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12/30/44 Japanese submarine I-400 is commissioned

Ultradog MN

Ultradog MN

Well-known Member
Location
Twin Cities
The I-400 class subs were marvelous machines. They were the largest subs ever built untill the advent of the ballistic missle subs in the mid 1960s. They were built to carry 3 specially built bombers anywhere in the world, make their attack and then return home.
I read the book 'Operation Storm' about a month ago.
Very meticulously researched piece of work that covers the I 400s from their inception to surrender including the Serien aircraft that was specially built for those subs.
Very tense narrative of I 401's surrender to American sub USS Segundo at the end.
Well worth the read.
I 400 Class subs
 
I was fortunate enough to see the Aichi M6A at the NAS museum while it was still at the Garber building just as restoration was being completed. Scary how desperate Japan had gotten as the war turned against it.
 
Thanks for posting. While its not "tractor related" it gives our mind a educational break from the norm. The war in the south Pacific was costly in American lives. But as this article reports had things not gone as they did and Japanese plans carried out against the Canal and biological weapons in California and possibly bombs over Eastern and western cities, we may have had a much different outcome. Remember all those GI's who went, some never to return, to protect our country. To the few still living I say thank you so much, to those who have passed on, Rest in Peace you mighty warriors. gobble
 
I'll have to get that and read it. I've heard of them before, and I understand one of their objectives was to take out the Panama Canal, thinking that would be such a distraction that they could win in the Pacific.

I've always been interested in WWII. When I was on Taiwan in 1958 we were on a Nationalist Chinese Air Force Base that the Japanese had built and operated as a Kamikaze base in WWII. There was still some WWII junk lying around on the base at that time.
 
I can't recall the name of it offhand, but somewhere I have a book written by a former Japanese Kamikaze pilot who had committed himself to being a Kamikaze and then was sidetracked into administrative duties and never went on a mission.

It was a real eye-opener. Americans looked at the Kamikazes as being hard core, professional fanatics. They weren't. Some had committed to the program in a burst of idealism, then regretted the decision but couldn't back out because of personal honor. Others were an assortment of misfits, etc. All were on an unbelievable emotional roller coaster. They'd psych themselves up to a mission, go through an hour long pre-mission ceremony, and then the mission would be scrubbed because of bad weather, etc. The result was a bunch of drunks and insubordinates, but who would, or could, discipline them?

Some flew "Crazy Bombs", and others flew standard Zero fighters. One Zero pilot leaving on a mission strafed his own squadron area as a departing gesture out of pure frustration.

I'll have to find that book. It would be worth re-reading.
 
The 400s were huge just like the Yamato. Hard to imagine that they build this huge launching system and it is so big they built them with twin hulls. A single hull would have been unstable so this is almost a catamaran. Two subs in one. Nothing like having a door between boats. Talking about the three planes. Even the tip of the tail folded over because the hanger was so tight. The plan was to torpedo the pacific end of the canal. Blow the crap out of the lock gate. I think that would have screwed up the war effort for more than a few weeks. Massive repairs. What is so sad that at the end of the war the russians and americans are already getting into a p...match about technology. So our military take the 400 and sinks it of of Hawaii. They finally found the remains a couple of years ago. Even those guys were shocked how big they were.
 
it is a shame they never accomplished anything of note ! the twin hull was built primarily to balance the boat which had to be considered before adding the aircraft hanger. i read about the 400 series also they had a lot of handling problems with the boat due to the way it was constructed. the only thing worth mentioning is the fact that the USS Indianapolis was sunk by 400 class sub.
grand ideas but no results.
 
Al,
No

The 400s were never used operationally and never fired a shot. Two of them were out on their first and only mission when the war ended and they were recalled. They dumped all their torpedos and catapulted their planes off (without pilots in them) and came home again.

I-58 sank the USS Indianapolis.
I 58
 
well Dog i stand corrected thanks for the lesson i'll be more careful in the future.
then it is 100 percent certain the 400 series performed nothing notable.. except peeing off the Russians....
 
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