Here is a annotated version.
Finding the Submarine sans it's torpedoes would end the question of what happened to it.
Posted on 12/08/2009 12:09:56 PM PST by jazusamo
A Japanese mini-submarine, newly discovered in other underwater debris, may have capsized the battleship Oklahoma with a torpedo.
The remains of a Japanese mini-submarine that participated in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor have been discovered, researchers say, offering strong evidence that the sub fired its torpedoes at Battleship Row.
That could settle a long-standing argument among historians.
Five mini-subs were to participate in the strike, but four were scuttled, destroyed or run aground without being a factor in the attack. The fate of the fifth has remained a mystery. But a variety of new evidence suggests it fired its two 800-pound torpedoes, probably at the battleships West Virginia and Oklahoma, capsizing the latter. A day later, researchers believe, the mini-sub's crew scuttled it in nearby West Loch.
The loch was later the site of a 1944 disaster in which six tank landing ships preparing for the secret invasion of Saipan were destroyed in an ammunition explosion that killed 200 sailors. When the Navy scooped up the remains of the so-called LSTs and dumped them outside the harbor to protect the secrecy of the invasion, it apparently also dumped the mini-sub's remains, which were mingled with the damaged U.S. ships.
"It's not often that a historian gets a chance to rewrite history," said Parks Stephenson, a marine historian and former Navy submariner, who pieced together the evidence for the PBS television program "Nova."
The episode will air Jan. 5.
"The capsizing of the Oklahoma is the second-most iconic event of the attack. If one submarine could get in, in 1941, and hit a battleship, who knows what a midget sub could do today? Iran and North Korea are both building them. It's very worrying."
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
My question would be why the remains sat there so many years unrecognized for what it was.
We must never underestimate potential enemies.
Here is a annotated version.
Finding the Submarine sans it's torpedoes would end the question of what happened to it.
Good photos, thanks for posting.
It is my understanding that the debris from the harbor was ‘shovelled’ into another area and that debris has been studied and that is when parts of the sub were discovered.
If the second picture is correct as annotated, the ripples and depressions could be from the explosions of the torpedoes.
“Iran and North Korea are both building them. It’s very worrying.”
I’m not the least bit worried and for two reasons. First, the libs are in power so there’s nothing we can do about it. Second, I don’t live in rat infested Seattle.
Note to self: don't piss of the Navy.
of = off
That is probably why then, evidently the LST debris was shoveled on top.
I’m not sure, however I do know that this photograph is Japanese. I would say based upon the amount of damage to battleship row it is very early during the attack.
The Mini-Sub’s torpedoes were much larger than the aerial kind and carried a lot more explosives.
You don't use 12~16" projectiles against aircraft. That would be like trying to use a 30-06 to shoot down flies.
I mean I suppose you could, if you could target the guns fast enough, and if they had a greater range of motion. But BB guns were made for taking out ships on the water.
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