I remember reading an arcticle many years ago about the Yamato class and other countries last battleships comparing them and what the likley outcomes of battles between them.
They concentrated mainly on Yamato, Iowa and Vanguard. For sheer firepower and armour the Yamato was going to win against Iowa or Vanguard but interestingly in a different engagment where the situation favoured the Allies abilities- night fighting- the odds went in favour of Vanguard due to our better radar, the ship being smaller/more manouvrable and faster than the Yamato. Also, the 15inch guns were quicker to reload and turn/elevate therefore could put up a larger barrage of shells.
Strangely even when these vessels were being built they still didn't get the fact that the aircraft carrying a bomb were more likely to take out a battleship than another battleship! Clearly seen by their own militaries in places like Taranto, Pearl Harbor and Midway!
For those interested there is a new book available on amazon about the Japanese Navy, Vol 3 covers the Yamato class.
