Japanese submarine I-183

	Sister ship I-176 at sea, 1942
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Submarine No. 161
Builder	Kawasaki Dockyard Company, Kobe, Japan
Laid down	26 December 1941
Renamed	I-83 on unknown date; I-183 on 20 May 1942;
Launched	21 January 1943
Completed	3 October 1943
Fate	Sunk by USS Pogy, 29 April 1944
Stricken	30 August 1944
General characteristics
Class and type	KD7-class
Displacement	1,862 t (1,833 long tons) surfaced; 2,644 t (2,602 long tons) submerged;
Length	105.5 m (346 ft 2 in)
Beam	8.25 m (27 ft 1 in)
Draft	4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)
Installed power	8,000 bhp (5,966 kW) (diesel engines); 1,800 hp (1,342 kW) (electric motors);
Propulsion	Diesel-electric; 2 × diesel engines; 2 × electric motors;
Speed	23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) surfaced; 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) submerged;
Range	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) surfaced; 50 nmi (93 km; 58 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged;
Test depth	80 m (262 ft)
Complement	86
Armament	6 × 533 mm (21 in) bow); 1 × 120 mm (4.7 in) deck gun; 1 × twin AA gun;

I-183 (originally I-83) was an

Kaidai type cruiser submarine of the KD7 sub-class commissioned in 1943. During World War II, she was sunk with all hands by United States Navy fleet submarine

in April 1944.

Design and description

The submarines of the KD7 sub-class were medium-range

officers and crewmen.^[1]

For surface running, the submarines were powered by two 4,000-

propeller shaft. When submerged, each propeller was driven by a 900-horsepower (671 kW) electric motor. The submarines could reach 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) on the surface and 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) underwater. On the surface, the KD7s had a range of 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph); submerged, they had a range of 50 nmi (93 km; 58 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph).^[2]

The submarines were armed with six internal 53.3 cm (21.0 in)

anti-aircraft gun, but a 120 mm (4.7 in) deck gun for combat on the surface was substituted for one 25 mm mount during construction.^[3]

Construction and commissioning

I-183 was

laid down as Submarine No. 161^[4] by the Kawasaki Dockyard Company at its shipyard in Kobe, Japan, on 26 December 1941^[4]^[5] She later was named I-83,^[5] then was renamed I-183 on 20 May 1942.^[5] She was launched on 21 January 1943^[4]^[5] and completed and commissioned on 3 October 1943.^[1]^[4]

Service history

October–December 1943

On the day of her commissioning, I-183 was attached to the Sasebo Naval District and assigned to Submarine Squadron 11 in the 1st Fleet, an element of the Combined Fleet.^[4]^[5] On 5 October 1943, she got underway from Kobe for workups in Hiroshima Bay and in the Iyo Nada in the Seto Inland Sea.^[4]

At 10:40 on 6 October 1943, I-183 began diving exercises in the waters of Hiroshima Bay west of Osu on

Lieutenant Yoshio Hirobe managed to close the watertight hatch leading to the aft crew compartment, containing flooding to the main engine room and electric motor room, but trapping him and 15 other men in the aft section of I-183.^[4] Most of I-183′s crew escaped through her forward torpedo tubes, and local fishermen rescued them.^[4]

After a

Marquis Tadashige Daigo.^[4] I-183 was refloated at 1400 on 7 October 1943, but by then all 16 men trapped in the after compartment had died.^[4]

While I-183 was under repair after her accident, Submarine Squadron 11 was reassigned to the 6th Fleet, another element of the Combined Fleet, on 25 November 1943.^[5]

January–April 1944

Repairs to I-183 were completed in January 1944, and she began post-repair workups that month.^[4] On 27 March 1944, Japanese forces sighted an Allied task force heading toward Palau, and I-183 and the submarines I-44, Ro-47,Ro-116, and Ro-117 received orders to patrol in the Pacific Ocean east of Palau.^[4] I-183 got underway in company with I-44 on 31 March 1944 bound for her patrol area, but she suffered a mechanical failure that forced her to turn back, and she returned to Kure on 6 April 1944 for repairs.^[4]^[5]