Odie
November 17th, 2009, 12:22
I saw this advertised last night on Nat Geo and saw a posting over at the Quarter Moon Saloon so I thought I'd put one up here:
Just before the atomic bomb forced Japan into submission, the Imperial Navy sent a fleet of incredibly advanced combat subs to attack a major U.S. naval base in the Pacific. But when Japan surrendered, the U.S. Navy confiscated them, only to later have them scuttled near Hawaii when Soviet scientists demanded access. The war machines’ precise location would remain a mystery for decades.
Now a team of explorers thinks they can find some of these lost subs in the Pacific’s dark waters. From the Hawaiian island of Oahu, deep submergence vehicle pilots Terry Kerby and Max Cremer, along with a team of devoted explorers, prepare to dive to depths of nearly 3,000 feet to hunt for some of WWII’s largest and fastest submarines — in a Japanese super-submarine graveyard ― and solve one of the war’s great mysteries.
The I-400 class Japanese submarines built during WWII were the largest submarines ever built, at 400 feet long (or longer than a football field), until the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines in the 1950s and ‘60s.
With a range of 37,500 miles at 14 knots, the I-400 class submarines were able to go one and a half times around the globe without refueling, a capability that has never been matched by any other diesel-electric submarine.
Special aircraft-carrying submarines with powerful torpedoes were built to attack the U.S. mainland. Their target later changed to the Panama Canal, but they never carried out either mission.
At the end of WWII, the U.S. Navy captured the subs and sailed five of them for evaluation: three aircraft-carrying submarines (I-400, I-401, I-14) and two fast attack subs (I-201, I-203).
The United States was the only country that performed inspections on this technology. When the Soviet Union demanded access in 1946, the U.S. Navy scuttled the subs off the coast of Oahu.
Japan’s aircraft-carrying submarines carried up to three bombers, which could be launched off the deck of the submarine by catapult ― some in as few as seven minutes.
The Aichi M6A1 Seiran plane built for the subs could carry one aerial torpedo or a bomb weighing nearly 1,800 pounds, along with a crew of two — a pilot and an observer.
Japanese subs used the powerful Type 95 torpedo, which utilized pure oxygen to burn kerosene, giving it three times the range of the Allies’ torpedoes. They were also harder to detect and avoid because of their reduced wake.
The I-400 sub had radar so it could detect the enemy. Its exterior had a sonar-absorbing coating, making it less detectible.
Crew aboard the aircraft-carrying submarine were limited to drinking half a cup of liquid with every meal, and were prohibited from taking showers or washing their clothes. There was only one toilet aboard, and waste tanks were often not emptied for fear of the enemy detecting them.
Read more: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/expedition-week/4577/Overview#tab-facts#ixzz0X9ZDozS4 (http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/expedition-week/4577/Overview#tab-facts#ixzz0X9ZDozS4)
I saw a mention of this sub on another documentary a while ago (Secret Weapons of the Axis, I believe) and thought it would be be an interesting topic that could do with some expanding. Hopefully with the info on the location effort of the team to discover the sub's sinking and resting place, they'll include some historical pics / films.
Check your channel listing for time (8pm eastern/central?).
Just before the atomic bomb forced Japan into submission, the Imperial Navy sent a fleet of incredibly advanced combat subs to attack a major U.S. naval base in the Pacific. But when Japan surrendered, the U.S. Navy confiscated them, only to later have them scuttled near Hawaii when Soviet scientists demanded access. The war machines’ precise location would remain a mystery for decades.
Now a team of explorers thinks they can find some of these lost subs in the Pacific’s dark waters. From the Hawaiian island of Oahu, deep submergence vehicle pilots Terry Kerby and Max Cremer, along with a team of devoted explorers, prepare to dive to depths of nearly 3,000 feet to hunt for some of WWII’s largest and fastest submarines — in a Japanese super-submarine graveyard ― and solve one of the war’s great mysteries.
The I-400 class Japanese submarines built during WWII were the largest submarines ever built, at 400 feet long (or longer than a football field), until the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines in the 1950s and ‘60s.
With a range of 37,500 miles at 14 knots, the I-400 class submarines were able to go one and a half times around the globe without refueling, a capability that has never been matched by any other diesel-electric submarine.
Special aircraft-carrying submarines with powerful torpedoes were built to attack the U.S. mainland. Their target later changed to the Panama Canal, but they never carried out either mission.
At the end of WWII, the U.S. Navy captured the subs and sailed five of them for evaluation: three aircraft-carrying submarines (I-400, I-401, I-14) and two fast attack subs (I-201, I-203).
The United States was the only country that performed inspections on this technology. When the Soviet Union demanded access in 1946, the U.S. Navy scuttled the subs off the coast of Oahu.
Japan’s aircraft-carrying submarines carried up to three bombers, which could be launched off the deck of the submarine by catapult ― some in as few as seven minutes.
The Aichi M6A1 Seiran plane built for the subs could carry one aerial torpedo or a bomb weighing nearly 1,800 pounds, along with a crew of two — a pilot and an observer.
Japanese subs used the powerful Type 95 torpedo, which utilized pure oxygen to burn kerosene, giving it three times the range of the Allies’ torpedoes. They were also harder to detect and avoid because of their reduced wake.
The I-400 sub had radar so it could detect the enemy. Its exterior had a sonar-absorbing coating, making it less detectible.
Crew aboard the aircraft-carrying submarine were limited to drinking half a cup of liquid with every meal, and were prohibited from taking showers or washing their clothes. There was only one toilet aboard, and waste tanks were often not emptied for fear of the enemy detecting them.
Read more: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/expedition-week/4577/Overview#tab-facts#ixzz0X9ZDozS4 (http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/expedition-week/4577/Overview#tab-facts#ixzz0X9ZDozS4)
I saw a mention of this sub on another documentary a while ago (Secret Weapons of the Axis, I believe) and thought it would be be an interesting topic that could do with some expanding. Hopefully with the info on the location effort of the team to discover the sub's sinking and resting place, they'll include some historical pics / films.
Check your channel listing for time (8pm eastern/central?).