Yamato 1

Yamato-1 is a ship built in the early 1990s by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. at Wadasaki-cho Hyogo-ku, Kobe. It uses magnetohydrodynamic drives (MHDs) driven by liquid helium-cooled superconductors and can travel at 15 km/h (8 knots).

Yamato-1 was the first working prototype of its kind. It was completed in Japan in 1991, by the Ship & Ocean Foundation (later known as the Ocean Policy Research Foundation). The ship, which includes two MHD thrusters, which have no moving parts, was first successfully operated in Kobe harbour in June 1992.

An MHD works by applying a magnetic field to an electrically conducting fluid. The electrically conducting fluid used in the MHD thrusters of Yamato-1 is seawater.

In the 1990s, Mitsubishi built several prototypes of ships propelled by MHD systems. Despite projected higher speeds, these ships were only able to reach speeds of 15 km/h.

Today Yamato-1 is on display at the Kobe Maritime Museum.

  • Yamato-1 on display in Kobe, Japan
  • The front of Yamato-1
  • A MHD thruster from the boat, at the Ship Science Museum in Tokyo
  • View of one end of the magnetohydrodynamic drive fitted to the vessel
  • Yamato-1 in front of the Kobe Maritime Museum

Further reading
  • Yohei Sasakawa: Yamato-1 - the world's first superconducting MHD propulsion ship. Ship & Ocean Foundation, Tokyo 1997, ISBN 4-916148-02-9
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