IJN Submarines All Classes

[DonBoyer]

Some Japanese photos in the same vein. Hard to find high-quality photos of most Imperial Navy ships, but submarines in particular don't seem to have the good camera PR photos. Here's a few of the better ones.

Submarine I-6 after damage in a collision with destroyer Akatsuki in February of 1935.

I-6.DAMAGED BY AKATSUKI.2.8.1935.jpg

I-10 in Penang, April 1942,

I-10.PENANG.CA.4.1942.jpg

I-18 launching at Sasebo in 1938.

I-18.SASEBO.1938.jpg

I-54 and Kinugasa. Wartime photo but date and location uncertain.

I-54 AND KINUGASA.jpg

[ivorthediver]

Some Japanese photos in the same vein. Hard to find high-quality photos of most Imperial Navy ships, but submarines in particular don't seem to have the good camera PR photos. Here's a few of the better ones.

Submarine I-6 after damage in a collision with destroyer Akatsuki in February of 1935.


I-6.DAMAGED BY AKATSUKI.2.8.1935.jpg



I-10 in Penang, April 1942,

I-10.PENANG.CA.4.1942.jpg


I-18 launching at Sasebo in 1938.


I-18.SASEBO.1938.jpg


I-54 and Kinugasa. Wartime photo but date and location uncertain.


I-54 AND KINUGASA.jpg

In photo no 3........ I see they have now moved to prayer letters on twine wrapped around the hull , in preparation to the wrapping of prayer mat's adorning their wrecks

Great photo's Don............ please keep them coming ......more please ....and thank your suppliers .......would they know about the drapes on the wrecks or would that be an indelicate question to ask them

[DonBoyer]

Launch of I-39 at Sasebo, 1942.

I-39.LAUNCH.SASEBO.1942.jpg

I-70 following her collision with I-69, May 1941.

I-70 AFTER COLLISION WITH I-69.5.1941.jpg

I-123 (formerly I-23). The kana identify this photo as "top secret."

I-123.TOP SECRET STAMP.jpg

[Brian James]

Crew members pictured aboard Lead Ship,Submarine IJNS I-400,storing ship.
The I-400 Class Submarines were the largest Submarines of World War II and remained the largest ever built until the construction of Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarines in the 1960s. The IJN called this type of Submarine Sentoku type Submarine.The type name was shortened to Toku-gata Sensuikan (Special Type Submarine). They were Submarine aircraft carriers able to carry three Aichi M6A Seiran aircraft underwater to their destinations. They were designed to surface, launch their planes, then quickly dive again before they were discovered. They also carried torpedoes for close-range combat. They are considered the strategic predecessors to today’s Ballistic Submarines, especially to the Regulus missile program begun about a decade after World War II.The I-400 Class was designed with the range to travel anywhere in the world and return. A fleet of 18 boats was planned in 1942, and work started on the first in January 1943 at the Kure, Hiroshima Arsenal. Within a year the plan was scaled back to five, of which only three (I-400 at Kure, and I-401 and I-402 at Sasebo) were completed.
Each Submarine had four 1,680 kW (2,250 hp) engines and carried enough fuel to go around the world one-and-a-half times—more than enough to reach the United States travelling east or west. Measuring more than 390 ft long overall, they displaced 6,500 short tons, more than double their typical American contemporaries. The cross-section of its pressure hull had a unique figure-of-eight shape which afforded the necessary strength and stability to handle the weight of a large on-deck aircraft hangar. To allow stowage of three aircraft along the vessel's centreline, the conning tower was offset to port.
Located approximately amidships on the top deck was a cylindrical watertight aircraft hangar,102 ft long and 11 ft diameter. The outer access door could be opened hydraulically from within or manually from the outside by turning a large hand-wheel connected to a rack and spur gear. The door was made waterproof with a 2.0 inch thick rubber gasket.Sited atop the hangar were three waterproofed Type 96 triple-mount 1 inch autocannon for AA defence, two aft and one forward of the conning tower. A single 1 inch autocannon on a pedestal mount was also located just aft the bridge. One Type 11, 5.5 inch deck gun was positioned aft of the hangar. It had a range of 9.3 nm.Eight torpedo tubes were mounted in the bow, four above and four below. There were no aft tubes.
Stowed in an open recessed compartment on the forward port side, just below top deck, was a collapsible crane used to retrieve the submarine's Seiran floatplanes. The crane had an electrically operated hoist and was capable of lifting approximately 4.5 ton. It was raised mechanically to a height of 26 ft via a motor inside the boat. The boom extended out to a length of 39 ft.
Strung along the submarine's gunwales were two parallel sets of demagnetization cables (pictured), running from the stern to the bow planes. They were meant to protect against magnetic mines, by nullifying the magnetic field which normally triggers the mines fusing system. A similar demagnetizing system was carried on many Japanese surface ships during the first part of the war, until they were later removed during refitting.Electronics on board the I-400s included a Mark 3 Model 1 air search radar equipped with two separate antennas. This unit was capable of detecting aircraft out to a range of 43.0 nm. The boats were also equipped with Mark 2 Model 2 air/surface radar sets with distinctive horn-shaped antennas. Each boat carried an E27 radar warning receiver, connected to both a trainable dipole antenna and a fixed non-directional antenna made up of a wire mesh basket and two metal rods.
The submarines were equipped with two periscopes of German manufacture, about 40 ft long, one for use during daylight and the other at night.
A special anechoic coating made from a mixture of gum, asbestos, and adhesives was applied to the hulls from the waterline to the bilge keel. This coating was apparently based on German research, though completely different in composition from German anechoic tiles such as Alberich or Tarnmatte.This was intended to absorb or diffuse enemy sonar pulses and dampen reverberations from the boat's internal machinery, theoretically making detection while submerged more difficult, though its effectiveness was never conclusively established.

