The Wreck of I-401 - Japanese Super Submarine

[@NorthernStruggler]

They should raise that Deck gun and the Tripple barrel 25mm AAA mounts. Those would be amazing if preserved w/original paint? I'd love to see some of that. A memorial of sorts.

[@guaporeturns9472]

"they” should do a lot of stuff , but all that stuff costs a lot of money. Any suggestions?

[@NorthernStruggler]

@@guaporeturns9472 Ya, instead let private interest have permission, they're 50 groups Who'd pay well and love to have some this stuff preserved and displayed, I only say it as one might image IJN hardware is a bit scarce these days courtesy of the USN/RN. So from that stand point, much of it is even more rare than the German arms, as Europe on the whole briefly used German arms after the end, where as I don't believe anyone other than light weapons with police forces followed. Most ship or IJN marked weapons are on the bottom of the sea.

[@jonathanbaron-crangle5093]

Triple Not "tripple" Goes to show you're one of those uneducated Yanks, aren't you? Enjoy those tariffs matey

[@MrGoesBoom]

Yet another unique vessel that would have made a fantastic musuem ship if only they'd had the will or the cash. Thanks for the upload, didn't realize they'd located this sucker

[@benmiland5245]

The American public wouldn't exactly have had any interest in preserving a former enemy vessel. Especially one of Japan, after seeing their soldiers released from Japanese pow camps.

[@vintagethrifter2114]

It didn't have any history to it. The Japanese ships that did have history to them made history again at Operation Crossroads.

[@SevenSixTwo2012]

@@benmiland5245 You keep them on display as war trophies, specifically for that very reason you mention. Displaying their most advanced boats and military hardware which you captured humiliates your conquered enemy.

[@MrGoesBoom]

@@vintagethrifter2114 Good points

[@nigelbutkowski1647]

Pity it had to come this , the American military afraid of there former allies getting there hands on this technology. They really don't have the technological brains to invent something them selves so they steal. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they steal 5 of your guys bombers and the crews towards the end of WW2. Ike saw the writing on the wall back then and what they are really like . And now they have proved him right 🙏😊

[@fw1421]

Hikoki Publications released a very good book on the I 400’s in the early 2000’s. I have one of them and it has nice photos of them on the bottom off Barbers Point Hawaii.

[@williamsmith7340]

The conning tower of I-400 class was actually offset significantly to the left of the centre-line to allow a longer aircraft hanger while maintaining a low profile. When traveling submerged, this required the helmsman to maintain several degrees of rudder to counter the yaw created by conning tower’s asymmetry. An I-400 class submarine filled with tons of Yamashita’s gold is featured in the excellent historical novel “Shokuzai (Atonement)” by William Myers, which also features Yanagi missions to exchange vital war materials with the Nazis. It’s a real shame that I-401 was not preserved intact at some location as an historical artifact.

[@TheGimpy117]

My grandfather is probably somewhere in those photos. He was one of the guys who brought the submarine back to Hawaii. He always said they where poorly built when compared to US submarines and they "didn't dare dive the thing".

[@therovingrobin5938]

Well, a bit unfair in my opinion: the Japanese build excellent submarines...I'd rather say, that trying to dive a boat with complex technology no one can even decipher, would indeed deter any attempt to do so

[@TheGimpy117]

@@therovingrobin5938 Wartime production issues likely

[@therovingrobin5938]

@TheGimpy117 well, the I class was developed for a special mission: sinking ships in the Panama canal in order to hamper US deployment of naval forces into the Pacific...thus, priority was high and they weren't build in 1944 anyways...they were build in 42, yet the strategic situation changed drastically. So, nothing personal against your grandpa, but I think he was just very biased against the Japanese which is understandable, considered the circumstances

[@ZGryphon]

To be fair, I would _also_ hesitate to dive a submarine that was longer than its crush depth.

[@MGB-learning]

Great video

[@marcatteberry1361]

The Japanese Crew, were excited and proud of their Submarine. They were very cooperative and most helpful as I recall from some source I cant recall.

[@jasonatkin6787]

The handsome looking twin goalpost-masted US Navy ship seen at 5:08 is the USS Euryale (AS-22). It's interesting to note the proximity of the crow's nest on the foremast to the radar antenna.

[@lt.petemaverickmitchell7113]

Another great video!

[@alexanderleach3365]

It's quite an awesome sub. Shame that they were scuttled, they would have made incredible museum ships.

[@seankasion4648]

The concept of this submarine would make a great drone deployment system.

[@Comm0ut]

So would aerial methods whose response and replenishment rate would be much faster. A drone package that fit existing tubes or launchers would permit rapid weapon evolution at far less cost than a specialty sub for a very, very niche use.

[@ZGryphon]

The U.S. Navy fooled around with a similar concept in the 1950s and '60s. USS _Halibut_ (SSGN-587) was built as a proof-of-concept for the Regulus sea-launched nuclear cruise missile system, with a "surface and launch from a built-in hangar" mission profile not a million miles from the way the _I-400_ class were meant to operate their strike aircraft. Of course, _Halibut_ wasn't expected to _recover_ those missiles, but then, everyone in the IJN knew that those Zuiuns were really going to be on a one-way mission themselves, for all that the briefing documents claimed otherwise. As it happened, the development of sea-launched _ballistic_ missiles made the Regulus system unnecessary only a couple of years after it became operational, and _Halibut_ ended up being refitted as a specialized search and surveillance platform instead--that huge hangar for the Regulus missiles turned out to be just the place to stick all the junk required to operate towed underwater cameras, sonars, and all that jazz. It was _Halibut_ that located the wreck of _K-129,_ the Soviet missile submarine the CIA later tried to recover.

