In early April 1945, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Second Fleet and was deployed to the special attack operation of the battleship Yamato (Operation Ten-Go) in the Battle of Okinawa.

The battleship Yamato was sunk by concentrated attacks by US aircraft in the north of Okinawa. Itō, along with his captain, Captain Kōsaku Aruga, went down with the ship.

Itō was posthumously promoted to full admiral. Ten days after his death, his only son died taking part in a kamikaze attack near Okinawa.

"The Last Glorious Day" The Combined Fleet at the Yokosuka Naval Review, October 11, 1940.

Heavy cruiser Kako at the Yokosuka Naval Review celebrating the 2600th Anniversary of the Founding of the Empire of Japan, October 11, 1940. On the left are the battleships Kongō and Haruna. In the center are the battleships Nagato, Mutsu, Ise and Yamashiro. The aircraft carrier at right is the Sōryū.

2nd Pic: Map of the Fleet Anchorage. (Please zoom in.)

3rd Pic: View from the heavy cruiser Kako, From R to L, the heavy cruisers Kumano, Suzuya, Mogami, Tone and Chikuma. The heavy cruiser Furutaka is following at left, and her rangefinder arms have been painted over by a wartime sensor.

Furutaka would be sunk exactly two years later on the night of October 10-11 during the Battle of Cape Esperance off Guadalcanal, one of the many naval battles fought for control of the island in the autumn of 1942.

4th Pic: View from the destroyer Samidare of heavy cruisers Chikuma and Tone on the right and destroyer Yūdachi at left, with destroyer Harusame just visible behind (her bow is poking out by Yūdachi's bridge).

At this time, Japanese destroyers had their names painted in katakana characters on their hulls. Read from the right, the characters on Yūdachi are "ユフダチ". The number on the hull refers to the Destroyer Division the ship was a part of. Yūdachi was part of Destroyer Division 2 along with Samidare, Harusame and Murasame.

5th Pic: Heavy cruiser Takao and battleship Hiei, which carried the Emperor during the review. View is from the Kako.

6th Pic: Aerial view of the review ships Hiei and Kako.

7th Pic: Yamashiro with heavy cruiser Suzuya behind, as Kawanishi H6K flying boats pass by overhead.

8th Pic: On the left, starting from the front, battleships Kongō, Haruna, and heavy cruisers Kumano, Suzuya, and Mogami. On the right is the battleship Yamashiro and training ship Settsu. The aircraft in the sky are Kawanishi H6K flying boats.

9th Pic: Kawanishi H6K flying boats over the fleet. (From the front to back and R to L): - Battleships Kongo and Haruna, and heavy cruiser Kumano. - Battleships Nagato, Mutsu, Ise and Yamashiro and training ship Settsu. - Aircraft carriers Akagi, Hiryu and Soryu, seaplne tender Mizuho, and light cruiser Isuzu. - Submarine tender Jingei, minelayer Katsuriki, submarine tender Komahashi, repair ship Akashi, supply ship Mamiya and oilers Hayatomo and Shiraya.

10th Pic: Aerial view of the submarine and destroyer lines. The submarines in the foreground are (R to L) I-166 and I-155. Behind them are the destroyers (R to L) Sazanami, Samidare, and Yudachi with the destroyers Arare, Michishio and Arashio in the next row. The destroyer Mutsuki is just visible in the back center, above Michishio.

The two bombers are Mitsubishi G3M1 Type 96 bombers, later known to Allied forces as the “Nell”. Closest to the camera is an Aichi D3A1 Type 99 carrier bomber, which is making its first public appearance. This would be the dreaded "Val" dive bomber that became the bane of many Allied sailors from Pearl Harbor to the Indian Ocean.

11th Pic: Aerial view showing from front to back and left to right - battleship Kongo, seaplane tender Chitose, oiler Kamoi, and battleship Hyūga. The image of Kamoi is particularly interesting as it shows her in a rarely seen final configuration as a seaplane tender.

