Wooden guns mask converted Japanese battleships

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan reactivated old pre-dreadnoughts to move troops to China. Removing heavy turrets and ammunition saved weight and made room for soldiers, and it may also have avoided treaty complications. Wooden substitutes preserved the silhouette of 12-inch guns, so observers near a port could not safely assume that the ship had lost its fighting power. The disguise let a converted vessel carry troops without advertising its reduced armament. The example leads into the modern question of how much weapon support amphibious ships need, with the caveat that they are not normally driven straight into hostile ports.