[@agentolshki4265]

I think there are drone launching systems that can be released submerged. They're only small though, not the reaper type but yea that would be cool especially if it could launched, wings folded, from a missile type tube then open up after breaching the surface.

[@nikerailfanningttm9046]

I-401’s propeller that is visible should be raised and returned to Japan as a memorial to her crew, seeing that they were on their first and only mission, only to be told to return to port as the empire surrendered.

[@davidbarnsley8486]

Great video watched it twice now Second time on a bigger screen so I can see the details better 👍👍🇦🇺

[@edwardwilliams1309]

I was watching a documentary a couple years ago and it showed one of these subs showing a picture of the golden gate bridge from her commingle tower and recorded firing 2 torpedoes at the bridge nylons scoring 2 misses. A few years back those 2 torpedoes were discovered inside the bay area stuck in the sand not far from the bridge. I'm surprised that they didn't try for an air attack on the bridge, Wish I could remember the documentary and which sub it was telling about.

[@joelonzello4189]

Mark Felton did a Video on that Torpedo discovery near the Golden Gate Bridge.

[@Urbicide]

While looking at this submarine, I could not help but to recall the Steven Spielberg movie, 1941. There is a scene where the crew of the Japanese submarine has captured an American citizen, played by Slim Pickens, and are attempting to get both him & his massive wood-cased radio down into the submarine. Slim Pickens fits, but the radio is much to large to get through the hatch opening. One sailor says to another, "We have to figure out a way to make these things smaller". 😁

[@jigaraphale]

For the I-13 & I-14, those are NOT "Type AM class", this is a mistranslation. They are either "I-13-class", or "Junsen Type A Kai 2" (Type A K2 for short, or Type A Mod.3 to properly translate Kai 2). (great video as always for the rest ^^)

[@andrewnorgrove6487]

Dimensions ! for your information , Length: 400 ft (122 m) Beam: 39 ft (12 m) Draft: 10.2 m Displacement: 5,223 long tons (5,307 t) surfaced, 6,560 long tons (6,665 t) submerged Maximal speed: 80 knots submerged, 60 knots surfaced that's 90 MPH

[@DaveSCameron]

Many thanks 🇬🇧🇺🇸📚👍

[@leroysgamesandmore2226]

Idk why but the conning tower of the I-400 class always reminds me of the German U-boats

[@curleyhoward1399]

uss segundo (ss398) seized the i401. the battle flag proudly shows the i401 in the segundo's jaws!!

[@Mythbuster3808]

Poor Iona

[@vuhoangminh9554]

Finally, I found someone who also know that series.

[@theldraspneumonoultramicro405]

scary thought for the subs that where taken out in battle, many of them certainly had surviving crew who followed the submarine down into the darkness of the ocean, some passed their crush depth and got crushed to death in complete darkness, shoulder to shoulder with fellow crewmates, others who did not sink deep enough would have been alive when she hit the ocean floor, violently get thrown around from the impact, then nothing, no moving, just darkness and silence between fellow surviving crewmates groaning and crying in either pain or fear, with some of the crewmates gradually grow quiet as they succumb to their injuries, leaving you either alone or with just a few survivors to simply sit there and wait for death to embrace you as the air gets heavier and heavier to breath as the oxygen gets depleted.

[@zachbenjamin2440]

I believe that piece of metal behind the prop is the rudder.

[@johnmcmickle5685]

An implosion would only occur if that compartment had the watertight doors closed.

[@curleyhoward1399]

you can also read this: operation storm by john j. geoghegan.

[@stevehill4615]

Maybe i'm misinterpretating the pictures, but to me the locking cranks for the hatches look to be in the retracted position that the hatches could be open or as another possibility the hatches were closed but not locked

[@mikeynth7919]

The hatch cover is in position, arguing that it was left open.

[@mikeynth7919]

And it looks like the clamps to secure it are still in the "open" position, inside the circumference of the hatch, if it had been secured closed there would be metal tears around the hatch as it was forcibly blown open.

[@BlancoIncognito]

It was scuttled so probably

[@garyhooper1820]

Great lawn ornaments

[@林清英-d6k]

イ号400潜水艦「青嵐」攻撃機3機搭載、パナマ運河攻撃命令！！🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵

[@confusedcapitalist2242]

God i would love to walk in this thing if it was still afloat

[@captainexcabier]

Has anyone made any art depicting the overall wreck?

[@Urbicide]

It's a shame that so many historical items were destroyed to "keep them out of the hands of the Russians", or just used for target practice. So much is lost because of lack of foresight of their value as memorials or museum exhibits in the future. There is a lot to be said about those not remembering the past are doomed to repeat it. Many young people can't even tell you who fought who in WW2, let alone the countries involved or the reason why.

[@3613jeremy]

They really didn't want that sub found by anyone did they

[@craigpalmer9196]

Or crew

[@craigpalmer9196]

several sank cause they left them open, hatches

[@kennethhanks6712]

Believe the cause what happened on IJN sunken subs found was that the open hatches were actually blown open in depth charges attacks due to their insufficiently strong design and contruction.

[@RebeccaCampbell1969]

“Insufficient strong design” is a false statement, from the engineering POV it was more of a tangent from lacking the correct materials and/or to make their subs faster underwater. Older sub models have typical faults, like their brits and american counterparts... it was the new models, later ones, which had these issues. Thus... why hatches worked before and not after? Something was lacking, and it was not engineering... perhaps metallurgy

[@garethjames1300]

Whoop

[@Glenn-em3hv]

The Navy sure does some ignorant things with ships and subs!!!!

[@johnsmith-zs9jq]

The Soviets were demanding that the US hand over the sub(s) as part of "The spoils of war". The last thing the Navy wanted was to have a russian version of these ships popping up on our sonars. Thous hangers can hold more than float plains 'ya know.

[@pickeljarsforhillary102]

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