IJN Submarines All Classes

[Brian James]

Type B1 Cruiser Submarine I-39 pictured on launch day at Sasebo Naval Arsenal on April 15th 1942..On November 26th 1943, Battleship USS Massachusetts was steaming 80 nautical miles southwest of Tarawa as part of Task Group 50.2, when she detected a surface target 9 nautical miles to the southwest on radar at 22:52. At 23:02 the Destroyer USS Boyd was detached to investigate. She detected a surfaced Submarine on radar at 23:20 and closed with it. She lost radar contact, apparently when the Submarine submerged, but Boyd then located the Submarine with her sonar. She dropped two patterns of depth charges, and heard a loud underwater explosion 15 minutes after the last attack. On the morning of 27 November 27th 1943, planes from the Aircraft Carrier USS Enterprise flew over the area and reported a large oil slick on the surface. On February 20th 1944, the Imperial Japanese Navy declared I-39 to be presumed lost with her entire crew of 96 in the Gilbert Islands area. She was stricken from the Navy list on April 30th 1944.

[Brian James]

Kaidai Type, KD6A Sub-Class Cruiser Submarine I-73 pictured in Ariake Bay on April 24th 1939.....She was sunk by Tambor Class Submarine USS Gudgeon (SS-211) in January 1942.....On January 27th 1942, USS Gudgeon (SS-211) was on her return voyage from a war patrol off the Bungo Strait in Japanese waters and was 240 nautical miles west of Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands when she received an Ultra message informing her that I-18, I-22, and I-24 were approaching her. She steered to intercept them, but did not encounter them. While submerged and searching for them, however, she detected the sound of high-speed propellers off her port bow at 09:00 local time. She then sighted I-73 at a range of 5,000 yards, identifying her as an I-68-class submarine with a deck gun forward of her conning tower and at least six men on her bridge, making 15 knots on a heading of 255 degrees. Gudgeon fired three Mark 14 torpedoes at I-73 at a range of 1,800 yards at 09:07 local time, then lost sight of her in heavy seas. One minute and 45 seconds after firing her torpedoes, Gudgeon′s crew heard two explosions, after which I-73′s propeller noises ceased. Gudgeon returned to periscope depth and saw no sign of I-73. She claimed only to have damaged I-73, but Station HYPO, a U.S. Navy signals intelligence unit in Hawaii, confirmed that Gudgeon had sunk I-73.Sunk and was the first warship ever sunk by a U.S. Submarine.

[Brian James]

Type I-121 Submarine I-23 pictured at Kobe Naval Arsenal on April 28th 1928...originally named Submarine No. 50 then renamed I-23. She conducted operations in support of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the Battle of Midway, the Guadalcanal campaign, and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons...After she was renumbered I-123 in 1938, the designation I-23 was reassigned to a later Submarine which also served during World War II....I-123 was forced to submerge by an Allied seaplane at 01:25 on August 29th 1942. She reported the encounter in a message she transmitted at 03:12. The Japanese never heard from her again.
At 08:05 the Destroyer Minelayer USS Gamble, steaming to Guadalcanal as a part of USN Task Unit 62.2.4, sighted the conning tower of I-123 as she submerged 60 nautical miles east of Savo Island. Using a magnetic anomaly detector to track I-123, Gamble conducted several depth charge attacks against her between 08:44 and 11:47. After the last attack, Gamble passed through a large oil slick and her crew observed a large air bubble breaking the surface. Gamble later recovered broken deck planking from the water. It marked the end of I-123..The Japanese Submarine Ro-34, patrolling to the west of I-123, reported hearing a number of explosions coming from I-123′s location at the time of Gamble′s attack. On September 1st 1942, the IJN officially declared I-123 to be presumed lost with all 71 hands off Guadalcanal. She was stricken from the Navy list on October 5th 1942.

[Brian James]

Kaigun Holland Third Class Submarine No 6 pictured at Kure Naval Arsenal on May 5th 1918...The Kaigun Holland #6 was launched at Kobe on September 28th 1905 and was completed six months later at Kure as the first Submarine built in Japan. It sank during a training dive in Hiroshima Bay on April 15th 1910. Although the water was only 58 feet deep, there were no provisions for the crew to escape while submerged. The commanding officer, Lieutenant Tsutomu Sakuma, patiently wrote a description of his sailor's efforts to bring the boat back to the surface as their oxygen supply ran out. All of the sailors were later found dead at their duty stations when this Submarine was raised the following day. The sailors were regarded as heroes for their calm performance of their duties until death, and the Submarine was preserved as a memorial in Kure, until it was ordered dismantled by the Occupation Supreme Command in late 1945.

