Скачать "WWII SECRET WEAPONS: Launching Bombers from Beneath the Waves | The I-400's Secret Mission"

Dive into one of the most secretive chapters of World War II naval aviation history, focusing on the highly specialized aircraft designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy's I-400-class submarines. While the massive "Sen-Toku" submarines were technological behemoths, their entire purpose revolved around their unique cargo: the Aichi M6A Seiran. This specialized attack bomber represents the pinnacle of a desperate strategic vision—the ability to launch air strikes against distant targets, such as the Panama Canal or the US mainland, from an undetected underwater platform. The Aichi M6A Seiran (meaning "Mountain Haze" or "Clear Sky Storm") was a marvel of compromised engineering, built specifically to fit inside a cramped, cylindrical pressure-hangar on the submarine's deck. To fit within the 3.5-meter diameter space, the aircraft utilized a complex hydraulic folding system. The wings rotated vertically so the leading edge pointed downward and folded back snugly against the fuselage. Furthermore, the tops of the vertical stabilizer and the horizontal tail surfaces also folded down to squeeze every inch of clearance. A fascinating and lesser-known aspect of the Seiran’s operational procedure was its reliance on nighttime assembly. Surfacing in hostile waters made the submarine vulnerable, so speed was essential. Japanese crews trained to roll the aircraft out, attach the twin floats, and unfold the wings in under ten minutes in near-total darkness. To facilitate this frantic operation without using lights that would attract Allied attention, critical tools and connection points on the aircraft were coated in luminescent paint that glowed in the dark, guiding the mechanics on the heaving deck. Furthermore, while designed as a floatplane to be recovered by crane after a mission, the Seiran had a grim alternative configuration. For missions requiring maximum speed to evade interception, or range that precluded a return trip, the aircraft could be catapult-launched without its floats attached. This configuration significantly reduced drag, converting the Seiran into a faster, land-based style bomber intended for a one-way mission where the pilot would either ditch at sea or crash-dive into the target. To ensure the liquid-cooled engine was ready for instant takeoff upon rollout, the aircraft's engine was pre-heated while still inside the hangar using a system that circulated hot oil from the submarine’s own engine room. General Information: Aichi M6A1 Seiran Role: Submarine-launched attack floatplane Manufacturer: Aichi Kokuki KK First Flight: November 1943 Crew: 2 (Pilot and Observer/Gunner) Powerplant: 1 × Aichi Atsuta Type 31 liquid-cooled inverted V12 engine (a license-built version of the German Daimler-Benz DB 601) Maximum Speed: 474 km/h (295 mph) at altitude Armament: One rear-facing 13mm Type 2 machine gun and provisions for a single 800 kg torpedo or equivalent bomb load. Operational History: Though the I-400s were dispatched to attack the Ulithi atoll anchorage, the war ended before the Seirans could launch their first combat strike; the aircraft were jettisoned at sea to prevent capture. To support/join the channel ➤ https://www.youtube.com/@Dronescapes/join ➤ More aircraft and history videos: https://www.youtube.com/@Dronescapes ➤ Join the channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Dronescapes/join ➤ THREADS: https://www.threads.net/@dronescapesvideos ➤ FB: https://www.facebook.com/Dronescapesvideos ➤ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/Atellani/ ➤ IG: https://www.instagram.com/dronescapesvideos ➤ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/dronescapes.bsky.social ➤ Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dronescapesvideos ➤ X/Twitter: https://dronescapes.video/2p89vedj VIDEO SERIES: 🎥U.S. AIRCRAFT VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/US 🎥AVIATION VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/aviation 🎥GERMAN AIRCRAFT VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/WWIIGermany 🎥BRITISH AIRCRAFT VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/British 🎥ERIC BROWN VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/EricBrown 🎥B-29 VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/B29 🎥VIETNAM AND KOREA: https://dronescapes.video/Vietnam 🎥TURBOJET VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/Turbojet 🎥SUPERSONIC VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/fastest 🎥EXTREME AIRCRAFT VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/Extreme 🎥STRANGE PLANES VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/Extreme 🎥COLD WAR ERA VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/ColdWar 🎥 WW2 VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/WW2 #WWIIHistory #ImperialJapaneseNavy #SubmarineCarrier