New to this forum. First, thanks Cliver and Dirk for really great entertainment over the years.

I am still reading the Black Wind but have come across something that keeps me wondering.

In the book, Dirk and Summer are about to locate the bio bombs on the reck of I-411 which is sitting about 1000 feet down. When they cut the cables holding the plane it surprises them when the pontoons rise up. This is stated as a result of good engineering that they still hold air after 60 years.

It seems to me that the pontoons should have been crushed flat or at least crushed until the air escaped.

Anybody else wondering?

Wavelynx

Good point, I'm about 50 pages on from there and it didn't even occur to me. From memory she's at 1000 feet so just over 300 metres. Guess it would depend on the crush depth for something that's quite well built with interior bulkheads but built from a relatively light weight metal.

10 metres deep is 2 atm isn't it so 300m is...

Doing my head in thinking about it!

Cheers beer:

Andy

I don't really have anything to say about your post, But I just wanted to say....

WeLcOmE To ThE FoRuM WaVeLyNx!!! w: w: w:

LOL :lol:

Well if they were shaped correctly, then they might be able to withstand that much pressure. For example you will notice that the shape of a scuba tank or a submarine is a cylinder which happens to be a shape that is very resistant to bending or breaking. Tubular strength is what I have heard it called. So if the pontoons were cylinders with spherical ends, then they might be able to withstand that pressure.

My guess would be that the sub itself was designed to dive down pretty far so the plane would have to go down with it. I don't know enough about the Japanese subs to know how far down they went, but the pontoons would have to be able to withstand quite a bit of pressure while the sub was travelling underwater to its destination. They would certainly want the plane to be in flying shape when it surfaced for the attack. :blink:

Good question, and welcome to the forum! w:

Well this as been most enjoyable. It is great to see a forum like this. I believe the Mr and Mr Cussler have between them a great scienetific and techological knowledge base that covers any little problems I might see with their stories. They are after all entertainers first and foremost and hats off to them.

One of the replies to my question was that Japanes subs must have taken into account the depth for the pontoons...got me thinking...did these type of subs even exist?

Well I went to Googe and typed wwii jap sub ( no disresect to the people of Japan, just keeping the word count short).. Anyways, I came across a link and found it fasinating....it is from the logs and journals of people that were actually in the war at that time.


I have started to read some of it and thought to pass it on for those who might be interested. It really is astounding reading. My dad fought in WWII ( pilot of a Wellington Sub hunter in the Mediteranian(?).. still alive and able to talk about it!) and the writing of the people on this site is like reading an action novel.....got to wonder if maybe authors are getting ideas for sites like this.

The site is http://pages.cthome.net/boyd544/Diary12.htm don't know if you are supposed to put links but if not, just type wwii jap sub in google and look for

Boyd WWII Diary - part 12 of 20, great reading.


Cheers and thanks to Clive for once again letting me realize what a great generation those people were that lived their youth through the second world war.


Wavelynx

I thought the hangar was supposed to be airtight when the sub was actually in service, and it was only flodded because the sub was sunk. It seems to me that if the hangar was flooded while the sub was in services that they would have major problems with rust in the planes.

wavelynx: I read a while ago that they discovered a sub just like the one in the book off the coast of hawaii within the last two years. The story is linked in another post in this forum, alas the news story expired however. Try doing a search in Yahoo news.

The hangar was airtight. Corrosion on the aircraft would have been the least of the crew's problems. Can you imagine having to dry engines, instruments etc out before getting airborne?!

These boats did exist and were reasonably active during the war. There were quite a number of recce flights over Australia by seaplanes launched from submarines. They even went as far south as Hobart, Tasmania! Flights off Victoria, Australia were flown by the same pilot that went on to fly the "incendiary" missions over NW USA and Canada in an attempt to destroy the NW forests by fire.

Here's an excellent link that gives you a pic of the hangar door and the Seiran aircraft they carried.

http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/JapaneseSubmarineI-401fou.html

It's a shame no Japanese subs have survived other than the various midget boats on display.

The two Mr Cusslers do an exceptional job with their research and blending their fictional accounts. One of the reasons we love 'em!

Hope this is of interest.

Cheers beer:

Andy

Great articles!