have been found scattered throughout homes during the early decades of the twentieth century. Additionally, a concise but colorful history of the development of celluloid is provided (including startling accounts of exploding billiard balls and curling dentures). Values are found in the captions of the objects illustrated. A bibliography is provided as well. This book is a fascinating look back at the celluloid products of yesteryear.

Colloid-Polymer Interactions: From Fundamentals to Practice

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Colloid-Polymer Interactions: From Fundamentals to Practice

Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

P>Of related interest . . .

THE COLLOIDAL DOMAIN Second Edition Where Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Technology Meet

D. Fennell Evans and Håkan Wennerström

Fully updated and revised, this new edition of the critically acclaimed book incorporates information on key developments in colloid science and technology in the twentieth century. It provides a unified treatment of colloid theory, methods, and applications to specific systems, complete with concept maps, new worked examples, and more than 250 illustrations.

1999 (0-471-24247-0) 672 pp.

FUNDAMENTALS OF INTERFACIAL ENGINEERING

Robert J. Stokes and D. Fennell Evans

This book emphasizes the importance of the intermolecular forces that hold materials together within a bulk phase or across an interface. It examines the fundamentals of the intermolecular interactions along with the properties, processing, and behavior of fluid interfacial systems. Solid surfaces and interfaces are also discussed.

1996 (0-471-18647-3) 736 pp.

POLYMER HANDBOOK

Fourth Edition

Edited by J. Brandrup, E. H. Immergut, and E. A. Grulke

Now in a fourth edition, the Polymer Handbook is one of the most comprehensive resources of fundamental, validated property data of polymeric materials necessary for polymer research. This edition boasts over 30ew material, covering such advances as the new pvt relationships and copolymer reactivity parameters. Improved nomenclature for better indexing and search and retrieval is also provided.

1999 (0-471-16628-6) 2336 pp.

Emissions From Plastics (Rapra Review Reports)

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Emissions From Plastics (Rapra Review Reports)
C. Henneuse , and T. Pacary
Manufacturer: Rapra Technology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 185957386X

Book Description

Public awareness of health and safety issues related to air and food quality has been growing steadily. Polymeric materials have been implicated as sources of pollutants both during production and in use. There have been concerns about the oestrogenic properties of phthalate plasticisers and the toxic properties of styrene, formaldehyde and vinyl chloride monomer. In addition, the release of volatile organic compounds has effects on the environment.

Plastic materials, solvents, varnishes, coatings, insulating materials, glues, carpets, foams, textiles and other products may all emit volatile organic compounds that contribute to the deterioration of ambient air quality in terms of odours and pollutants. The emission may originate from unreacted monomer, plasticisers, flame retardants, processing aids, biocides and decomposition products. These contaminants are of particular concern in confined spaces such as car interiors, houses and offices.

This report outlines the key issues regarding emissions from plastics. It summarises the published research on a wide variety of materials and settings. New methods of analysis and testing have been developed or adapted to examine these emissions. Environmental test chambers have been built in a wide variety of sizes. Variables in experiments include temperature, humidity and air flow. There are standard quantities of materials to test depending on the application, for example, 0.4 m2/m3 for floorings and 0.5 m2/m3 for paint. Emission rates alter over time and it is important to know a product's profile.

Many attempts have been made to classify odour. The various methods and descriptors are discussed in this review, from the categories in use by Toyota to the 'Champs des odeurs'. In some cases panels of volunteers are used, in other instances electronic sensors have been developed. Food flavour can also be affected by plastic packaging.

Data from analysis work on air quality and emissions from plastics is included in this report.

The review is accompanied by around 400 abstracts from papers and books in the Rapra Polymer Library database, to facilitate further reading on this subject. It also contains an additional 130 references from the author's library. A subject index and a company index are included.

Key features…
* chemical emissions
* test methods
* data
* odour and flavour effects

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