Japanese submarine I-13

Last updated
History
Naval ensign of the Empire of Japan.svg Imperial Japanese Navy
NameSubmarine No. 621
Builder Kawasaki, Kobe,  Japan
Laid down4 February 1943
RenamedI-13 1 October 1943
Launched30 November 1943
Commissioned16 December 1944
FateSunk 16 July 1945
Stricken15 September 1945
General characteristics
Class and type Type AM submarine
Displacement
  • 3,661 tonnes (3,603 long tons) surfaced
  • 4,838 tonnes (4,762 long tons) submerged
Length113.7 m (373 ft 0 in) overall
Beam11.7 m (38 ft 5 in)
Draft5.9 m (19 ft 4 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 16.75 knots (31.02 km/h; 19.28 mph) surfaced
  • 5.5 knots (10.2 km/h; 6.3 mph) submerged
Range
  • 21,000  nmi (39,000 km; 24,000 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) surfaced
  • 60 nmi (110 km; 69 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) submerged
Test depth100 m (328 ft)
Crew108
Armament
Aircraft carried2 × Aichi M6A Seiran floatplanes
Aviation facilities

I-13 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type AM submarine that served during World War II. Designed as a submarine aircraft carrier, she was commissioned in December 1944 and sunk in July 1945.

Contents

Design and description

Previous Type A submarines — both Type A1 and Type A2 — were submarine aircraft carriers capable of carrying a single reconnaissance floatplane and fitted with command facilities so that they could serve as flagships for embarked admirals and their staffs. The Type AM submarines were versions of the preceding Type A2, but with the command facilities replaced by an enlarged aircraft hangar fitted for a pair of Aichi M6A1 Seiran ("Clear Sky Storm") floatplane bombers. [1] They displaced 3,661 tonnes (3,603 long tons) surfaced and 4,838 tonnes (4,762 long tons) submerged. The submarines were 113.7 meters (373 ft 0 in) long overall and had a beam of 11.7 meters (38 ft 5 in) and a draft of 5.9 meters (19 ft 4 in). They had a diving depth of 100 meters (328 ft). [2]

For surface running, the submarines were powered by two 2,200- brake-horsepower (1,641 kW) diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When the submarines were submerged, each propeller was driven by a 300-horsepower (224 kW) electric motor. They could reach 16.75 knots (31.0 km/h; 19.3 mph) on the surface and 5.5 knots (10.2 km/h; 6.3 mph) submerged. [3] On the surface, the Type AMs had a range of 21,000 nautical miles (39,000 km; 24,000 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph); submerged, they had a range of 60 nmi (110 km; 69 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph). [4]

The Type AM submarines were armed with six internal bow 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes and carried a dozen Type 95 torpedoes. They were also armed with a single 140 mm (5.5 in)/40 deck gun and two triple and one single mount for 25 mm (1 in) Type 96 anti-aircraft guns. [4]

The aircraft hangar was enlarged from that of the Type A2 to accommodate two aircraft. It was offset to the right of, and was faired into the base of, the conning tower, which protruded over the left side of the hull. A single aircraft catapult was positioned on the forward deck. Two folding cranes on the forward deck were used to recover the floatplanes. [4]

Construction and commissioning

Built by Kawasaki at Kobe, Japan, I-13 was laid down as Submarine No. 621, the first Type AM submarine, on 4 February 1943. [5] On 1 October 1943 she was renamed I-13 and attached provisionally to the Sasebo Naval District. [5] She was launched on 30 November 1943 [5] and was completed and commissioned on 16 December 1944. [5]

Service history

January–June 1945

On the day of her commissioning, I-13 was attached formally to the Sasebo Naval District and assigned to Submarine Division 1 in the 6th Fleet. [5] She departed Kobe that day for Kure, Japan. [5] After an overnight voyage, she arrived at Kure on 17 December 1944 and began basic at-sea training. [5]

