Tamiya 60737 - 1/72 Aichi M6A1 Seiran WWI  [60737]

AICHI M6A1 SEIRAN

Immediately after the advent of aircraft and submarines during World War I, the combined operation of these two tools had been considered by many countries. But had been only the Imperial Japanese Navy that may place it to practical use. At outbreak regarding the Pacific War, numerous large-sized submarines associated with Imperial Japanese Navy had been loaded with catapult and small observation-type aircraft desiged to attack harbors and also to bomb the U.S. mainland. Acknowledging the prosperity of previous attacks by the Imperial Japanese Navy, it made a decision to prepare shock assault missions toward Panama canal by unique submarineborne aircraft in the beginning of 1942. The airplane was the Aichi M6A1 Seiran, designed solely fot this one excellent objective. It had been in May 1942 when the Aichi Aircraft Company received specs to develop and produce a special assault bomber. At first, the employment of the then new Suisei bomber with a few modifications was proposed, but the conversion ended up being discovered not practical due to the trouble to possess interchangeability of major assemblies. On November 1943, the very first prototype made its maiden trip. Undergoing a few improvements, the Aichi Aircraft Company received an order for limited production through the Navy in-may 1944. The engine was a 12-cylinder liquid-cooled Atsuta 32, which was based on the German Daimler-Benz DB603. A 12.7mm, type-2 flex mounted device gun had been prepared at the backside, and torpedo or a 250kg/800kg bomb could possibly be carried. The Seiran was to be carried by the I-400 course submarine inside hanger pipe of 4.2m in diameter and 30.5m in total. The hanger pipe was with the capacity of holding three Seirans. They were saved on catapult establishing automobiles with armaments for fast ejection after surfacing. To deal with the area limitation, the Seiran ended up being designed to conserve room by folding the wings. The wings were pivoted on primary spar in which it joined the fuselage. By rotating the best edge downward, the wing could lie back flat against the sides of fuselage. The exterior portions of every stabilizer and elevator hinged at 90cm from the fuselage centerline and folded downward. Straight clearance ended up being acquired by folding the end of the fin toward right. 28 Seirans including a Nanzan, its ground-take-off-and-landing equivalent, were manufactured in total by 1945, and submersible companies for them, the I-400 and I-401, had been completed nearly simultaneously. Obtaining the target changed from the Panama canal on U.S. Navy air art carriers staged at Ulithi Atoll as a result of change in priorities the war demanded, the first Submarine Flotilla like the I-400 and I-401 with three Seirans each departed Japan on 23 July 1945 with regards to their first and last objective. On 15 August, the flagship I-401 monitored a radio message from headquarters, informing them of Japan's surrender and the flotilla had been ordered to return to the nearest port in Japan. Hence the chance to prove the Seiran's worth was missed forever.