Japanese WW-II Submarine found off Hawai'i
Hat tip to
BoingBoing for the link to
this story at the Seattle Times:
Japanese WW II sub found off Oahu
The wreckage of a large World War II-era Japanese submarine has been found by researchers in waters off Hawaii.
A research team from the University of Hawaii discovered the I-401 submarine Thursday during test dives off Oahu.
"We thought it was rocks at first, it was so huge," said Terry Kerby, pilot of the research craft that found the vessel. "It's a leviathan down there, a monster."
The submarine is from the I-400 Sensuikan Toku class of subs, the largest built before the nuclear-ballistic-missile submarines of the 1960s.
And the mission for this particular sub:
The submarines were designed to carry three "fold-up" bombers that could quickly be assembled.
And:
Their mission, which was never completed, reportedly was to use the aircraft to drop rats and insects infected with bubonic plague, cholera, typhus and other diseases on U.S. cities.
The University of Hawai'i
Hawai'i Undersea Research Laboratory was the group that made the discovery in 870 meters of water. This web page has photos of the sub. Amazing stuff...
Posted by DaveH at March 25, 2005 10:23 PM