Yamato class (IJN Yamato) With a main armament consisting of nine 18.1/45 guns, the heaviest displacement of any battleship ever built, the Yamato is the monster of the battleship world. More armor, heavier weapons, and superior optics made this battleship something nobody else wanted to get close to. In the end, torpedos and bombers proved its end as aircraft carriers supplanted battleships as the kings of the sea. Few warships of today outmass it, and none have ever carried bigger guns or heavier armor. The Yamato was overawing beyond any doubt. The third planned Yamato class battleship was actually completed as an aircraft carrier.