At 14:05, "Yamato" was stopped dead in the water and began to capsize. Admiral Itō and Captain Aruga refused to abandon her with the rest of the survivors, with Itō retiring to the flag cabin while Aruga tied himself to the binnacle. At 14:20, "Yamato" capsized completely and began to sink (). At 14:23, she suddenly blew up with an explosion so large that it was reportedly heard and seen away in Kagoshima and sent up a mushroom-shaped cloud almost into the air. Japanese survivor Mitsuru Yoshida said that her large explosion downed several U.S. planes observing her end. The explosion is believed to have occurred when the fires ignited by bomb hits reached the main magazines.