I-13 conducted work-ups and combat training with the other submarines of Submarine Squadron 11 — I-400, later joined by I-401 — in the western Seto Inland Sea during January 1945, [5] and on 19 January she also served as an antisubmarine warfare target for the destroyers Kamikaze and Nokaze as they trained their crews. [5] After the United States Army Air Forces Twentieth Air Force conducted a major fire-bombing raid on Tokyo on the night of 9–10 March 1945, the 6th Fleet proposed to the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff a retaliatory raid on San Francisco, California, by Aichi M6A1 Seiran floatplanes launched by the submarines of Submarine Division 1, but by April 1945 the General Staff's vice chief, Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa, had rejected the proposal. [5]

Meanwhile, I-13 was at Kure when the United States Navy′s Task Force 58 launched the first carrier aircraft strike against the Kure Naval Arsenal on 19 March 1945. [5] Although 240 planes from the aircraft carriers USS Essex (CV-9), USS Intrepid (CV-11), USS Hornet (CV-12), USS Wasp (CV-18), USS Hancock (CV-19), USS Bennington (CV-20), and USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) attacked Kure, I-13 submerged during the attack and managed to escape damage. [5]

By late May 1945, I-13 and the other submarines of Submarine Division 1 (I-14, I-400, and I-401) all had been fitted with submarine snorkels. [5] At 08:00 on 27 May 1945, I-13 and I-14 departed Kure and made for Moji on the coast of Kyushu, where they dropped anchor at 19:00 and spent the night. [5] They got back underway on 28 May, passed through the Shimonoseki Strait and Tsushima Strait and crossed the Sea of Japan, arriving the same day at Chinkai in Chōsen (the Japanese name for Korea while under their rule) to refuel. [5] They departed Chinkai on 29 May to return to Japan, stopping at Toyama Bay on the coast of Honshu on 1 June 1945 because of dense fog. [5] They arrived at Nanao Bay on the western coast of Honshu near Takaoka, Japan. [5] [6] on 3 June 1945. [5]

Panama Canal operation

I-400 and I-401 soon rendezvoused with I-13 and I-14 in Nanao Bay, and the submarines were joined by six Aichi M6A1 Seiran ("Clear Sky Storm") aircraft of the Kure-based 631st Naval Air Group, which flew in on 4 June after a stop at Fukuyama, Japan. [6] On 6 June 1945, the submarines and aircraft began training for night air operations in preparation for a surprise Japanese air strike against the Panama Canal in which the submarines would launch ten M6A1 floatplanes which were to strike the Gatun Locks from the east with six torpedoes and four bombs, emptying Gatun Lake and blocking the canal to shipping for months. [6] During training, the Japanese demonstrated that four trained men could prepare one of the floatplanes for launch from a submarine in seven minutes and that each submarine could assemble, fuel, arm, and launch all three of the floatplanes it carried in 45 minutes. [6] Despite various obstacles—the presence of American mines and U.S. Navy submarines and shortages of aviation gasoline—the submarines and aircraft launched a number of simulated air strikes. [5] [6]

While Submarine Division 1 was still at Nanao Bay, the expected imminent fall of Okinawa to U.S. forces as the Battle of Okinawa neared its conclusion and the increasing pace of air strikes by Allied aircraft carriers on the Japanese Home Islands prompted Japanese Imperial General Headquarters to cancel the Panama Canal strike on 12 June 1945 and decide instead to use the submarines and their floatplanes to strike the Allied fleet anchorage at Ulithi in the Caroline Islands. [6] The submarines and aircraft completed their flight training on 19 June 1945, with all of the M6A1 floatplanes taking off from the waters of Nanao Bay that day. [6] One failed to return, and the bodies of its two crewmen later washed ashore on Sadogashima. [6] On 20 June 1945, I-13 disembarked her two M6A1 aircraft at Nanao Bay and got in underway for Maizuru, Japan, in company with I-14. [5] They reached Maizuru on 22 June 1945. [5]

