The ship was transferred to Truk, Japan's main wartime naval base in the South Pacific theatre, in early 1943 and sortied several times that year with the fleet in unsuccessful searches for American forces.

Torpedoed in early 1944 by an American submarine, Musashi was forced to return to Japan for repairs, during which the navy greatly augmented her anti-aircraft armament.

During the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Musashi was sunk by an estimated 19 torpedo and 17 bomb hits from American carrier-based aircraft on 24 October 1944.

The turbines were designed to produce a total of 150,000 shaft horsepower (110,000 kW), using steam provided by 12 Kampon water-tube boilers, giving the ship a maximum speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph).

She had a stowage capacity of 6,300 long tons (6,400 t) of fuel oil, giving a range of 7,200 nautical miles (13,300 km; 8,300 mi) at a speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).

[8] The ship's secondary battery consisted of twelve 60-calibre 155-millimetre 3rd Year Type guns mounted in four triple turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure and one on each side amidships.

[9] Heavy anti-aircraft defence was provided by a dozen 40-calibre 127-millimetre (5 in) Type 89 dual-purpose guns in six twin turrets, three on each side of the superstructure.

[11] The ship's waterline armour belt was identical to Yamato's at 410 millimetres (16.1 in) thick and angled outwards 20 degrees at the top.

Musashi contained 1,147 watertight compartments (1,065 underneath the armour deck, 82 above) to preserve buoyancy in the event of battle damage.

[11] To cope with Musashi's great size and weight, the construction slipway was reinforced, nearby workshops were expanded, and two floating cranes were built.

The entry of such a large mass into the water caused a 120-centimetre-tall (3 ft 11 in) wave, which swept the harbour and local rivers, flooding homes and capsizing small fishing boats.

These alterations, along with improvements in the secondary battery armour, pushed back completion and pre-handover testing of Musashi by two months, to August 1942.

On 3 April, Yamamoto left Musashi and flew to Rabaul, New Britain to personally direct "Operation I-Go", a Japanese aerial offensive in the Solomon Islands.

His orders were intercepted and deciphered by Magic, and American Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters shot down his transport aircraft and killed him in Operation Vengeance while he was en route from New Britain to Ballale, Bougainville.

[11] On 17 May, in response to American attacks on Attu Island, Musashi—together with the aircraft carrier Hiyō, two heavy cruisers, and nine destroyers—sortied to the northern Pacific.

When no contact was made with American forces, the ships sailed to Kure on 23 May, where Yamamoto's ashes were taken from the vessel in preparation for a formal state funeral.

[11] She sailed for Truk on 30 July and arrived there six days later, where she resumed her position as fleet flagship for Admiral Mineichi Koga.

Komura was promoted to rear admiral on 1 November and transferred to the 3rd Fleet on 7 December as chief of staff; Captain Bunji Asakura assumed command of Musashi.

On 24 February, Musashi sailed for Palau, carrying one Imperial Japanese Army battalion and another of Special Naval Landing Forces and their equipment.

On 29 March, Musashi departed Palau under cover of darkness to avoid an expected air raid, and encountered the submarine USS Tunny, which fired six torpedoes at the battleship; five of them missed, but the sixth blew a hole 5.8 metres (19 ft) in diameter near the bow, flooding her with 3,000 tonnes of water.

From 10 to 22 April, she was repaired, while her anti-aircraft armament was substantially increased in the space freed up by removal of the beam-mounted 155-millimetre (6.1 in) triple turrets.

On 10 June, the battleships departed Tawi-Tawi for Batjan under the command of Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki, in preparation for Operation Kon, a planned counterattack against the American invasion of Biak.

After they rendezvoused with Ozawa's main force on 16 June, the battleships were assigned to Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's 2nd Fleet.

[11] Captain Toshihira Inoguchi relieved Asakura in command of Musashi on 12 August 1944 and was promoted to rear admiral on 15 October.

[11] Three days later, the ship sailed for Brunei Bay, Borneo to join the main Japanese fleet in preparation for "Operation Sho-1", the planned counterattack against the American landings at Leyte.

[27] On 24 October, while transiting the Sibuyan Sea, Kurita's ships were spotted by a reconnaissance aircraft from the fleet carrier USS Intrepid.

Two Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters strafed the ship's deck and Helldivers scored four more bomb hits near her forward turrets.

Her speed was reduced to 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph), her main steering engine was temporarily knocked out and her rudder was briefly jammed 15 degrees to port.

[35] In the live streaming video tour conducted by the expedition team, a mount for the seal of the Imperial Japanese Navy—a chrysanthemum made out of teak, long rotted away—can be seen amid the debris.

[32] The discovery of the wreck beneath the surface of the Sibuyan Sea raised issues in the Philippines because the provincial government of Romblon, which has jurisdiction over the shipwreck site, and the Philippine Coast Guard were unaware that Allen and his team had an ongoing expedition in the area, though Governor Eduardo Firmalo publicly welcomed discovery of the ship.