Anyone know what this is?

[Highbury]

Damn fine detective work Dowly!

BTW, that movie looks so epic-ly horrible that I MUST see it!

[Dowly]

Haha, aye. It does look pretty bad.

[Melonfish]

Bad? you've got to be kidding it looks ace!
and we've all seen the formula before, experimental craft sent deep into enemy territory to stop their evil superweapon!
wicked.
i am SERIOUSLY going to watch that film!
pete

[Highbury]

I was gonna try to buy it. It will go with my "best sub movies of all time" collection along with In Enemy Hands

[TLAM Strike]

ANother possablity its HMS M 1 or M 2...

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

ANother possablity its HMS M 1 or M 2...

Nah, it's the I-507. Check few sites about the movie and it's identical to that first pic.

[FIREWALL]

Perfect flic for Saturday viewing.

[Admiral Von Gerlach]

There have indeed been some remarkable efforts to enhance the Submarine's role in sea warfare: including up to 12 inch guns on board

here are some of the examples....



The Surcouf

The Surcouf was designed for long range commerce war Surcouf, at 361 feet and 3,304 tons the world's largest submarine until WWII, had a range of 10,000 miles at 10 knots on the surface and 60 hours at 2 knots submerged, and could operate safely at 250 feet. The Surcoufs battery included no fewer than 12 tubes (8 in external mounts) with 22 torpedoes, 2 8-inch guns in a special turrent mounting, and a seaplane stowed in a hangar and lanunched with a catapault. The Surcouf was also equipped with a special comopartment to accomodate prisoners taken from intercepted vesseols and a small motor launch to transport boarding parties. The submarine proved to be successful in peacetime but never operated as designed in combat becasue of the fall of France and the boat's subsequent loss in a collision.




The British M.1, with its enormous 12-inch gun.


1919
The British converted several unfinished K-boats from steam to diesel power. They fitted one, designated M.1, with a 12-inch naval rifle. In theory, crew members could fire the gun while the boat was submerged; in practice, the submarine had to surface after each shot to reload the gun. M.1 sank after a collision in 1925. The British turned another, designated M.2, into a submarine aircraft carrier. M.2 sank when someone opened the hangar door by mistake while the boat was still partially submerged.

1925
The British tested the 3,000-ton X.1, which came armed with four 5.2-inch guns and six 21-inch torpedo tubes. This was an attempt to build an underwater cruiser. It was not successful and was scrapped.
927



USN Nautilus (not the nuc version)

USS Nautilus, the 168th American submarine, laid down in 1927, was another effort to put big guns on submarines—in this case, twin six-inch guns. Nautilus offered at least one improvement over the British and French efforts—gunners could train and aim the guns independently—but the shells were too heavy for safe handling, and the V-class boat proved too cumbersome for operations as an attack submarine. The Navy converted Nautilus into a seaplane filling station and amphibious support ship for World War II.



IJN I-400 after surrender to US Naval forces

1942
Japan began construction of the 5,223-ton - 6,500 tons I-400 class of submarine aircraft carrier. Designed for attacks against the Panama Canal and the U.S. west coast, each carried three dive-bomber seaplanes. They planned for 12 but built only three, which never saw any useful service. These remarkable boats were totally unknown by the allied forces until they surrendered themselves to US ships at sea, after firing off all their torpedoes and ditching their on board planes.

These three Sen Toku boats were far larger than anything ever seen before. Some 60% larger than the largest contemporary American submarine, USS Argonaut, they had more than twice her range. The most unusual feature was that they each carried three floatplane bombers (and parts for a fourth), a feat never achieved by any other class of submarine. These aircraft folded to fit into the 115-foot cylindrical hangar, which was slightly offset to starboard and opened forward to access the catapult. The huge double hull was formed of parallel cylindrical hulls so that it had a peculiar lazy-eight cross section, and may have inspired the Soviet Typhoon-class built some 40 years later. Although aircraft must be considered their primary armament, they also carried a formidable torpedo battery and the usual 14cm deck gun. Anti-aircraft armament included ten 25mm cannons in three triple mounts and one single. Each of these boats had radar and a snorkel.
The aircraft were the Aichi M6A1 Seiran, also carried by the Type AM submarines. Each of these monoplanes could carry one aerial torpedo or a bomb weighing up to 800kg. Powered by the 1,400hp Atsuta 32 engine (similar to Germany's DB601) they had a top speed of 295mph and were credited with a range of 642 nautical miles. The Sen Toku submarines carried four aerial torpedoes, three 800kg bombs, and twelve 250kg bombs to arm these aircraft. These aircraft had their assembly points coated with fluorescent paint to ease assembly in the dark, so four trained men could prepare an aircraft for launch in seven minutes. All three aircraft could be prepared, armed, and launched in 45 minutes.

The Japanese applied the concept of the "submarine aircraft carrier" extensively. Altogether 47 submarines were built with the capability to carry seaplanes. Most IJN submarine aircraft carriers could carry only one aircraft, but I-14 had hangar space for two, and the giant I-400 class three.