article_snippet: (CNN)On October 24, 1944, U.S. warplanes swarmed at the Leviathan of battleships, Japan's Musashi, splashing down torpedoes or dive bombing it.
article_snippet: It took U.S. warplanes four hours and more than 25 direct hits to put one of the two largest war ships in World War II to the bottom of the Philippines Sibuyan Sea.
article_snippet: The submersible showed multiple hits right under the Musashi's main gun, perhaps the most powerful naval cannon at that time.
article_snippet: the Musashi was the most heavily armed ship of the Musashi time, Allen's researchers said.
article_snippet: the Musashi was very vulnerable to torpedoes.
article_snippet: U.S. warplanes went in for the kill.
article_snippet: As the the Musashi sank, parts of it, where air was trapped imploded.
article_snippet: Launched in 1940, the Musashi was, at the time, in the largest class of warship ever constructed, displacing more than 69,000 tons.
article_snippet: The U.S. Navy sank the Musashi during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the central Philippines.
highlights_snippet: Japan's giant battleship Musashi was sunk off the Philippines in World War II .
  