the two Fusō-class ships to hybrid battleship/carriers, but the two Ise-class battleships were chosen instead. In July 1943, Yamashiro was at the Yokosuka drydock for fitting of a radar and additional 25 mm AA guns. The ship was briefly assigned as a training ship on 15 September before loading troops on 13 October bound for Truk Naval Base, arriving with the battleship on the 20th. The two battleships sailed for Japan, accompanied by the carriers and , on 31 October. On 8 November, the submarine fired torpedoes at Jun'yo that missed, but hit Yamashiro with a torpedo that failed to detonate. Yamashiro resumed her training duties in Japan, and Captain Yoshioki Tawara assumed command. He was promoted to rear admiral on 1 May, but died of natural causes four days later, and Captain Katsukiyo Shinoda was appointed to replace him. During the US invasion of Saipan in June 1944, Japanese troop ships attempting to reinforce the defenses were sunk by submarines. Shigenori Kami, chief of operations of the Navy Staff, volunteered to command Yamashiro to carry troops and equipment to Saipan. If the ship actually reached the island, he intended to deliberately beach the ship before it could be sunk and to use its artillery to defend the island. After Ryūnosuke Kusaka, Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet, also volunteered to go, Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō approved the plan, known as Operation Y-GO, but the operation was cancelled after the decisive defeat in the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19 and 20 June. The ship was refitted in July at Yokosuka, where additional radar systems and light AA guns were fitted. Yamashiro and her sister ship were transferred to Battleship Division 2 of the 2nd Fleet on 10 September. The ship briefly became the division's flagship under Vice Admiral Shōji Nishimura until 23 September when he transferred his flag to Fusō. They departed Kure on 23 September for Lingga Island, carrying the Army's 25th Independent Mixed Regiment, and escaped an attack by the submarine the next day. They arrived on 4 October, where Nishimura transferred his flag back to Yamashiro. The ships then transferred to Brunei to offload their toops and refuel in preparation for Operation Shō-Gō, the attempt to destroy the American fleet conducting the invasion of Leyte. Battle of Surigao Strait As flagship of Nishimura's Southern Force, Yamashiro left Brunei at 15:30 on 22 October 1944,