Japanese submarine Yu 3003

History
Japan
Name	Yu 3003
Builder	Korea Machine Factory Boat Manufacturing Works, Inchon,  Chosen  (Korea)
Fate	Surrendered August 1945 Scuttled or scrapped
General characteristics Yu I type
Type	Transport submarine
Displacement	274 long tons (278 t) surfaced 346 long tons (352 t) submerged
Length	41.40 m (135 ft 10 in) overall
Beam	3.90 m (12 ft 10 in)
Draft	3.00 m (9 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	2 × Hesselman engines 300 kW (400 bhp) surfaced 56 kW (75 shp) submerged single shaft
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Range	1,500  nmi (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced 32 nmi (59 km; 37 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth	100 m (328 ft)
Capacity	24 tons freight or 40 troops
Complement	23
Armament	1 x deck gun

Yu 3003 was an Imperial Japanese Army transport submarine, a unit of the Yu 3001 subclass of the Yu I type. Constructed for use during World War II, she served in the waters of the Japanese archipelago

Construction

In the final two years of World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army constructed transport submarines — officially the Type 3 submergence transport vehicle and known to the Japanese Army as the Maru Yu — with which to supply its isolated island garrisons in the Pacific. Only submarines of the Yu I type were completed and saw service. The Yu I type was produced in four subclasses, each produced by a different manufacturer and differing primarily in the design of their conning towers and details of their gun armament. None carried torpedoes or had torpedo tubes. Yu 3003 was a unit of the Yu 3001 subclass.

The Korea Machine Factory Boat Manufacturing Works (Chosen Kikan Seisakujo Jinsen Kojo Seizotai) constructed Yu 3003 at Inchon in Chosen, the Japanese name for Korea while Korea was under Japanese rule. ^[1] Records of the details of the construction of Yu 3003 have not been discovered, ^{[1] [2]} but the lead unit of her subclass, her sister ship Yu 3001, entered service in August 1944. ^[3]

One source claims the North Korea Machine Works (Kikai Seisakujo) at Wonsan, Korea, built all submarines of the Yu 3001 subclass. ^[4]

Service history

Yu 3003 spent her operational career in Japanese home waters. ^[4] Surviving records of the activities of Imperial Japanese Army submarines are fragmentary, ^{[2] [5]} and no records have been discovered describing her specific activities in support of any particular operation. ^{[1] [4]}

World War II ended with the cessation of hostilities ^[3] on 15 August 1945. Yu 3003 surrendered to the Allies later in August 1945. ^[1] She subsequently either was scuttled or scrapped. ^[4]

References

Footnotes

1. IJA Subs, ijnsubsite.com Accessed 13 May 2022
2. Mühlthaler, pp. 329–330.
3. Muehlthaler, Erich, and Bob Hackett, "Strange but True Stories: The Exceptional Maiden Voyage of Imperial Japanese Army Transport Submarine YU 3001," Nihon Kaigun, 1 February 2014 Accessed 11 May 2022
4. Mühlthaler, p. 330.
5. Bailey, pp. 55–57, 63.

Bibliography

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• Bailey, Mark L. (1998). "Imperial Japanese Army Transport Submarines: Details of the YU-2 Class Submarine YU-3". Warship International. XXXV (1): 55–63.
• Carpenter, Dorr B. & Polmar, Norman (1986). Submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1904–1945. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN   0-85177-396-6.
• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN   0-85177-146-7.
• Mühlthaler, Erich (1998). "Re:Imperial Japanese Army Transport Submarines". Warship International. XXXV (4): 329–330. ISSN   0043-0374.
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