Imperial Japanese Navy in colorized photos

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Looking at these photos, I wanted to confirm that IJN had the largest WWII subs.

They did.

I-400 class submarine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Sen Toku I-400-class (伊四〇〇型潜水艦 I-yonhyaku-gata Sensuikan?) Imperial Japanese Navy submarines were the largest submarines of World War II and remained the largest ever built until the construction of nuclear ballistic missile submarines in the 1960s. They were submarine aircraft carriers able to carry three Aichi M6A Seiran aircraft underwater to their destinations. They were designed to surface, launch their planes, then quickly dive again before they were discovered. They also carried torpedoes for close-range combat.

The I-400-class was designed with the range to travel anywhere in the world and return. A fleet of 18 boats was planned in 1942, and work started on the first in January 1943 at the Kure, Hiroshima arsenal. Within a year the plan was scaled back to five, of which only three (I-400 at Kure, and I-401 and I-402 at Sasebo) were completed.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Looking at these photos, I wanted to confirm that IJN had the largest WWII subs.
They did.

I-400 class submarine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This thread is related to this Submarine, Its old and was hidden under many threads..

http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/naval-warfare/36801-submarine-aircraft-carrier-i-400-ijn.html

 

[uvbar]

japans WW2 theory was big ships as they dont take place, great aircrafts, even to avoid excess area being taken by aircraft they built the first AC's and light weapons esp. nambu pistol type 100 (a sum what reverse enginered sten) and ariska bolt action (mostly made of wood as metal saving was the policy of japan)

 

[civfanatic]

Salute to Japan, for building the first modern navy of Asia

 

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[amoy]

U boat in a rendezvous with Japanese submarine

The Japanese after some dilly dallying accepted to receive Bose in Tokyo. The initial plan was to send him by air, but as the axis powers were fast losing air superiority, it was decided to transfer him by sea to Japan. A look at the world map will show you the sea distance involved, but the Japanese and Germans finally approved the plan to transport Bose by sea.

Thus on 8 Feb 1943 Bose set sail in a German U boat U -180 from Kiel. The submarine was commanded by Commander Werner Mussonberg. The total voyage took 93 days and it is a tribute to the German navy that they succeeded in transferring Bose to the Indian Ocean. The voyage itself was perilous as British and allied intelligence was tracking Bose whom they desperately wanted to catch.

After a long voyage the German submarine reached the sea close to Madagascar and searched for the Japanese submarine. The Japanese submarine I-29 was commanded by Commander Juichi Isu and also had a senior flotilla commander of the Imperial navy in the form of Captain Mesao Teraoka.This showed the importance the Japanese attached to Subhas Bose.

The submarines made contact on 26 April 1943 at a point estimated about 400 nautical miles off the coast of Madagascar. But when the submarines contacted each other the sea became rough and the transfer of Bose and his companion could not be effected. In addition the submarines maintained radio silence making the task even more difficult.

The sea continued to be rough even on 27 April. But two swimmers from the German U boat made it to the Japanese submarine and informed that the German submarine was running low on fuel. Thus it was decided to carry out the transfer the next day. Though the sea remained rough Bose and his companions were transferred to the Japanese submarine by a rubber raft which was attached to the submarines by a rope.

This transfer to the Japanese submarine deserves our admiration. As the logistic problems were gigantic and yet the Germans and Japanese navies achieved the impossible. There is no doubt that this episode will rank as one of the great romantic tales of the Second World War. To go from Germany in a U boat to the middle of the Indian Ocean and have a rendezvous with Japanese submarine is what legends are made off. All credit must go to Bose who showed that Indians do not lack courage and strength in doing the impossible.

Article Source: Subhas Bose and the Great Escape From Germany to Japan 1943 Subhas Bose and the Great Escape From Germany to Japan 1943

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Salute to Japan, for building the first modern navy of Asia

Looking at the photos, I wonder how the Allies defeated Japan. I guess the answer would be air power.

 

[civfanatic]

Looking at the photos, I wonder how the Allies defeated Japan. I guess the answer would be air power.

The Allies defeated Japan because America had far more resources and a far greater industrial capacity than Japan. The Japanese actually had qualitatively superior naval and air forces compared to America, at least during the opening stages of the war. But this quickly became irrelevant when literally hundreds of ships and thousands of airplanes were rolling out of American shipyards and factories, while the Japanese were unable to recover from their losses at decisive battles like Midway.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

I dont want to go on this debate but there is a important note,

"Starting a War is easy, But sustaining it for longer time is another thing.. "

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Will post more awesome pics soon..