Ships · Japan · 1944-1945
I-400-class submarine
aircraft-carrying submarine
The largest submarines built anywhere in the world until the nuclear era, the Sentoku-class boats were designed to surface off an enemy coast, launch two or three folding-wing Seiran floatplane bombers from a watertight deck hangar, and submerge again, all in service of a planned strike on the Panama Canal. The war ended before any such attack was carried out, and the surviving boats were captured and scuttled by the US Navy.
| displacement | 5,223 tons (surfaced), 6,560 submerged |
|---|---|
| crew | ~144 |
| length | 122 m |
| aircraft | 3x Aichi M6A Seiran |
| range | 37,500 nmi |
