Spring, 1946. Ten months after the end of World War II, an explosion rocks the Pacific off the coast of Hawaii. America has just destroyed one of Japan’s most advanced weapons systems – the I-401 aircraft carrier submarine. But this was no belated attack against the defeated Japanese. Bound by an agreement to share any discoveries with the Soviets but feeling the pressure of the looming cold war, it was a calculated decision to keep the technology out of Soviet hands.
The Japanese had built their sub to take the war to U.S. shores. Merging the stealth and tactical advantages of sea and sky, the revolutionary submarine carried three specially-designed Seiran attack bombers, which could be launched from the deck of the sub within seven minutes of it reaching the surface.
With missions to attack U.S. cities and blow up the Panama Canal, the aircraft carrier submarine had the potential to change the course of the war in the Pacific. But fortunately for America, it’s secret weapon – the atom bomb, was put into action first. Japanese SuperSub investigates Japan’s efforts to take submarine technology where it had never gone before, and reveals how close the Japanese came to using the sub for an attack on the U.S.
Produced by Windfall Films and Spy Pond Productions for THIRTEEN in association with National Geographic Channel and WNET.ORG.
Narrated by: LIEV SCHREIBER
Producer/Director: ERIC STANGE
Co-Producer: ANNA SARACENO
Co-Producer: Jackie Mow
Executive Producer, Windfall Films: DAVID DUGAN
Executive in Charge: William R. Grant
Executive Producer: Jared Lipworth
© Copyright 2010 WNET.ORG Properties L.L.C., Windfall Films Ltd. and Spy Pond Productions.
Very interesting and never knew of this. Hey…I just found this site tonight. How to view it often.
Fascinating! A lot of work went into this production. I loved the interviews of the surviving servicemen on both sides of the war…
Thank you so much for making this possible!
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While watching this episode I noticed an inaccuracy during the part about the difficulty in high altitude bombing the Panama Canal. The aircraft used in dropping water bombs was a B-25 not a B-29.
The last remaining Seiran aircraft (a trainer) is on display at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in in Chantilly, Virginia. (http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19630308000) It was carefully restored and is displayed right next to the B-29 Enola Gay.
My husband’s grandfather was the officer on the USS Segundo who first sighted this Japanese ship. After hearing his version of the events of that time, we finally have information from the other side! Very well-done.
To get them back on board the sub is on the surface waiting…..one reason why nothing came of this nuisance weapon
At Rb:
Theese subs had a special trim-system that allowed them to loiter submerged in a stationary position while waiting for the attack-planes to return.
(From Wikipedias article on the I-400 class.)
The assumption as to lack of effectiveness ignores the Kamikaze reality of the attacks that the sub would eventually be considered for.
When a weapons platform is considered expendable, then it’s survival is considered a waste. Best to use it to cause harm as best it can. Sink it in a narrow shipping channel for instance. (How long would it take to remove something that big…?) They were positing attacks on the east coast. Seems that the Mississippi — a shipping channel of some note — would have been an option.
The thought of weakness due to retrieving aircraft whilst on the surface ignores the following realities:
A:The I-400 was a submarine: Capable of submerging and surfacing at will,
B: That a plane of that size — in US colors no less — is harder to spot than a surfaced submarine, and
C: With radar, a submerged sub could locate the planes under cover of darkness if need be.
Oh, and there’s that Kamikaze thing again…
As 9/11 taught us, a plane sans a bomb is still a bomb.
Not available in my region???? No more Canadian donations from me!
What kind of a gyp joint are you running here? I am so sick and tired of being led here with “Watch the full episode” only to end up reading “Sorry the requested video is unavailable…” I could vomit. I won’t be back, I’ll just grab the torrent from now on. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Copyright Nazis. I thought the whole idea behind PBS was to share information. You are, after all, employees of the people so shouldn’t we, the taxpayers and donors, have a say in who “owns” the copyright?
One inaccuracy early on in the presentation: While speaking of the folding-wing design on the Grumman F6F Hellcat, the video displayed a Grumman F4F Wildcat.
The bomb-load of the Japanese plane was unimpressive, under a ton.
–GSW
[...] Japanese SuperSub Secrets of the Dead :: PBS “With missions to attack U.S. cities and blow up the Panama Canal, [...]
I’m sure that many veterans and WW-II history buffs noticed the incorrect identification of the B-25 and the F4F. That really is inexcusable, since it is so easy to get it right. Does it matter? Yes, it does, because it throws into doubt all other “facts” being cited by the journalists and authors. I practically gagged when a novice TV reporter recently noted the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb from a B-52 !
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