Operation Hikari

At 13:25 on 25 June 1945, the Combined Fleet issued orders for the attack on Ulithi, dubbed Operation Arashi ("Mountain Storm"). [5] [6] The orders called for I-13 and I-14 to transport disassembled Nakajima C6N1 Saiun (Iridiscent Cloud"; Allied reporting name "Myrt") reconnaissance aircraft to Truk Atoll in the Caroline Islands in late July 1945. [5] [6] The C6N aircraft were to be reassembled at Truk and then, in Operation Hikari ("Shining Light"), conduct a reconnaissance of Ulithi, noting the presence and location of Allied aircraft carriers and troop transports. [5] [6] I-400 and I-401 then were to launch a combined total of six M6A1 floatplanes—which were to use the reconnaissance information to assist them in targeting Allied ships—on 17 August 1945 for a nighttime strike under a full moon against the Ulithi anchorage, each pilot receiving a hormone injection to improve his night vision and each plane armed with an 800-kilogram (1,764 lb) bomb. [5] [6] After the strike, the aircraft were to land near the submarines, and I-13, I-14, I-400, and I-401 all were to proceed to Singapore, where ten new M6A aircraft would await them for embarkation for another strike. [5] [6]

On 2 July 1945, I-13 departed Maizuru in company with I-14 and set course for Ōminato on the northern tip of Honshu, which she reached on 4 July 1945. [5] [7] She loaded two crated C6N aircraft there, then got back underway at 15:00 on 11 July to begin Operation Hikari, heading for Truk, where she was scheduled to arrive on 20 July 1945. On the day she left Ōminato, Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne (FRUMEL), an Allied signals intelligence unit at Melbourne, Australia, decrypted a message from I-13 which gave her intended approximate positions for 12:00 on 13, 15 and 18 July. FRUMEL personnel could not decipher the positions, but incorrectly assessed that Operation Hikari involved the transportation of approximately four suicide attack aircraft to Singapore. [5] The Japanese never heard from I-13 again after her departure from Ōminato. [5]

Loss

At 07:47 on 16 July 1945, a TBM-3 Avenger aircraft of Composite Squadron 13 (VC-13) from the U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Anzio (CVE-57) gained radar contact on a Japanese submarine on the surface in the Pacific Ocean 550 nautical miles (1,020 km; 630 mi) east of Yokosuka, Japan. [5] The Avenger strafed the submarine and attacked her with 5-inch (127 mm) air-to-surface rockets. [5] The submarine submerged, leaving a trail of oil on the surface. [5] The Avenger dropped two depth charges, followed by sonobuoys and a Mark 24 Fido acoustic homing torpedo. [5] Two more VC-13 Avengers from Anzio arrived on the scene and took over the attack, dropping more sonobuoys and another Fido. [5] The Avengers then guided the destroyer escort USS Lawrence C. Taylor (DE-415) to a heavy oil slick that betrayed the submarine′s position. [5] At 11:40, Lawrence C. Taylor fired a barrage of 24 Hedgehog projectiles that sank the submarine — probably I-13 — at 34°28′N150°55′E / 34.467°N 150.917°E / 34.467; 150.917 (I-13) . [5] [8]

At 10:33 on 31 July 1945, U.S. Navy signals intelligence decrypted a Japanese message stating that I-13 had not been heard from since she sortied from Ōminato on 11 July, and that her status was unknown. [5] On 1 August 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy declared her to be presumed lost with all hands in the vicinity of Truk. [5] The Japanese removed her from the navy list on 15 September 1945. [5] The 140 men killed in her sinking represented the largest loss of life aboard a Japanese submarine during World War II. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>I-400</i>-class submarine Class of submarine aircraft carriers for the Imperial Japanese Navy

The I-400-class submarine Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) 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. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aichi M6A</span> Imperial Japanese submarine-launched floatplane

The Aichi M6A Seiran is a submarine-launched attack floatplane designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. It was intended to operate from I-400 class submarines whose original mission was to conduct aerial attacks against the United States.