[Brian James]

Kaichū III Subclass Submarine Ro-25 (Originally Submarine No. 43) pictured under repair at Sasebo Naval Arsenal on April 28th 1924. Ro-25 was laid down as Submarine No. 43 on February 19th 1920 at Sasebo Naval Arsenal, launched on July 17th 1920 and was completed and commissioned on October 25th 1921. On March 19th 1924, Submarine No. 43 was taking part in manoeuvers off the harbour at Sasebo when she collided with the Light Cruiser Tatsuta. Tatsuta sliced through Submarine No. 43′s conning tower and Submarine No. 43 sank 3 nautical miles off Sasebo in 156 feet of water. Using a telephone floated from the sunken Submarine, a rescue party on the surface established contact with the crewmen trapped aboard her, who reported ever-deteriorating conditions before falling silent about ten hours after she sank. Submarine No. 43′s entire crew of 46 suffocated.
Submarine No. 43 was partially raised and towed to Sasebo, where she arrived on April 13th 1924 so that salvage operations could be completed in the protected waters of the harbour. She was fully refloated on April 25th 1924 and on April 26th was decommissioned and placed in reserve in the Sasebo Naval District to undergo repairs. While under repair, she was renamed Ro-25 on November 1st 1924. Her repairs were completed on May 4th 1925 and on March 1st 1926 she was recommissioned and returned to service in both Submarine Division 22 and the Sasebo Defense Division. On December 1st 1927 she was reassigned directly to the Sasebo Naval District and subsequently was used for trials. Ro-25 was stricken from the Navy list on April 1st 1936. She subsequently was scrapped during 1936.

[Brian James]

Kaichū Type Submarine, Kaichū IV Subclass No 58 (Renamed Ro-27 on November 1st 1924), pictured commencing sea trials off Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on May 22nd 1924...Upon commissioning, Submarine No. 58 was attached to the Kure Naval District, and on August 20th 1924 she was assigned to Submarine Division 14 in Submarine Squadron 2 in the 2nd Fleet.
Submarine Division 14 was reassigned to the Kure Naval District on August 1st 1925, and on August 18th 1925 began duty with the Kure Defense Division. This lasted until December 1st 1925, when the division returned to Submarine Squadron 2 in the 2nd Fleet. On April 6th 1926, Ro-27 collided with her sister ship Ro-28. Neither Submarine suffered casualties. Ro-27 was decommissioned on December 10th 1937 and placed in Fourth Reserve in the Kure Naval District. She was stricken from the Navy list on April 1st 1940. She served subsequently as Training Hulk Heisan No. 7 at the Submarine School at Kure. She was sold for scrap after World War II and scrapped at Iwakuni, Japan. Scrapping was completed in October 1947.

[Brian James]

Kaichū-Type Submarine, No 45, lead unit of the Kaichū IV Subclass (Re-named Ro-26 on November 1st 1924) pictured off Sasebo Naval Arsenal on June 9th 1923....She was decommissioned on December 1st 1938 and placed in Fourth Reserve in the Kure Naval District, then recommissioned on May 1st 1939 and assigned directly to the district. Ro-26 was decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on April 1st 1940. She served subsequently as the Training Hulk Heisan No. 6 at the Kure Submarine School. She was sold for scrap after World War II; scrapping began at Kanagawa in 1947 and was completed in April 1948.

[Brian James]

The second prototype, Kaidai Class Submarine I-52 pictured off Etajima on June 18th 1925...Built at Kure Naval Arsenal and commissioned in 1925, she became a Training Ship in 1935 and was decommissioned in 1942 during the early months of the Pacific campaign of World War II. She subsequently served as the Stationary Training Hulk Haikan No. 14 and was scrapped after the war.

[Brian James]

Submarine No 14 pictured on launch day at Kure Naval Arsenal on July 8th 1918.

[Brian James]

Kaidai Class, KD3B Sub-Class Cruiser Submarine I-59 pictured off Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on July 11th 1930...She made two war patrols in the Indian Ocean, took part in the Battle of Midway, and served as a Training Submarine before ending the war as a kaiten suicide attack torpedo carrier. She surrendered at the end of the war and was scuttled in 1946.