Japanese Submarine Aircraft

I got this book for review back in 2002, but it never got reviewed here on Cybermodeler along with some of the other Mushroom Model Publications (MMP) books. So, here…without further ago is the review.

The book comes in MMP’s usual 6 ½” x 9 ½” soft-cover format. It contains 128 pages.

The book tells the stories of using submarines to transport aircraft to areas of operations that was beyond the aircraft’s normal flying range. This was first attempted by Germany during WWI and also experimented with, about that same time period, by both Britain and the U.S. However, interest by these three countries soon discarded and only Japan persisted with the tactic. The book covers all the stories of operations by these countries in detail.

The book features 63 black and white photos, a line drawing of a Japanese I type sub carrying a “Glen” float plane, 12 line drawings of submarine carried aircraft in 1/72nd scale, three cockpit interior drawings of the “Glen” along with tail and fuselage detail drawings, a shot of a “Glen” inside it’s submarine hangar. Cockpit illustrations from handbooks of the interior of the “Seiran” and 18 full color illustrations of the types of aircraft that were carried aboard Japanese submarines:

• Yokosho I-GO (a two-view)
• Yokosho 2-GO (a two-view)
• Watanabe E9Y1 (single-view)
• Kagisho E14Y1 (2 single-views)
• Kagisho E14Y1 (4 two-views)
• Aichi M6A1 Seiran (a three-view)
• Aichi M6A1 Seiran (single-view) float version
• Aichi M6A1k Nanzan (single-view) wheeled version

There are 53 full color photos of a Seiran that has been restored at the NASM Garber Facility as walk-around shots, showing all of its anatomy. The book ends with a page of bibliography.

A Japanese submarine that carried a “Glen” float plane is credited with being the only aircraft that attacked the mainland of the U.S. It dropped a few incendiary bombs on a forest in Oregon and started small fires. Not much damage was really done, because of much rain that had fallen the week before in the area. A huge Japanese sub was built to carry 3 Seiran aircraft for a bombing attack on the Panama Canal. This sortie was aborted due to the war ending. Both these action stories are described in the book and are interesting reading.

This book is neat, because it tells about little known aircraft/submarine cooperative actions during WWII. It will be of great interest to historians and modelers alike.

As an aside, Nichimo made a I-type sub with a Glen mounted on it, in 1/200th scale. My review of this kit can still be found on this site.

The Glen and Seiran aircraft have both appeared in 1/72nd scale by a couple companies too.

Highly recommended.

I want to thank Dr. Roger M. Wallsgrove, Editor-in-Chief of MMP for this review copy.