Japanese submarine <i>I-400</i> Imperial Japanese Navy Submarine aircraft carrier

I-400 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Sentoku-type submarine commissioned in 1944 for service in World War II. Capable of carrying three two-seat Aichi M6A1 "Seiran" float-equipped torpedo bombers, the Sentoku-class submarines were built to launch a surprise air strike against the Panama Canal. Until 1965, the Sentaku-type submarines—I-400 and her sister ships I-401 and I-402 —were the largest submarines ever commissioned.

Japanese cruiser <i>Ōyodo</i> Imperial Japanese Navys light cruiser

Ōyodo (大淀) was a light cruiser built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II, and was the only ship of her class completed before the end of the war. Designed to command submarine operations, she was obsolete upon completion in 1943. The ship was used as a transport and to escort the navy's capital ships for the rest of the year. Ōyodo was lightly damaged by American aircraft in early January 1944 during one transport mission and returned home several months later to begin conversion to serve as the flagship of the Combined Fleet.

Japanese submarine <i>I-26</i> Imperial Japanese Navy B1 type submarine

I-26 was an Imperial Japanese Navy B1 type submarine commissioned in 1941. She saw service in the Pacific War theatre of World War II, patrolling off the West Coast of Canada and the United States, the east coast of Australia, and Fiji and in the Indian Ocean and taking part in Operation K, preparatory operations for the Aleutian Islands campaign, and the Guadalcanal campaign, the Marianas campaign, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She was the first Japanese submarine to sink an American merchant ship in the war, damaged the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3), sank the light cruiser USS Juneau (CLAA-52), and was the third-highest-scoring Japanese submarine of World War II in terms of shipping tonnage sunk. Her bombardment of Vancouver Island in 1942 was the first foreign attack on Canadian soil since 1870. In 1944, I-26′s crew committed war crimes in attacking the survivors of a ship she sank. She was sunk in October 1944 during her ninth war patrol.

Japanese submarine <i>I-401</i> 1st class submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy

I-401 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Sentoku-type submarine commissioned in 1945 for service in World War II. Capable of carrying three two-seat Aichi M6A1 "Seiran" float-equipped torpedo bombers, the Sentoku-class submarines were built to launch a surprise air strike against the Panama Canal. Until 1965, the Sentaku-type submarines — I-401 and her sister ships I-400 and I-402 — were the largest submarines ever commissioned.

Japanese aircraft carrier <i>Chitose</i> Aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Chitose (千歳) was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served from 1938 to 1944, seeing service as a seaplane carrier and later as a light aircraft carrier during World War II. In her initial guise as a seaplane carrier, she first saw service during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938, and subsequently played a key role in the Imperial Japanese Navy's development of a network of seaplane bases on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. After the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, she took part in the Philippines campaign, the Dutch East Indies campaign, the Battle of Midway, and the Guadalcanal campaign, during which she was damaged in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and also saw service related to the Battle of Cape Esperance.

I-177 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaidai-type cruiser submarine of the KD7 subclass commissioned in 1942. She served during World War II, patrolling off Australia, taking part in the New Guinea campaign, operating in the North Pacific, and participating in the Palau campaign before she was sunk by the destroyer escort USS Samuel S. Miles (DE-183) in 1944, with no survivors.

Japanese seaplane carrier <i>Nisshin</i> Ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Nisshin (日進) was a seaplane tender (AV) of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

The second I-22 was one of five Type C cruiser submarines of the C1 sub-class built of the Imperial Japanese Navy. During World War II, she operated as the mother ship for a midget submarine during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the attack on Sydney Harbour, supported Japanese forces during the Battle of the Coral Sea, and served in the Guadalcanal campaign. She was sunk in October 1942.

The second I-24 was one of five Type C cruiser submarines of the C1 sub-class built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. During World War II, she operated as the mother ship for a midget submarine during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the attack on Sydney Harbour, supported Japanese forces during the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, and served in the Guadalcanal campaign, New Guinea campaign, and Aleutian Islands campaign. She was sunk in June 1943.

