2 (mounted one behind the other in opposite directions)
The Shinkai ( Japanese 震 海 , dt. "Quaking sea") - the design name was 9-Kanamono - was a planned small submarine class of the Imperial Japanese Navy towards the end of the Pacific War . The rather torpedo-like device was designed for self-sacrifice and carried a 1000 kg explosive charge in the bow section , which was supposed to detonate on the opposing ship's wall by means of an impact fuse . It is unclear why the Japanese naval command developed the concept as a two-man rather than a one-man boat. Before the end of the war, only one test boat could be produced, which, however, only distinguished itself in the subsequent sea trials due to its poor controllability. This as well as its low top speed of only nine knots led to the discontinuation of the project.
literature
Harald Fock: Naval small weapons. Manned torpedoes, small submarines, small speedboats, explosives yesterday - today - tomorrow. Nikol, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-930656-34-5 , p. 51.
