Paul Has it!
The Seiran was a *submarine borne* attack bomber! Here are photos of it and the M6A-K-12 "Nanzan", the land-based version.
I'll never forget the day that it was pointed out to me by aviation legend Mary Feik at NASM Garber as we walked by the fuselage. I snapped the following photo. Hard to imagine how such a large plane could be carried by a submarine. Then she turned to me and said (with raised eyebrows) "It carried THREE of them!!!".
The folks at Garber worked their magic on her from 1989-2000 and she is on proud display at the Udvar Hazy Center at Dulles Airport (a must museum if you haven't been there).
Here is a model with a transparent hangar deck showing the three Seirans in place:
One more... A model showing a Seiran on the launch catapult:
For me this is one of the most fascinating and little-known chapters of WWII. I love both airplanes *and* submarines, so for me this is the ultimate!
The plan was to attack the Panama Canal. Needless to say that never happened. The i-400 and i-401 were captured and taken to Hawaii. They were scuttled soon thereafter because the brass were afraid the Russians would learn of their existence and demand to examine them. Submarine borne weapons were of course to become *very* important later.
The i-400 wreck has been found and filmed. Unfortunately the damage done during scuttling is severe and the water very deep. It's a crying shame such stupidity ruled the day. The ingenuity and technical prowess demonstrated by the project did not fit the racist narrative of the time, and the concerns about the Russians sadly sealed her fate.
There is an excellent book detailing the whole story:
Highly recommended.
Over to you Paul...
Gary
__________________ Gary Hethcoat
Building: 43" Heinkel He 100
Wings on the Web
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