WWII Japanese Mega Sub Found

[LongBlade]

the I-400, largest sub prior to the nuclear age and capable of launching aircraft, has been found off the coast of Hawaii. It was scuttled by the US Navy to keep it out of Soviet hands.

Initially conceived as a weapon to target the U.S. mainland and capable of reaching any point on the globe without refueling, the subs were effectively underwater aircraft carriers outfitted with three folding-wing seaplanes capable of carrying an 1,800-pound bomb.

The ships were never used to attack the mainland United States and saw only limited service before Japan surrendered in 1945.

But their novel design represented a tactical shift in thinking about the use of submarines, which until then had been strictly seen as anti-ship weapons, James Delgado, director of the Maritime Heritage Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in the university statement.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/03/us/japanese-submarine-found/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[Staggerwing]

According to the article that makes it 4 out of 5 I-400-class subs now found and ID'ed. IIRC the I series and their light-bomber/floatplanes were originally designed to be able to attack the Panama Canal and destroy the locks making it much more difficult for the USN to move ships between theaters or bring the product of East Coast shipyards quickly into the pacific campaign.

[mirth]

The cool thing about this story is that it's the first of the class that they found. I like how they described the ocean as the world's biggest museum. Very true.