hospital and rejoin the crew. Meanwhile, IJN representative Vice-Admiral Ryūnosuke Kusaka arrives and briefs the admiral-in-charge of Yamato, Vice-Admiral Seiichi Itō, and the other senior officers, of the details of Operation Ten-Go. It will almost certainly be a suicide mission - and with no air cover, the entire Japanese force will be extremely vulnerable to Allied attacks, making it unlikely that they will even reach Okinawa. Fights break out among the crew as some believe the mission is futile, but an officer convinces them that the Yamato, as Japan's last operational battleship, must make every effort to defend the nation. On the morning of April 7, the Yamato and its escorts assume battle stations after Task Force 58 detects it on the way to Okinawa and sends its strike planes to intercept. The crew opens fire with their anti-aircraft weapons as the planes appear. However, the sheer number of US aircraft overwhelm the defenses and the Yamato takes heavy damage from multiple bombs and torpedo hits. Kamio, Uchida, and Moriwaki continue to man a portside AA battery after strafing runs and bomb strikes kill much of the crew, including Karaki. After being told the ship is crippled and sinking, Admiral Itō and Captain Kōsaku Aruga give the order to abandon ship, although both choose to stay behind. Uchida and Moriwaki throw Kamio overboard despite his wish to stay with them to the end. The radioman attempts to call for support but water starts flooding the ship, which eventually capsizes and explodes after its aft magazine detonates. The Yamato's remaining escorts start rescuing the survivors, but Kamio fails to save his friend Tetsuya Nishi despite promising his mother that he would look after him. Moriwaki ties Kamio to be hoisted aboard a rescue vessel and swims away to drown himself. The film flashes forward to the present day; the old Kamio has a heart attack, but Makiko and Atsushi revive him. He also discusses what happened to him during the war's final months. He recounts that after the sinking, he went and told Nishi's mother that her son had died "a hero's death." Kamio expresses his grief that, despite risking his life in battle, he was ultimately unable to protect anyone he loved - Taeko died of radiation poisoning after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, where she had been conscripted to work at a munitions plant. However, she was able to