Gunnarson, Jacob/Polmar, Norman Submarine Aircraft Carriers

From World War I to the Age of Drones

At the beginning of the 20th century, two innovations appeared in the field of weaponry that revolutionised warfare and turned it into a multidimensional contest: the modern diesel-powered submarine and the fixed-wing aircraft. Both were widely used during the First World War, and the nations of the world soon developed mobile launch pads for aircraft during and after the war, first on surface ships and later on submarines. The submarine aircraft carrier was born. Virtually nothing has been written about these weapons until now. Submarine aircraft carriers were pursued by all the major naval powers of the world: the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the Soviet Union. Germany was the leader in this field, and although its efforts during the First World War did not result in the deployment of any ships, rumours of such a submarine caused widespread panic in New York City in 1918. Despite intensive efforts in the 1920s and 1930s, only Japan and France had seaworthy submarine aircraft carriers at the outbreak of the Second World War. The only French ship of this type disappeared at sea in 1942, but Japan built 47, including three of the giant I-400 class, the largest submarines of the Second World War. Japanese submarine aircraft carriers carried out the only air raid on the mainland United States when an aircraft launched from a submarine dropped bombs over Oregon. The three I-400s played an important role in Japan's never-realised plans to attack the Panama Canal, New York City and Washington, D.C., as well as in Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night, Japan's last desperate plan to spread bubonic plague and other pathogens in California's coastal cities. After World War II, both the United States and the Soviet Union pursued the further development of submarine aircraft carriers as part of their nuclear strike capabilitiesincluding some imaginative ideas for truly gigantic submarines from which bomber aircraft would be launchedbut the advent of guided missiles quickly ended interest in these vessels. In this story, Jacob Gunnarson and Norman Polmar draw on more than sixty years of research and writing about the world's naval vessels to uncover the development of submarine aircraft carriers. Their story reveals much about 20th-century naval strategy, tactics and technology.