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WWII Japanese Sub found at Pearl

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WWII Japanese Sub found at Pearl

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Old 21st Mar 2005, 08:11
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Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
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WWII Japanese Sub found at Pearl

And it is aviation related, because it was a submarine aircraft carrier.

HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) -- The wreckage of a large World War II-era Japanese submarine has been found by researchers in waters off Hawaii. A research team from the University of Hawaii discovered the I-401 submarine Thursday during test dives off Oahu.

"We thought it was rocks at first, it was so huge," said Terry Kerby, pilot of the research craft that found the vessel. "But the sides of it kept going up and up and up, three and four stories tall. It's a leviathan down there, a monster."

The submarine is from the I-400 Sensuikan Toku class of subs, the largest built before the nuclear ballistic missile submarines of the 1960s. They were 400 feet long and nearly 40 feet high and could carry a crew of 144. The submarines were designed to carry three "fold-up" bombers that could be assembled for flight within minutes.

Kerby said the main hull is sitting upright and is in good shape. The I-401 numbers are clearly visible on the sides, and the anti-aircraft guns are in almost perfect condition, he said.

An I-400 and I-401 were captured at sea a week after the Japanese surrendered in 1945. Their mission -- which was never completed -- reportedly was to use the aircraft to drop rats and insects infected with bubonic plague, cholera, typhus and other diseases on U.S. cities. When the bacteriological bombs could not be prepared in time, the mission was reportedly changed to bomb the Panama Canal.

Both submarines were ordered to sail to Pearl Harbor and were deliberately sunk later, partly because Russian scientists were demanding access to them.

I-401
Aichi M6A1 Seiran
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Old 21st Mar 2005, 13:51
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I've always maintained that the Yanks were a lot closer to all speaking Japanese than they ever realised! Now here's the proof!
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Old 21st Mar 2005, 14:25
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I read an article about these boats in the Smithsonian magazine.

Here's a link that I haven't had time to finish reading, but it seems quite interesting.
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Old 21st Mar 2005, 22:17
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At least we can now say

"If it wasn't for us during World War 2, you would all be speaking Japanese!"

RR
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Old 21st Mar 2005, 22:22
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At least we now know what veteran kamikaze pilots went on to do.
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Old 22nd Mar 2005, 00:41
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Being a kamikaze instructor and examiner must be one of aviation's real dead end jobs.....
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