The USS Yamato was an experimental class of battleship developed by the United Federation of Planets near the end of the 23rd Century. The vessel was larger than most contemporary starships, and wielded roughly the same firepower as a small space station. It was essentially a battleship hull constructed around two assault phaser emitters, which served as the vessel's primary weapons. The amount of energy required to power the phasers was such that the vessel could occasionally overload its systems after using them, leaving it vulnerable to attack. However, its shields and armor were powerful enough to repel most attacks. (Star Trek: Klingon Academy)