AllMovie

It was a little-known episode of WWII that has nonetheless gained notoriety among survivors of the period and historians. Crafted by the Japanese in vitriolic response to Pearl Harbor, the Yamato remains the largest battleship in modern history, twice the size of the average American gunship with the most massive warheads ever mounted on a seagoing vessel. However, she sank on the day of her launch, in an explosion that sent the majority of her crew -- 3,000 Japanese soldiers -- to the bottom of the ocean. In NOVA: Sinking the Supership, the acclaimed WGBH-produced documentary program breaks new ground by interviewing two survivors and -- incredibly -- teaming up with a group of undersea explorers, to journey to the depths of the East China Sea and unlock the mysteries of this now-mythical battleship -- the secrets behind its operation and the details of its final, ill-fated mission.