The enormously destructive power of the big gun at close ranges ... will lead to the elimination from the main batteries of future battleships of mixed batteries of 6-inch, 7-inch, 8-inch ...

The gun was first deployed in 1971 as the Mk 45 Mod 0, and has been updated in the more than five decades since.

KURE, Hiroshima Prefecture--A massive lathe used to precision shape the main gun barrels of Japan’s mighty World War II battleship Yamato is now on public display at the Kure Maritime Museum here.