Nagato was built at Kure and commissioned on 25 November 1920. She was the first battleship in the world armed with 16-inch guns. The name is a province. For years she was a fleet flagship, including the ship from which the signal for the Pearl Harbor strike went out.
By 1944 she had been rebuilt, and she was no longer the fastest thing in the fleet. She was still a battleship. On 25 October she was in Kurita's line off Samar, with Yamato, Kongo, and Haruna. She fired in that fight. She was not sunk, and no American ship lost that morning is credited to her alone.
She was still afloat at the surrender. The Americans took her over. In July 1946 she was one of the target ships at Bikini. The Baker test sank her.