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And it was designed to operate from I-400 class subs, too.It's much larger than I thought.
That's why I thought it was smaller. Those I-400 subs were huge but still, I didn't think stuffing a plane that large was doable.And it was designed to operate from I-400 class subs, too.
How the Japanese thought a single small strike aircraft was going to have any impact on US capability, strategy or morale is madness. Unless Japan can reach twenty years into the future and grab a B28 nuclear bomb, this submarine strike aircraft concept is a dead-end.That's why I thought it was smaller. Those I-400 subs were huge but still, I didn't think stuffing a plane that large was doable.
I think the French Surcouf is a contender carrying a floatplane and being armed with two eight inch guns.As I recall, the I-400s were the largest subs until 1953 when the USS Nautilus atomic powered was launched.
I belive your are correct.If I recall correctly the I-400s were the largest subs by submerged displacement until the Polaris subs fielded by the USN.
I thought the B5N was a land-based IJNAS aircraft?For sure, the B5N fold saves a lot of space in the hangar and means you can get it up and down a smaller elevator. Maybe the B5N was designed to fit on smaller elevators on other carriers or simply to save space? Who knows? But looking at the attached picture of the Hiryu's elevators, it looks like the elevators were of different size and the Zero's fold was done to make it "elevatorable" on smaller type elevators.
View attachment 829377
The "Kate" was certainly carrier based and participated in most of the IJN's Ops during the war.I thought the B5N was a land-based IJNAS aircraft?
I thought the B5N was a land-based IJNAS aircraft?
The B5N actually saw combat in China and far eastern Pacific areas several years before 7 December 41.No, the B5N is the Kate torpedo bomber, used from Pearl Harbor onwards.
The B5N actually saw combat in China and far eastern Pacific areas several years before 7 December 41.
It was actually slated to be replaced by '41/'42, but it's replacement never happened, so it soldiered on 'til the end.
Gotcha - add to that, one of the Hiryu's B5Ns delivered the kill-shot on the Arizona, too.Right, I was just talking about our "interaction" with it. It was most certainly used from carriers as well as land-bases -- just ask the Lexington, Yorktown, or Hornet, which all ate torpedoes from that vulture, and all those birds flown from IJN carriers.
Dammit, I was thinking of the B5M Mabel. As a land-based aircraft, did it really have folding wings as Wiki claims? Then again, are these guys confused by B5N and B5M as well?No, the B5N is the Kate torpedo bomber, used from Pearl Harbor onwards.
I think the French Surcouf is a contender carrying a floatplane and being armed with two eight inch guns.
Given Mitsubishi's prominence in 1930's carrier aircraft with the A5M fighter and B2M torpedo bomber, I wonder why except for the A6M, the IJNAS relied on other firms, mainly Nakajima and Aichi for their CAGs. Why was there no Mitsubishi torpedo or dive bomber in the Kido Butai?