I must congratulate you on the article Ailsa's Achievements (SM, Jan). I joined the company in 1960 as an apprentice draughtsman, and I worked on two of the vessels shown: Aberthaw Fisher and Lady of Mann. Ailsa built and repaired a number of ships for Wm Robertson & Co of Glasgow during my time with the Company. However, Emerald, which was pictured on trials in the article, was not an Ailsa ship but was built by Crangemouth Dockyard in 1952. I know it is 70 years since the battleship Musashi was sunk, but I could not help but feel the article on the two Japanese giants (SM, Jan) was less than respectful of the 3,537 Japanese sailors who died on those two ships, because of a lack of attention in its attribution of images and established facts. The line drawings of Yamato were of Musashi in 1944, as were most of the photos of the ships under attack. I do not believe the Yamato attained 162 barrels in 25mm AA guns: with the removal of single barrel mounts, it is generally accepted there were no more than 150 at the time of her sinking. In addition, the No.1 magazine did not explode: a bomb hit that destroyed the aft 155mm mount and started a fire, which is believed to have caused the aft magazine to explode. This is borne out by the wreckage on the seabed, where the aft hull structure is detached and that forward of the conning tower relatively intact.
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