The Imperial Japanese Navy Sentoku Class submarines were the largest submarines built until the advent of the nuclear submarine in the 1960's. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, conceived of the idea of using these large subs to take the war to the American continent. This class of subs were capable of sailing one and a half times around the world, a trait that would have enabled them to bomb US coastal cities on not only the west coast, but also on the eastern seaboard. Initially, 18 were planned in Admiral Yamamoto's audacious concept, but with his untimely death, the number was scaled back considerably, to 3, with only two, the I-400 and I-401 entering service. In order to accommodate a hangar housing 3 Aichi Seiran bomber aircraft, the subs were constructed as double side by side inner hulls for stability. They were enormous at 400 feet in length. They were intended to surface, launch their aircraft, and submerge as quickly as possible. To this end they also employed a system to heat up the aircraft oil in advance, facilitating fast engine starting and run-up. The fortunes of war robbed the impressive submarines of ever being used as intended and in August 22 1945, the Japanese high command ordered the destruction of all weapons on board it's warships. Torpedoes were fired unarmed, the Aichi Seirans and recon aircraft were launched with wings folded, and all logs and documents destroyed. Both the I-401 and 400 were surrendered to the American navy in August of 1945. The Americans were astounded at the size and technology of the vessels. An interesting note is that up to that time, the Seiran (Clear Sky Storm) aircraft was a complete secret. The Americans studied the vessels, and anticipating Russia's potential interest in the craft (signalling the coming cold war), destroyed and sank both at sea. I think this is an extremely interesting story with quite a trove of fascinating detail. It makes for an engrossing read. I was amazed at the historical details of the whole episode! I pulled the base setup for this render out of the archives and did considerable work on the I-400 to texture it and be able to move parts around. The very nicely done Aichi Seiran by Briney replaced the aircraft on the model. IJN I-400, Sentoku class submarine: I think that this is from sketchup warehouse by Architect. Some rebuilding and retexturing in the basement dry dock. Aichi Seiran "Clear Sky Storm": Nice model generously free on sharecg by Briney (Thank you Brian! I really had fun with this.) some minor retexturing. I-400 crew: various Domus character and Epici low poly enemy soldier with clothing from here and there. Cinema C4d6XL+CE, Poser10, Vue6Infinite, PsCs3