JAPANESE MIDGET SUBS. US INTEL REPT'S - Approx. 300 pg's at US Archives

[u-5075]

[color=#000000]NARA (US Archives) has US intel. reports on Japanese midget subs.

The hassles are]

[aeroengineer1]

Any more info on how

Any more info on how to get this stuff? Is there any way to get it cheaper than at $0.50 per page? I would be very interested for my current projects, (1/16th scale Type A and 1/16th scale Kairyu). A link would be nice as well if possible.

Thanks,
Adam

[u-5075]

Dear Adam,

1. HOW TO GET

Dear Adam,

1. HOW TO GET THIS STUFF.

Go to NARA's website. It is at

http://www.archives.gov/

At the top of the page click onto

http://www.archives.gov/contact/

On the left hand column click onto "ask us a question."

http://www.archives.gov/contact/inquire-form.html#part-a

At
"I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT RESEARCH AND RECORDS AT NARA"
Select
Records created by the US Military.

Then type in your question. Be as detailed as possible about dates, nomenclature, and what you are looking for.
Much more information is always better than less. They are mind readers. Remember that they have a LOT of
information (perhaps too much) about submarines and U-boats. And some of this information might be in
files some other place under some other topic or catagory. Big warehouse, too much stuff.

You can also specify the intelligence reports that are specified in my initial message.

IF YOU HAVE A COMPLIMENT after you deal with NARA, be sure to fill in the form. You catch more information being polite and nice to people and giving credit for jobs well done.

Then fill in your personal info: name, address, etc.


2. IS THERE ANYWAY TO GET THIS CHEAPER THAN FIFTY CENTS A PAGE?

Not really. Your alternatives would be to have an outside contractor, private researcher go in and look thru
the papers. It would cost you more.
Better yet you could get together with a few other midget sub types, Order what you would be interested in
and then go to a Kinko's and copy the stuff and share expenses.

I would be very interested for my current projects, (1/16th scale Type A and 1/16th scale Kairyu).
BEWARE!!!!!!! PRIMATIVE INFORMATION
The bad news is that the stuff there at NARA is rather sketchy as far as details, maybe a sketch by someone, perhaps some guestimations of length and capabilities, then later in the war, more detailed sketches from captured boats. But nothng like blueprints. You might also check for photographic records of midget subs. You might find details of use and interest to a model builder. The intelligence reports are great if you are into the written history and the evolution of how a country gathers technical intelligence. But model builders needing specifics to build an accurate model will be offended.

Go back up to the top of this response
At
"I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT RESEARCH AND RECORDS AT NARA"
Select
"Special media (audio, video, film......... etc)....."

A link would be nice as well if possible.
I've included URL's

ALSO HERE IN THE SUBCOMMITTEE WEBSITE SEARCH GENERAL FORMS/GENERAL THIS MONTH AND OLDER FOR KEYWORD "MIDGET"
There is info about photo images plus there is a new website about Japanese midget subs.
Some of this will help you immediately and hopefully give you the highly specific info needed by a model builder.

Please feel free to e-mail me, if you want.

Here's to plenty of water under your keel.

[raalst]

It occurred to me that

[color=#000000]It occurred to me that the cost (the $151) could go down
if you were allowed to sell the (digested) information.

that boils down to ]

[u-5075]

This information is not copyrighted.

This information is not copyrighted. And most images from NARA are also not copyright protected. You are free to sell it for a profit or to copy and distribute it at cost. Generally NARA obtained material is in the public domain.

The fine print is that imagery and information obtained from NARA generally is not copyrighted, but the same materials obtained from British archives or German archives will often be subject to copyright and one must pay royalties and obtain permission to use. [for use in non-profit organizations (museums), or for commercial (for profit) ventures, or for other uses such as posted on an internet, or in a magazine or book or on its cover]

It is more often the case that British and German obtained imagery (not information) is subject to copyright.

Misc. thoughts.
As a matter of convenience I credit my sources as much as possible. Too many people on the internet do not credit their sources of information and this leads to incorrect information being copied from one website to another and errors and untruths end up becoming accepted factual history. Original intelligence reports are not necessarily accurate but they are often better than fourth or fifth hand accounts of events. And then you can compare them to after-the-war intelligence summations of what had probably happened.

[jbarche]

Hi,
if there are enough interested

Hi,
if there are enough interested in, I would join. Since I have no Job 150 USD +shipping to Germany is Too much for me but divided by enuogh people I think I could get my OK by my teasurer .

[anonymous]

I would join also.

Gantu

I would join also.

Gantu

[u-5075]

Just a thought. Someone could

Just a thought. Someone could make copy the pages or the pages of interest on a CD-rom It would be easier to ship here in the US and by airmail to overseas. And a CD-rom could be copied faster than hard copies.

The question would be which reports would be those of interest or would one want to copy all of them. Based on the German midget sub reports, a model builder might/would perhaps be interested in about 20-30 percent of the Japanese midget sub reports and a historian-type might/would be interested in 30-40+ percent of them.

A minor point is that a lot (most) of these intel. report pages were 8 1/2 x 14 inches.

With the German midget sub part of this file. The one thing that I came away with, based simply on the number or thickness of the report pile, was the the US Navy and the Allies were GREATLY concerned with the potentially real threat of the midget submarines. If hitler had made more of them, much earlier. If the Kriegsmarine had enough of them in the right area (s) along the coastline. If they had more full-sized U-boats. If, if, if..........

[tracy white]

As a researcher who hangs

As a researcher who hangs out at the Seattle Archives quite regularly and has done research at College Park I'd like to add some information.

The cost per sheet is to have them do the copying for you. That's actually a reasonable cost given the constraints they operate under; as these are historical documents they are charged with preserving they can't use document feeders that might jam and destroy the documents so it's all done by hand.

What I typically do is bring my scanner and laptop in with me and I scan both photos and textual documents... no charge for that! Of course, I'm in the position where I have such tools. But if any of you are within a day's drive of College Park, Maryland, you might consider the trip. Researching can be a lot of fun (it can also be a lot of aggravation).