Futility Closet

Japanese War Tuba

Posted in History, Oddities by Greg Ross on August 28th, 2006

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Wartuba.jpg

Before World War II, this photo emerged from Japan — Emperor Hirohito inspecting a fleet of giant tubas, with anti-aircraft guns in the background.

They’re actually acoustic locators, designed to listen for plane engines. Radar made the whole project obsolete.