Service history
Upon commissioning, I-54 was attached formally to the Kure Naval District [1] and assigned to Submarine Squadron 11 in the 6th Fleet for workups. [1]
Marianas campaign
The commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Soemu Toyoda, activated Operation A-Go for the defense of the Mariana Islands on 13 June 1944. [1] The Marianas campaign began with the U.S. landings on Saipan on 15 June 1944. [1]
I-54 departed Yokosuka on 7 July 1944, bound for Saipan towing an Unpoto gun carrier, [1] a 70-foot (21.3 m) sled that could carry up to 15 tons of cargo, usually in the form of three Type 96 15-centimeter (5.9 in) howitzers and ammunition for them. [2] Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne (FRUMEL), an Allied signals intelligence unit headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, intercepted and decrypted a Japanese message that day stating that I-54 was due to arrive at Tinian on 14 July 1944 to evacuate Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service personnel. [1] Saipan fell to American forces on 9 July 1944, and I-54 was ordered to nearby Tinian that day. [1] She lost her Unpoto sled in heavy seas. [1] On 10 July 1944, she was reassigned to Submarine Division 15 in the 6th Fleet. [1] On 15 July, FRUMEL intercepted and decrypted another Japanese message saying that I-54 was scheduled to arrive at Tinian on 18 July. [1] She returned to Yokosuka on 24 July 1944. [1]
Philippines campaign
Toyoda activated Operation Shō-Gō 1 for the defense of the Philippine Islands on 13 October 1944. [1] That day, I-54 was assigned along with the submarines I-26, I-45, I-53, and I-56 to Submarine Group A under the direct command of the 6th Fleet. [1] She departed Kure on 15 October 1944 with orders to attack the aircraft carriers of United States Navy Task Force 38 and the crippled light cruiser USS Houston (CL-81). [1]
On 18 October 1944, I-54 received orders from the 6th Fleet to join 12 other submarines in patrolling east of Leyte in the Philippines. [1] I-54 was assigned a patrol area 120 nautical miles (220 km; 140 mi) east of the Philippines between the areas assigned to the submarines I-38 and I-46, and she was expected to arrive in her patrol area on 25 October 1944. [1]
The Battle of Leyte began with the U.S. landings on Leyte on 20 October 1944, and that day I-54 acknowledged an order to change her patrol area. She transmitted another message on 23 October 1944, the first day of the Battle of Leyte Gulf of 23–26 October 1944. [1] The Japanese never heard from her again. [1]
Loss
The circumstances of I-54′s loss remain unknown. [1] At 12:18 on 28 October 1944, the destroyers USS Gridley (DD-380) and USS Helm (DD-388) detected a submarine attempting to penetrate the screen of United States Navy Task Group 38.4 — which included the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise (CV-6), USS Franklin (CV-13), USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24), and USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) — east of Leyte. [1] [3] While the aircraft carriers steered away from the submarine contact at high speed, Gridley made three depth charge attacks against the submarine and Helm made four. [3] After Helm′s fourth attack, which took place at 14:11, a large explosion followed by two smaller ones occurred. [1] [3] Oil and air bubbles appeared on the surface, and damaged deck planking and human remains were recovered after the attack. [3] The submarine sank at 10°58′N127°13′E / 10.967°N 127.217°E / 10.967; 127.217 . [1] [3]
On both 30 October and 1 November 1944, I-26, I-46, and I-54 all failed to make scheduled daily 19:00 status reports. [3] On 20 November 1944, the Imperial Japanese Navy declared I-54 to be presumed lost east of the Philippines with the loss of all 107 men on board. [1] She was stricken from the Navy list on 10 March 1945. [1]
The identity of the submarine Gridley and Helm sank remains a mystery, and has been reported both as I-46 and I-54. [1] [3] Some sources have credited the destroyer escort USS Richard M. Rowell (DE-403) with sinking I-54 in the Philippine Sea on 26 October 1944 while screening Task Group 77.4, although the submarine Richard M. Rowell attacked probably was I-56, which survived. [1]
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Ro-45 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaichū type submarine of the K6 sub-class. Completed and commissioned in January 1944, she served in the central Pacific Ocean during World War II and was sunk in April 1944 during her first combat sortie.
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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-42 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 war patrol in March 1944.
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-45 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type B2 submarine. Completed and commissioned in December 1943, she served in World War II, patrolling in the Pacific Ocean and taking part in the Marianas campaign, the Philippines campaign, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf before she was sunk in October 1944.
I-361 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type D1 transport submarine. Completed and commissioned in May 1944, she served in World War II and conducted transport missions between Japan and Wake Island until she was converted into a kaiten suicide attack torpedo carrier 1945. She was sunk during her first kaiten mission in May 1945.
I-367 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type D1 transport submarine. Completed and commissioned in August 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, surrendered to Allied forces in 1945, and was scuttled in 1946.
I-372 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type D1 transport submarine. Completed and commissioned in November 1944, she served in World War II and was sunk in July 1945.
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Ro-48 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaichū type submarine of the K6 sub-class. Completed and commissioned in March 1944, she served in World War II and was sunk in July 1944 during her first 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-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-114 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ro-100-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in November 1943, she served in World War II and was sunk in June 1944 during her first war patrol.
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-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.
Japan
