The Yamato was the biggest battleship ever to sail the world's oceans. But it only saw action once – in a final, desperate suicide mission that is one of the most dramatic stories of World War II.

Today, Yamato lies at the bottom of the East China Sea, sunk by a massive explosion that entombed 3,000 Japanese sailors in a colossal naval disaster. Built in secrecy and launched just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Yamato was almost twice the size of her American counterparts, with the largest guns ever mounted on a warship. However, the Japanese supership was obsolete the day she was launched. As it sank below the waves, the golden age of the battleship, the 20th century’s first superweapon, had already faded from history.

NOVA joins an international team exploring the grave of this titanic vessel to unlock the secrets of her design and final mission. Featuring powerful interviews with two of the Japanese survivors of the sinking, NOVA reconstructs the fateful last hours that led to the supership’s doom.

Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators; a link to the NOVA Web site; scene selections; closed captions; and described video for the visually impaired.

On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: Letterboxed.