[designeraccd]

A little known view of forward part of a I-400 class sub, and a 5.5" on another sub, postwar
......DFO

[ivorthediver]

Thanks for those Dennis,.... great shots [ no pun intended ] and a bloody big gun on a submarine casing

[Brian James]

Prototype Kaidai Class Submarine seen completed as Submarine 44 and commissioned on November 1st 1924 as I-51 at Kure Naval Arsenal.She was was based on the latest Royal Navy design, the British K Class Submarine. Japanese ties to Great Britain via the Anglo-Japanese Alliance were still strong. Project S22 was laid down at Kure Naval Arsenal on April 6th 1921, launched on November 29th 1921 and completed on June 20th 1924.
During construction, the vessel was renamed Submarine No.44 (第四四号潜水艦 Dai-Yonjūyon-go sensuikan), however, on commissioning into the Imperial Japanese Navy, her name was formally registered as I-51.
With a displacement of 1390 tons, I-51 was the largest Submarine built in Japan to date. In order to attain a design speed of 23 knots on the surface, and 15 knots submerged, the design required four diesel engines, driving four screws. To accommodate these engines, a double hull design was used, with hulls joined side-by-side forming a sideways figure "8".
As completed, I-51 achieved only 18.4 knots surfaced and 8.4 knots submerged during trials, but had an unrefueled range of 20,000 nautical miles, which was considered remarkable for the time.

[Brian James]

Type B Cruiser Submarine I-31 pictured under construction on Slipway No 3 at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on March 12th 1941...The Type B Submarines were derived from the earlier KD6 sub-class of the Kaidai Class and were equipped with an aircraft to enhance their scouting ability. They displaced 2,631 tonnes surfaced and 3,713 tonnes submerged. They were 356 ft 8 in long, had a beam of 30 ft 6 in and a draft of 16 ft 9 in. They had a diving depth of 330 ft...For surface running, the boats were powered by two 6,200-brake-horsepower diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 1,000-horsepower electric motor. They could reach 23.6 knots on the surface and 8 knots underwater.On the surface, the B1s had a range of 14,000 nautical miles:16,000 mi at 16 knots; submerged, they had a range of 96 nmi at 3 knots...The boats were armed with six internal bow 21.0 in torpedo tubes and carried a total of 17 torpedoes. They were also armed with a single 5.5 in/40 deck gun and two single mounts for 1 in Type 96 anti-aircraft guns.In the Type Bs, the aircraft hangar was faired into the base of the conning tower. A single catapult was positioned on the forward deck.
On May 12th 1943, near Holtz Bay, Attu, her periscope was sighted by USN Destroyers, Edwards and Frazier, who immediately opened fire. I-31 dove quickly but not before Edwards scored hits. The Destroyers quickly made sonar contact and began a series of depth charge attacks until, after surviving for 10 hours, she was sunk by Frazier on May13th.

[Brian James]

Launch Day for Ha-7 Class Submarines,Ha-7 波号第七潜水艦 and Ha-8 波号第八潜水艦 at Kure Naval Arsenal on March 15th 1916.

[Brian James]

Type B2 Submarine I-44 pictured as completed at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on January 19th 1944......On April 29th 1945, a TBM Avenger of U.S. Navy Composite Squadron 92 (VC-92) took off from the Escort Aircraft Carrier USS Tulagi, 220 nautical miles southeast of Okinawa at 14:18. During the flight, the Avenger's crew sighted a Japanese Submarine on the surface and dived on it from an altitude of 4,000 feet. As the Submarine crash-dived, the plane dropped a depth charge that exploded adjacent to the Submarine's conning tower. On its next pass, the Avenger dropped a Mark 24 'Fido' acoustic homing torpedo which exploded against the Submarine's hull, sinking it at 24°15′N 131°16′E. The Submarine probably was I-44...On May 2nd 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy declared I-44 to be presumed lost in the Okinawa area with the loss of all 134 men aboard — 130 crewmen and four embarked kaiten pilots. She was stricken from the Navy list on June 10th 1945.