"Fold up bomber"???

[dakota-flyer]

I research team just found an old Japanese sub wrecked off the island of Hawaii.  

The submarines (type I-401's) were designed to carry three "fold-up" bombers that could be assembled for flight within minutes.

Any idea what kind of planes they might have been???

As an aside...
An I-400 and I-401 were captured at sea a week after the Japanese surrendered in 1945. Their mission

[Hagar]

As an aside...
An I-400 and I-401 were captured at sea a week after the Japanese surrendered in 1945. 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.

You don't quote your source so I can't say if there's any truth in that. Anything is possible in total war but it sounds unlikely to me. This might answer your question on the aircraft. According the artist the I400 class boats were designed to attack the Panama Canal.

Monstrous vessels (with a submerged displacement in the order of 6000tons, a crew of, apparently 180-odd men, and...well, .....that hangar could take a London or New York subway train...!) they were true submersible aircraft carriers, each being equipped with three Aichi M61A "Seiran" floatplane attack bombers.

In this painting I have chosen to illustrate the "final act" of the Japanese submarine service in World War Two - truly, the war is over - it is late August 1945 and Japan has surrendered; in a very short time that Japanese Naval Ensign will be lowered and replaced with a simple black flag, signifying surrender to the U.S. Navy.

But before this took place, the crews of I400, I401 and I402 carried out one small, bloodless gesture of defiance. They catapulted their aircraft into the sea.

Here, on the deck of I401, we can see a Seiran being prepared for launching, whilst sailors armed with sledgehammers are busy knocking holes into the floats of the aircraft before pitching them over the side.

http://www.subart.net/final_act.htm

This was not a new idea & various types of aircraft had beeen carried on submarines before. They were usually housed in special hangars when not in use.

[Felix/FFDS]

Aichi M6A Seiran - one still exists and is being restored for static exhibition..

http://www.pacificwrecks.com/resources/ ... eiran.html

[dakota-flyer]

Thanks, I'll have to look for an FS9 version.  And just to let folks know, there's more info in the article on foxnews.com (top of the page).

[Hagar]

[quote]Thanks, I'll have to look for an FS9 version.

[dakota-flyer]

The same article is on cnn.com.  Neither refers to a source, regarding the rats and diseases.

[Hagar]

[quote]The same article is on cnn.com.

[Craig.]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... _submarine
Thats reported by the AP. who mention something about rats and insects being dropped in cities by the bombers.

[beaky]

Reminds me of stories I heard about an Allied (!) plan to release bats with incendiary packs over cities during WWII. The idea was that they'd roost in old belfries and whatnot, and a timer would set off the pack... can't remember where I heard that, but it could have been a real plan at one time.

[Felix/FFDS]

Reminds me of stories I heard about an Allied (!) plan to release bats with incendiary packs over cities during WWII. The idea was that they'd roost in old belfries and whatnot, and a timer would set off the pack... can't remember where I heard that, but it could have been a real plan at one time.

Experiments were actually carried out - before calmer heads prevailed.  The timers weren't all that reliable.

[Craig.]

wouldnt surprise me, they came up with some crazy ideas back then

[Hagar]

wouldnt surprise me, they came up with some crazy ideas back then

Indeed & they're still coming up with crazy ideas. These boffins are a very weird bunch of people.

[Woodlouse2002]

[quote]

Experiments were actually carried out - before calmer heads prevailed.

[Saratoga]

Eesh, imagine that, waking up to a burning bat in your bed!

[beaky]

Not before the test bats had been released, and returned to the base they were released from... The results are obvious.

LOL!! Hoist by your own... bat.
I knew this story was true... I remember now that I read it in a "Weird War" or "War is Hell" comic book many years ago... so it had to be true.