armor was substantially upgraded. The deck armor was increased to a maximum thickness of . A longitudinal bulkhead of of high-tensile steel was added to improve the underwater protection. Aircraft Yamashiro was briefly fitted with an aircraft flying-off platform on Turret No. 2 in 1922. She successfully launched Gloster Sparrowhawk and Sopwith Camel fighters from it, the first Japanese ship to do so. During her modernization in the 1930s, a catapult and a collapsible crane were fitted on the stern, and the ship was equipped to operate three floatplanes, although no hangar was provided. The initial Nakajima E4N2 biplanes were replaced by Nakajima E8N2 biplanes in 1938 and then by Mitsubishi F1M biplanes, from 1942 on. Fire control and sensors The ship was originally fitted with two and two rangefinders in her forward superstructure, a rangefinder on the roof of Turret No. 2, and 4.5-meter rangefinders in Turrets 3, 4, and 5. While in drydock in July 1943, a Type 21 air search radar was installed on the roof of the 10-meter rangefinder at the top of the pagoda mast. In August 1944, two Type 22 surface search radar units were installed on the pagoda mast and two Type 13 early warning radar units were fitted on her mainmast. Construction and service Yamashiro, named for Yamashiro Province, the former province of Kyoto, was laid down at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 20 November 1913 and launched on 3 November 1915. She was completed on 31 March 1917 with Captain Suketomo Nakajima in command, and was assigned to the 1st Division of the 1st Fleet in 1917–1918. She did not take part in any combat during World War I, as there were no longer any forces of the Central Powers in East Asia by the time she was completed, but she did patrol off the coast of China briefly during the war. On 29 March 1922, a Gloster Sparrowhawk fighter successfully took off from the ship. She aided survivors of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake in September 1923. Little detailed information is available about Yamashiros activities during the 1920s, although she did make a port visit to Ryojun Guard District, in Manchuria, on 5 April 1925 and also conducted training off the coast of China. The ship's reconstruction began on 18 December 1930 at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal where her machinery was replaced, her armor was reinforced, and torpedo bulges were