Submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The submarines ("I-52"-class) were submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built by Mitsubishi Corporation, between 1943 and 1944, as cargo carriers. They were quite long and carried a crew of up to 94 officers and enlisted. They also had a long cruising range at a speed of .
Yokosuka E6Y
The Imperial Japanese Navy was a pioneer in naval aviation, starting as early as 1912 with the purchase of two floatplanes from Britain and one from the United States. By December 1922, Japan had completed "Hōshō", which vies with as the first ship purpose-designed for aircraft operations. Alongside that development, the Navy also looked at aircraft as a way to extend the operational reach of their large submarine force. Aware of the challenge of operations in the large expanse of the Pacific Ocean, the Navy was particularly looking at ways to improve their reconnaissance capability and saw submarine-based aircraft as a complement to land--based patrol. They acquired a Caspar U.1 from the United States and a Parnall Peto from Britain, both early submarine-based reconnaissance aircraft. The two aircraft formed the basis for two prototype Japanese aircraft built for submarine-based reconnaissance, the 1-Go based on the former, while the latter heavily influenced the 2-Go.