И за да не съм голословен и "некомпетентен" по твое мнение ти пускам малко материал по темата за I-400 :
JAPAN'S SUBMERSIBLE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
In many ways H.I.J.M.S. I-400 was decades ahead of her time. She was the world's largest submarine, with a length of 400 feet and a surfaced displacement of 3,530 tons. Above her main deck rose a 115 foot long, 12 foot diameter, hangar housing three torpedo-bombers. These floatplanes were rolled out through a massive hydraulic door onto an 85 foot pneumatic catapult, where they were rigged for flight, fueled, armed, launched, and, after landing alongside, lifted back aboard with a powerful hydraulic crane. The I-400 was equipped with a snorkel, radar, radar detectors, and capacious fuel tanks that gave her a range of 37,500 miles: one and a half times around the world. She was armed with eight torpedo tubes, a 5.5 inch 50 caliber deck gun, a bridge 25mm antiaircraft gun, and three triple 25mm A/A mounts atop her hangar. The advent of guided missiles and atomic bombs transformed her from an overspecialized undersea dinosaur to a menacing strategic threat. Like Germany's Type XXI U-boat she was too late to influence World War II.
Two well-illustrated articles on these giant submarines have appeared in Maru Special, a Tokyo nautical magazine: Japanese Naval Vessels, No. 13: I-400 & I-13, 1977,2 and Japanese Navy Warships of World War II, No. 16: Submarines, 1975.3 A first-hand contemporary description by a naval constructor who helped build them is Lt. Cmdr. Shizuo Fukui, I.J.N.: The Japanese Navy at the End of World War II, 1947.4 Other good references are Erminio Bagnasco: Submarines of World War Two,5 and Commander Richard Compton-Hall, RN: Submarine Warfare: Monsters & Midgets.6
Note that the bridge and conning tower were offset seven feet to port of the centerline, and the huge hangar offset two feet to starboard to compensate. A Japanese quartermaster told me that he had to use a seven degree starboard helm to steer a straight course at 2 knots submerged. In conducting a torpedo attack the skipper had to take into account his larger turning circle to starboard than to port. If the offset conning tower were flooded, the diving officer would have to blow a port tank quickly to provide lateral compensation -- I wouldn't like to face this emergency.
The twin athwartships pressure hulls did not extend the entire length of her double hull; the crew compartment aft reverted to a single pressure hull, while forward the twin torpedo rooms were stacked vertically. This design permitted a sea-kindly external hull shape with good surface stability and a draft of 23 feet. Each torpedo compartment had four 21 inch tubes with ten torpedoes. The test depth of her pressure hull was 328 feet (82% of her 400 foot length).
Another of I-400's noteworthy design features was the long vertical trunk leading down from the conning tower outside the hangar to the control room. With a diving time of 56 seconds, the bridge watch leaped into spectacular action on the command Clear the Bridge! The lookouts had to jump down the conning tower hatch, then hurtle through this long tube to man their diving stations in the control room 25 feet below (Figure 3). To cushion the landing impact a three foot thick canvas hassock was positioned in the control room at the foot of the conning tower ladder. The padding was effective, but so filthy and odorous that we heaved it overboard. Afterwards an unfortunate Japanese sailor who hadn't got the word dropped down from the conning tower with his usual elan and struck the steel deck with a resounding crash. Although clearly distressed he staggered off without comment . . . no weakness would be shown in front of the Americans.
JAPAN'S SUBMERSIBLE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
In many ways H.I.J.M.S. I-400 was decades ahead of her time. She was the world's largest submarine, with a length of 400 feet and a surfaced displacement of 3,530 tons. Above her main deck rose a 115 foot long, 12 foot diameter, hangar housing three torpedo-bombers. These floatplanes were rolled out through a massive hydraulic door onto an 85 foot pneumatic catapult, where they were rigged for flight, fueled, armed, launched, and, after landing alongside, lifted back aboard with a powerful hydraulic crane. The I-400 was equipped with a snorkel, radar, radar detectors, and capacious fuel tanks that gave her a range of 37,500 miles: one and a half times around the world. She was armed with eight torpedo tubes, a 5.5 inch 50 caliber deck gun, a bridge 25mm antiaircraft gun, and three triple 25mm A/A mounts atop her hangar. The advent of guided missiles and atomic bombs transformed her from an overspecialized undersea dinosaur to a menacing strategic threat. Like Germany's Type XXI U-boat she was too late to influence World War II.
Two well-illustrated articles on these giant submarines have appeared in Maru Special, a Tokyo nautical magazine: Japanese Naval Vessels, No. 13: I-400 & I-13, 1977,2 and Japanese Navy Warships of World War II, No. 16: Submarines, 1975.3 A first-hand contemporary description by a naval constructor who helped build them is Lt. Cmdr. Shizuo Fukui, I.J.N.: The Japanese Navy at the End of World War II, 1947.4 Other good references are Erminio Bagnasco: Submarines of World War Two,5 and Commander Richard Compton-Hall, RN: Submarine Warfare: Monsters & Midgets.6
Note that the bridge and conning tower were offset seven feet to port of the centerline, and the huge hangar offset two feet to starboard to compensate. A Japanese quartermaster told me that he had to use a seven degree starboard helm to steer a straight course at 2 knots submerged. In conducting a torpedo attack the skipper had to take into account his larger turning circle to starboard than to port. If the offset conning tower were flooded, the diving officer would have to blow a port tank quickly to provide lateral compensation -- I wouldn't like to face this emergency.
The twin athwartships pressure hulls did not extend the entire length of her double hull; the crew compartment aft reverted to a single pressure hull, while forward the twin torpedo rooms were stacked vertically. This design permitted a sea-kindly external hull shape with good surface stability and a draft of 23 feet. Each torpedo compartment had four 21 inch tubes with ten torpedoes. The test depth of her pressure hull was 328 feet (82% of her 400 foot length).
Another of I-400's noteworthy design features was the long vertical trunk leading down from the conning tower outside the hangar to the control room. With a diving time of 56 seconds, the bridge watch leaped into spectacular action on the command Clear the Bridge! The lookouts had to jump down the conning tower hatch, then hurtle through this long tube to man their diving stations in the control room 25 feet below (Figure 3). To cushion the landing impact a three foot thick canvas hassock was positioned in the control room at the foot of the conning tower ladder. The padding was effective, but so filthy and odorous that we heaved it overboard. Afterwards an unfortunate Japanese sailor who hadn't got the word dropped down from the conning tower with his usual elan and struck the steel deck with a resounding crash. Although clearly distressed he staggered off without comment . . . no weakness would be shown in front of the Americans.
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