Japan's WW II super-submarine found scuttled off Hawaii

cbcnews ^ | Posted: Dec 03, 2013 10:29 AM ET | Thomson Reuters

[Utilizer]

Scientists plumbing the Pacific Ocean off the Hawaii coast have discovered a Second World War era Japanese submarine, a technological marvel that had been preparing to attack the Panama Canal before being scuttled by U.S. forces.

The 122-metre "Sen-Toku" class vessel — among the largest pre-nuclear submarines ever built — was found in August off the southwest coast of Oahu and had been missing since 1946, scientists at the University of Hawaii at Manoa said.

The I-400 and its sister ship, the I-401, which was found off Oahu in 2005, were able to travel one and a half times around the world without refuelling and could hold up to three folding-wing bombers that could be launched minutes after resurfacing, the scientists said.

The accidental discovery of the I-400, an aircraft-toting I-400 mega sub, on the rock- and debris-littered ocean floor, some 701 metres beneath the surface, has solved the mystery surrounding a ship long thought to be farther afield.

-snip-

U.S. forces sank the submarines and claimed to have no information on their precise location, in an apparent bid to prevent their technology falling into the hands of the Soviet Union, which had demanded the ships be returned to Japan.

[Utilizer]

Archive photo and a bit more info at the link for those willing to enquire further, but the bulk of the info is posted here for general discussion. Interesting how even today we are still discovering that there were quite a few things that were not freely disseminated about the war even to this day, when its relevance to current 'military secrets' is of dubious importance.

[mylife]

Very cool.

[doc1019]

For later.

[Paladin2]

[ClearCase_guy]

before being scuttled by U.S. forces

One scuttles one's own ship. The enemy doesn't scuttle you -- they sink you.

[GeronL]

http://www.subart.net/i400_sen_toku.htm

[doc1019]

Good catch.

[mylife]

[Utilizer]

“Scuttling” is also a term applied to the deliberate sinking of a captured enemy vessel so as to keep it from other’s hands.

[Utilizer]

Thanks for the link!

[GeronL]

Each carried 3 of these and another disassembled

[Utilizer]

Thanks for the image. Saved for later, no doubt.

[Paladin2]

[mylife]

I wish there was some nice archival film.

[Paladin2]

The boats were handed over after the war, taken to PH for examination and then scuttled.

[GeronL]

[skinkinthegrass]

interesting.. & very neat.
thxs, for the post.

[GeronL]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeE-eAVQuEA

[GeronL]

You’d think they would make a film of it before they sank them.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

It does pay to read the linked article.

The U.S. navy captured five Japanese subs, including the I-400, at the end of the Second World War and brought them to Pearl Harbor for inspection, the scientists said on Monday.

The Navy sank it with a torpedo hit in 1946. Does an intentional sinking of a vessel you possess count as a scuttle?