What You Need to Know: The Yamato-class battleships were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, designed by Imperial Japan before World War II to assert naval dominance.

Chuokoron-Shinsha Inc. published a single-volume book titled “A Senkan Musashi” (Oh battleship Musashi) on Jan. 30. Japan’s second Yamato-class battleship fell under siege and went down ...