Operation Storm: Japan's Top Secret Submarines and Its Plan to Change the Course of World War II - Geoghegan, John

Operation Storm: Japan's Top Secret Submarines and Its Plan to Change the Course of World War II by Geoghegan, John

Format: Trade Paperback

Published by Crown, 2014

The riveting true story of Japan's top secret plan to change the course of World War II using a squadron of mammoth submarines a generation ahead of their time.

In 1941, the architects of Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor planned a bold follow-up: a potentially devastating air raid-this time against New York City and Washington, DC. The classified Japanese program required developing a squadron of top secret submarines-the Sen-toku or I-400 class-designed as underwater aircraft carriers, each equipped with three Aichi M6A1 attack bombers painted to look like U.S. aircraft. The bombers, called Seiran (which translates as “storm from a clear sky”), were tucked in a huge, water-tight hanger on the sub’s deck. The subs' mission was to travel more than halfway around the world, surface on the U.S. coast, and launch their deadly air attack. This entire operation was unknown to U.S. intelligence. And the amazing thing is how close the Japanese came to pulling it off.