News Release

'Hunt for the Samurai Subs' airs Tuesday; expedition supported by FWC Commissioner Corbett

November 16, 2009
Contacts: (FWC) Henry Cabbage, 850-488-8843
(National Geographic Channel) Chris Albert, 202-912-6526
or Dara Klatt, 202-912-6720
(NOAA) Fred Gorell, 301-734-1021
(Richard Corbett's office) Jennifer Kent, 813-286-7644

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) Commissioner Dick Corbett, of Tampa, supported and participated in an expedition to find a group of Japanese super-submarines that were en route to attack a U.S. Navy base when World War II ended.

The National Geographic Channel will air the story Tuesday at 9 p.m. (EST), recounting the discovery of the extremely advanced aircraft-carrying submarines off the coast of Hawaii in 3,000 feet of water. Corbett was with the expedition team in a cramped and cold submersible when their searchlights unveiled the eerie sight of the Japanese Imperial Navy flag and then the massive I-14 Japanese submarine resting on its side in the sand.

After seven hours of searching, the expedition team was elated to find such a significant piece of undiscovered history.

Corbett said, "It was an exciting experience to actually view a page out of history and see these submarine-based airplanes poised for launch with their destructive bombs targeting cities in California."

At the end of the war, the U.S. Navy seized the submarines and secretly sank them off the Hawaiian island of Oahu after Russian scientists demanded access to the vessels.

Corbett helped sponsor the expedition when Mark Fowler, son of Jim Fowler of "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" fame, approached him for support.

Jim Fowler has been a close friend of the Corbett family for more than 30 years.

The Japanese super-submarines were larger, faster and more difficult to detect than any U.S. submarines at the time. They could carry and launch up to three bombers and were designed to attack the U.S. mainland.