When the signal was given, pigeons were released into the sky and gold leaves rained down on the ship and crowd, this happened on November 3, 1915 at the Imperial Navy Yard in Yokosuka, Japan as the battleship Yamashiro was launched. Both Yamashiro and her sister Fuso were sunk on Oct. 25, 1944 by the U.S. Navy during the Battle of the Suriago Strait, less than 20 crewmen from both ships survived.