Upon commissioning, I-42 was attached formally to the Yokosuka Naval District.[1] In late November 1943 she took part with the submarines I-43, I-184, Ro-40, and Ro-113 and the submarine tenderChōgei in antisubmarine warfare exercises in the Iyo-nada in the Seto Inland Sea.[1][2] By 1 January 1944, she was part of Submarine Division 11 in Submarine Squadron 7 along with I-43, I-184, Ro-40, Ro-113, and the submarines I-52, I-183, Ro-41, Ro-43, Ro-114, and Ro-115.[1] On 31 January 1944, she was reassigned to Submarine Division 15 in the 6th Fleet.[1]
On 12 February 1944, I-42 departed Yokosuka on her first war patrol, assigned a patrol area northeast of Truk.[1] She reached her patrol area on 20 February 1944.[1] She called at Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 3 to 4 March 1944, then proceeded to Truk, where she arrived on 7 March 1944.[1] She got back underway on 15 March 1944 to make a supply run to Palau, which she reached on 19 March 1944.[1] After embarking cargo and passengers, she departed Palau on 23 March 1944 on a supply run to Rabaul on New Britain, with an estimated date of arrival of 30 March 1944.[1]
I-42 was zigzagging on the surface at 18 knots (33km/h; 21mph) on the first evening of her voyage when the United States Navy submarine USSTunny, which had been alerted to I-42′s schedule by Ultra intelligence information, detected I-42 on radar at a range of 13,000 yards (11,900m) at 21:19 on 23 March 1944.[1] Also on the surface, Tunny closed to within visual range and identified I-42 as a Japanese I-boat.[1]I-42 also sighted Tunny, and for almost 90 minutes each submarine maneuvered on the surface to obtain a firing position against the other while trying to deny one to her opponent.[1] Finally, at 23:24, when the two submarines were 6 nautical miles (11km; 6.9mi) southwest of Angaur, Tunny fired four torpedoes at I-42 at a range of 1,900 yards (1,700m), then immediately turned hard to starboard to avoid a collision and crash-dived to prevent I-42 from making a torpedo attack of her own.[1] Just before Tunny′s hatch closed, her crew saw a bright flash and felt and heard two explosions.[1] Diving to 150 feet (46m), Tunny circled the area, and her sound operator heard I-42′s propeller noises stop.[1]Tunny′s crew heard the noises of I-42 breaking up for the next hour.[1]I-42 sank with the loss of all 102 men aboard at 06°40′N134°03′E / 6.667°N 134.050°E / 6.667; 134.050 (I-42).[1]
On 27 April 1944, the Imperial Japanese Navy declared I-42 to be presumed lost with all hands north of the Admiralty Islands.[1] She was stricken from the Navy list on 30 April 1944.[1]
Ro-106 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ro-100-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in December 1942, she served in World War II, operating in the Solomon Islands campaign, New Guinea campaign, and central Pacific Ocean. She was sunk in May 1944 during her eleventh war patrol.
I-16 was one of five Type C cruiser submarines of the C1 sub-class built for the Imperial Japanese Navy, Commissioned in 1940, she deployed a midget submarine for the attack on Pearl Harbor and for an attack on ships at Diego-Suarez in Madagascar, conducted an anti-shipping patrol in the Indian Ocean, and took part in the Guadalcanal campaign, New Guinea campaign, and Bougainville campaign before she was sunk in May 1944.
I-71, later I-171, was a Kaidai-class cruiser submarine of the KD6 sub-class built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during the 1930s. She served in World War II, and took part in operations supporting the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, and the Aleutian Islands campaign. She was sunk on1 February 1944 after being detected on the surface by U.S. Navy destroyers off Buka Island.
I-40 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type B2 submarine. Completed and commissioned in 1943, she served in World War II and disappeared after departing for her first war patrol in November 1943.
I-43 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type B2 submarine. Completed and commissioned in 1943, she served in World War II and was sunk during her first deployment in February 1944.
I-44 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type B2 submarine. Completed and commissioned in January 1944, she served in the late stages of World War II, she conducted war patrols in the Pacific Ocean as a conventional submarine before she was converted into a kaiten suicide attack torpedo carrier. She then conducted kaiten operations during the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa before she was sunk in April 1945.
I-363 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type D1 transport submarine. Completed and commissioned in July 1944, she served in World War II and conducted transport missions between Japan and outlying islands until she was converted into a kaiten suicide attack torpedo carrier. She survived the war, but sank after striking a mine in the weeks immediately following its conclusion.
Ro-40 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaichū type submarine of the K6 sub-class. Completed and commissioned in September 1943, she served in World War II and was sunk in February 1944 during her first war patrol.
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.
Ro-42 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaichū type submarine of the K6 sub-class. Completed and commissioned in August 1943, she served in World War II and was sunk in June 1944 during her third war patrol.
Ro-43 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaichū type submarine of the K6 sub-class. Completed and commissioned in December 1943, she served in World War II and was sunk in February 1945 during her fifth war patrol.
Ro-47 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaichū type submarine of the K6 sub-class. Completed and commissioned in January 1944, she served in World War II in operations related to the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign. She was sunk in September 1944 during her second war patrol.
Ro-104 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ro-100-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in February 1943, she served in World War II, operating in the Aleutian Islands campaign, New Guinea campaign, and Solomon Islands campaign before she was sunk in May 1944 during her tenth war patrol.
Ro-105 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ro-100-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in March 1943, she served in World War II, operating in the Aleutian Islands campaign, New Guinea campaign, and Solomon Islands campaign and in the vicinity of Truk, Rabaul, and the Admiralty Islands before she was sunk in May 1944 during her fourth war patrol.
Ro-108 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ro-100-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in April 1943, she served in World War II, operating in the Solomon Islands campaign, the New Guinea campaign — during which she sank the United States Navy destroyer USS Henley (DD-391) — and off the Admiralty Islands. She was sunk in May 1944 during her fifth war patrol.
Ro-112 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ro-100-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in September 1943, she served in World War II, operating off Australia, in the Netherlands East Indies, and off the Admiralty Islands and the Philippine Islands. She was sunk in February 1945 during her eighth war patrol.
Ro-113 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ro-100-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in October 1943, she served in World War II, operating off the Admiralty Islands, in the Indian Ocean — where she sank the last Allied ship torpedoed by a Japanese submarine during World War II — and off the Philippine Islands. She was sunk in February 1945.
Ro-116 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ro-100-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in January 1944, she served in World War II and was sunk in May 1944 during her second war patrol.
Ro-117 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ro-100-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in January 1944, she served in World War II and was sunk in June 1944 during her second war patrol.
Ro-115 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ro-100-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in November 1943, she served in World War II, operating in the central Pacific Ocean, the New Guinea campaign, the Indian Ocean, and off the Philippine Islands. She was sunk in February 1945 during her fifth war patrol.
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