STAMP FROM SUBART
| In many ways H.I.J.M.S. I-400 was decades ahead of her time. She was the world's largest submarine, with a length of 400 feet and a surfaced displacement of 3,530 tons. Above her main deck rose a 115 foot long, 12 foot diameter, hangar housing three torpedo-bombers. These floatplanes were rolled out through a massive hydraulic door onto an 85 foot pneumatic catapult, where they were rigged for flight, fueled, armed, launched, and, after landing alongside, lifted back aboard with a powerful hydraulic crane. The I-400 was equipped with a snorkel, radar, radar detectors, and capacious fuel tanks that gave her a range of 37,500 miles: one and a half times around the world. She was armed with eight torpedo tubes, a 5.5 inch 50 caliber deck gun, a bridge 25mm antiaircraft gun, and three triple 25mm A/A mounts atop her hangar. The advent of guided missiles and atomic bombs transformed her from an overspecialized undersea dinosaur to a menacing strategic threat. Like Germany's Type XXI U-boat she was too late to influence World War II. From: TOM PAINE'S JOURNAL |
