The Yamato 1 is a boat built in the early 1990s by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd at Wadasaki-cho Hyogo-ku, Kobe. It uses a magnetohydrodynamic drive (MHD) driven by a liquid helium-cooled superconductor and can travel at 15 km/h (8 knots).
The Yamato 1 was the first working prototype of its kind. It was completed in Japan in 1991, by the Ship & Ocean Foundation (later known as the Ocean Policy Research Foundation). The ship was first successfully propelled in Kobe harbour in June 1992. The Yamato 1 is propelled by two MHD thrusters that runs without any moving parts.
MHD works by applying a magnetic field to an electrically conducting fluid. The electrically conducting fluid used in the MHD thruster of the Yamato 1 is seawater.
In the 1990s, Mitsubishi built several prototypes of ships propelled by an MHD system. These ships were only able to reach speeds of 15 km/h, despite higher projections.
Today the Yamato 1 is on display at the Kobe Maritime Museum.