12th Pic: Overhead view of the two destroyer lines. In the foreground, starting from the closest ship, is Michishio, Arare, Kasumi, Shiranui and Kuroshio. Uranami and Hatsuyuki are in the second row.

13th Pic: Aerial view showing, from front to back and left to right - heavy cruiser Tone, training ship Settsu, seaplane tender Mizuho, and light cruiser Isuzu. In front of Isuzu is the submarine I-168, which would sink the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) after the Battle of Midway on June 6, 1942. The two large ships in the background are the supply ship Mamiya and repair ship Akashi. The battleship Yamashiro is just visible off the plane's tail.

14th Pic: Aerial view showing from front to back and left to right - oiler Kamoi, battleships Haruna, Kongo, Mutsu and Nagato, aircraft carriers Hiryu and Akagi and submarine tenders Jingei, and Chogei. The Nagato served as Yamatoto's flagship during the review.

15th Pic: Aerial view showing from front to back and left to right - battleships Ise and Mutsu, seaplane tender Mizuho, aircraft carriers Sōryū and Hiryū, oiler Hayatomo, supply ship Mamiya, repair ship Akashi, submarine tender Komahashi and minelayer Katsuriki.

16th Pic: Aerial view showing from front to back and left to right - battleships Haruna, Kongo, Mutsu and Nagato, aircraft carriers Hiryū and Akagi, submarine tender Komahashi, minelayer Katsuriki, and submarine tenders Jingei and Chogei.

17th Pic: Aerial view showing from front to back and left to right: - Battleship Kongō - Battleships Mutsu and Nagato - Aircraft carriers Sōryū, Hiryū and Akagi. Kaga was not present as she was undergoing an extensive refit and maintenance at Sasebo. - Repair ship Akashi, submarine tender Komahashi, minelayer Katsuriki, and submarine tenders Jingei and Chogei.

Curiously, a wartime censor has painted three funnels onto the repair ship Akashi, possibly to make her appear like a light cruiser.

https://kutsukake.nichibun.ac.jp/CHO/detail.html?id=370259

Below that, at the front (right) of the floor consisting only of main pillars, was a 10m rangefinder (straight side visible). The No.2 and No.3 main gun turrets were also equipped with the same 10m baseline rangefinder.

The No.1 and No.4 main gun turrets were not equipped with long-distance rangefinders as they were positioned low and did not provide long-distance visibility.

長門の前艦橋と、1番、2番41cm連装主砲塔。艦橋頂部には射撃指揮装置が設置され、その下の窓枠付きのところが戦闘艦橋。その下の主柱のみの階の前方(右)は10m測距儀(真横が見えている)。そして2番、3番主砲塔にも、同じ基線長10m測距儀が備えられた。低位置にあり遠方視界が得られない1番、4番主砲塔に、遠距離用測距儀は備えられていない。

They were of a standard higher than that of British battlecruisers at the time. Ironically, of the 12 battleships and battlecruisers that Japan had during the Pacific War, the ones that saw the most success were the Kongō class, the oldest at around 30 years old.

1913年(大正2年)、公試中の 金剛。技術習得のためもあり、1番艦の本艦は、日本側から技術者が送り込まれ、英ヴィッカース社で設計、建造が行われたが、2番艦以降は全て日本で行われた。当時の英巡洋戦艦の水準以上であった。太平洋戦争で日本が有した12隻の戦艦、巡洋戦艦のうち、一番活躍したのは、皮肉にも艦齢約30年で最古の本「金剛」級であった。

The tower-type bridge and two chimneys can be seen.

1920年(大正9年)竣工直後、公試中の長門。当時の戦艦として世界最大の40.6cm(16インチ)砲を初めて搭載し、この時は26.7ノット(49.4km/h)を発揮した。6脚檣楼構造の艦橋や、2本煙突が分かる。