# Military people; A submersible F-14??? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 15, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-people-a-submersible-f-14/264614 "2004-09-15T23:47:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-people-a-submersible-f-14/264614/1 "2004-09-15T23:47:39Z")
On [military.com](http://military.com)’s [shock and awe](http://images.military.com/Shock/0,,SA_WaveOff_090904,00.html?ESRC=navy.nl) page there’s a video of a jet taking off from _under_ the ocean. Swear to god. I’m not sure it’s a F-14, but the caption says so. It also says it’s a pilot who decides at the last second to wave off a landing in bad weather, but the wearher looks fine to me. Has anyone else seen this very dramatic video? Whats up? Did they get the video and caption mixed up? Oh, sorry. You have to be a [military.com](http://military.com) member to view the video, but maybe it’s been elsewhere. If someone can link to it on an open site, please do. Anyway, enjoy it if you are able. It’s cool as hell. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-people-a-submersible-f-14/264614/2 "2004-09-16T02:37:53Z")
Pilot, but non-military here. Not a member of the website, so I haven’t seen the video. Still, I can assure you that an F-14 cannot take off from _under_ the surface of the sea. For one thing, engines need air. For another, the aircraft would probably be rended to shreds by the dense medium if it hit it at any sort of speed. I’ve seen footage of aircraft that have had a “cold cat shot” (not enough push, due to a catapult malfunction or by a crewman putting in a lower weight) where the aircraft had descended below the line of sight at the bows. It _looks_ like the aircraft must have hit the water. Many times, they do. (I’ve also seen this happen in WWII footage, before the invention of catapults on aircraft carriers, when the aircraft didn’t have quite enough speed. IIRC, one of the B-25s that took part in the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo came dangerously close to crashing.) ---
**Author:** ![igloorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@igloorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igloorex)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-people-a-submersible-f-14/264614/3 "2004-09-16T03:11:50Z")
I’ve seen the video, and even [military.com](http://military.com) gives a bit of a “wink, wink.” It’s pretty clearly a doctored video of a sub-launched ICBM with the jet super-imposed over the missile. It does look pretty cool, though. here’s the [link](http://images.military.com/Shock/0,,SA_PlaneSea_042204,00.html). ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-people-a-submersible-f-14/264614/4 "2004-09-16T04:15:30Z")
[Here](http://images.military.com/Video/planewaterlaunch.mpg) is a direct link to the video for non-members. I’m pretty sure an F-14 would not have a giant plume of rocket exhaust coming out the back. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-people-a-submersible-f-14/264614/5 "2004-09-16T04:36:07Z")
For starters the plane looks nothing like an F-14. I’m pretty certain it’s the image of an F-15. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-people-a-submersible-f-14/264614/6 "2004-09-16T04:57:56Z")
Yup, that’s definitely an Eagle. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-people-a-submersible-f-14/264614/7 "2004-09-16T05:43:07Z")
**igloorex** has it; the plane is just pasted on over a missile, probably [a Tomahawk](http://www.raytheon.com/newsroom/photogal/tomahawk_l.htm). Not very well done, either – note that there’s no splash around the wings when they come out of the water. I was going to link to the thread about it on the Snopes board, but it’s so obviously fake nobody bothered to go into detail (basically the same replies as here). ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-people-a-submersible-f-14/264614/8 "2004-09-16T23:36:21Z")
> [@Gunslinger](#): > > **igloorex** has it; the plane is just pasted on over a missile, probably [a Tomahawk](http://www.raytheon.com/newsroom/photogal/tomahawk_l.htm). Not very well done, either – note that there’s no splash around the wings when they come out of the water. I was going to link to the thread about it on the Snopes board, but it’s so obviously fake nobody bothered to go into detail (basically the same replies as here). It’s obviously a fake for the reasons spelled out by **Johnny L.A.** , not because of lousy editing. More likely the missle is taken out (cut) then the plane is pasted in. So it’a a F-15, huh? Shows you what I know about jets. 🙂 There were a few sub launched planes, in WWII I think, but I remember little about them. I don’t think they actually launched underwater, though. I Wouldn’t say such a thing is impossible. A small jet inside a breakaway skin? ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-people-a-submersible-f-14/264614/9 "2004-09-17T00:05:26Z")
Well, good thing they didn’t try using footage from [this missile launch](http://www.ilcdover.com/engineeredinfl/inflatables/tridpl15.jpg) for the original! ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-people-a-submersible-f-14/264614/10 "2004-09-17T00:27:28Z")
The Japanese had a few sub-deployed airplanes during WWII. They were stowed in, well, I guess you could call’em hangars, on deck. They had to surface and put the thing into flight ready condition, after which it would make a normal seaplane take off. I believe one of these was used in the fire bomb attack on Oregon. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-people-a-submersible-f-14/264614/11 "2004-09-17T00:27:46Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > Well, good thing they didn’t try using footage from [this missile launch](http://www.ilcdover.com/engineeredinfl/inflatables/tridpl15.jpg) for the original! What? A F-15 can’t do a few loops? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jhinman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/779978/32.png) [@jhinman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jhinman)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-people-a-submersible-f-14/264614/12 "2004-09-17T01:37:50Z")
> [@Ringo](#): > > The Japanese had a few sub-deployed airplanes during WWII. They were stowed in, well, I guess you could call’em hangars, on deck. They had to surface and put the thing into flight ready condition, after which it would make a normal seaplane take off. I believe one of these was used in the fire bomb attack on Oregon. I belive the Japanese I-400 (one of the airplane carring classes) class of submairne also had a cataplut on the deck but it had to surface.