Japanese submarine <i>I-14</i> Imperial Japanese Navy Type AM submarine

I-14 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type AM submarine that served during World War II. Designed as a submarine aircraft carrier, she was commissioned in March 1945. She surrendered in August 1945 and was sunk as a target in 1946.

Japanese submarine <i>I-9</i>

I-9 was an built for the Imperial Japanese Navy Type A1 submarine commissioned in 1941. She saw service during World War II, including operations related to the attack on Pearl Harbor, a patrol off the United States West Coast, and in Operation K. She also took part in the Aleutians campaign and the Guadalcanal campaign before she was sunk in June 1943.

I-11 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type A1 submarine that served during World War II. Designed as a submarine aircraft carrier and submarine squadron flagship, she was commissioned in 1942. She participated in the Guadalcanal campaign and patrolled off Australia, New Caledonia, and the Ellice Islands before she disappeared in 1944 during her sixth war patrol. She badly damaged the Royal Australian Navy light cruiser HMAS Hobart in 1943.

Ro-67 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type L submarine of the L4 subclass. First commissioned in 1926, she served in the waters of Japan prior to World War II. During World War II, she operated in the Central Pacific, supported Japanese forces in the Battle of Wake Island and invasion of Rabaul, and took part in the Aleutian Islands campaign. She was decommissioned in 1945 and scrapped in 1946.

Japanese submarine <i>I-122</i> Imperial Japanese Navy I-121-class submarine

I-122, laid down in 1925 as Submarine No. 49 and known as I-22 from her construction period until June 1938, was an I-121-class submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. During the latter conflict, she conducted operations in support of the Japanese invasion of Malaya, the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the bombing of Darwin, the Battle of Midway, the Guadalcanal campaign, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, and the New Guinea campaign. From mid-1943 she served as a training ship in Japanese waters until she was sunk during a training voyage in 1945.

Japanese submarine <i>I-18</i> Imperial Japanese Navy Type C cruiser submarine of the C1 sub-class

I-18 was one of five Type C cruiser submarines of the C1 sub-class built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. During World War II, she operated as the mother ship for a midget submarine during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the attack of Diego-Suarez, conducted a war patrol in the Indian Ocean, and served in the Guadalcanal campaign before she was sunk in February 1943.

I-36 was an Imperial Japanese Navy B1 type submarine. Completed and commissioned in 1942, she served in World War II, operating in the Guadalcanal campaign, New Guinea campaign, Aleutian Islands campaign, and the Marshall Islands. She finished the war as a kaiten manned suicide attack torpedo carrier, operating against Allied ships at Ulithi Atoll and in the Philippine Sea. The only submarine of her class to survive the war, she surrendered to the Allies in September 1945 after the end of the war and was scuttled by the United States Navy in 1946.

Ro-41 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaichū type submarine of the K6 sub-class. Completed and commissioned in November 1943, she served in World War II and conducted six war patrols, sinking a destroyer escort USS Shelton (DE-407) on one of them, before she was sunk in March 1945.

Japanese submarine <i>Ro-50</i> Kaichū-type submarine

Ro-50 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaichū type submarine of the K6 sub-class. Completed and commissioned in July 1944, she served in World War II, conducting four war patrols, including operations off the Philippine Islands and the Ryukyu Islands. The only Kaichu-type submarine to survive the war, she surrendered in 1945 after its conclusion and was scuttled in 1946.

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Layman & McLaughlin, p. 176
  2. ↑ Bagnasco, p. 189
  3. ↑ Chesneau, p. 200
  4. 1 2 3 Carpenter & Dorr, p. 110
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (November 1, 2016). "IJN Submarine I-13: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (12 March 2016). "IJN Submarine I-400: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  7. ↑ Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (November 1, 2016). "IJN Submarine I-14: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  8. ↑ Boyd & Yoshida, p. 209

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.