Japanese submarine I-370
History | |
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Japan | |
Name | Submarine No. 5470 |
Builder | Mitsubishi, Kobe, Japan |
Laid down | 4 December 1943 |
Launched | 26 May 1944 |
Renamed | I-370 on 26 May 1944 |
Completed | 4 September 1944 |
Commissioned | 4 September 1944 |
Fate | Sunk by USS Finnegan, 26 February 1945 |
Stricken | 10 April 1945 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Type D1 submarine |
Displacement |
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Length | 73.50 m (241 ft 2 in) overall |
Beam | 8.90 m (29 ft 2 in) |
Draft | 4.76 m (15 ft 7 in) |
Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range | |
Test depth | 75 m (246 ft) |
Boats & landing craft carried | 2 x Daihatsu-class landing craft (removed January 1945) |
Capacity | 85 tons freight |
Complement | 55 |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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I-370 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type D1 transport submarine. Completed and commissioned in September 1944, she served in World War II and was converted into a kaiten suicide attack torpedo carrier in January 1945. She was sunk in February 1945 while operating during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Construction and commissioning
I-370 was
Service history
Upon commissioning, I-370 was attached to the Sasebo Naval District and was assigned to Submarine Squadron 11 for workups.[2] In January 1945, she was converted from a transport submarine into a kaiten suicide attack torpedo carrier, the conversion involving the removal of her 140-millimeter (5.5 in) and Daihatsu-class landing craft and their replacement with fittings allowing her to carry five kaitens on her deck,[2] as well as the installation of Type 22 surface-search radar.[2] On 10 January 1945, she and the submarine I-368 took part in simulated kaiten attacks against towed targets in the Seto Inland Sea that lasted 15 days.[2]
The Battle of Iwo Jima began on 19 February 1945 when U.S. forces landed on Iwo Jima.[2] The Japanese formed the Chihaya Kaiten Group, made up of I-370, I-368, and the submarine I-44, with orders to proceed to the waters off Iwo Jima and attack American ships there.[2] On 21 February 1945, I-370 got underway from the kaiten base at Hikari and set course for Iwo Jima, where she was expected to begin kaiten attacks on 26 February 1945.[2]
I-370 was on the surface just after dawn on 26 February 1945 preparing to launch all five of her kaitens to attack nine empty American
It marked the end of I-370, sunk with the loss of all 84 men on board — her entire crew of 79 and all five embarked kaiten pilots — at 22°44′N 141°26′E / 22.733°N 141.433°E.[2] She was both the first submarine of the Chihaya Group and the first transport submarine converted into a kaiten carrier to be lost.[2] A fuel oil slick at the scene of her sinking eventually covered an area of 4 by 2 nautical miles (7.4 by 3.7 km; 4.6 by 2.3 mi).[2]
On 6 March 1945, the Japanese ordered I-370 to return to Japan, but she never acknowledged the order.[2] On 14 March 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy declared I-370 to be presumed lost with all hands off Iwo Jima.[2] She was stricken from the Navy list on 10 April 1945.[2]
Notes
Sources
- Hackett, Bob & Kingsepp, Sander. IJN Submarine I-370: Tabular Record of Movement. Retrieved on September 16, 2020.