Japanese submarine I-53 (1925)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see Japanese submarine I-53.
Sister ship I-55 in harbor
History
Empire of Japan
NameSubmarine No. 64
BuilderKure Naval Arsenal, Kure, Japan
Laid down1 April 1924
RenamedI-53 on 1 November 1924
Launched5 August 1925
Completed30 March 1927
Commissioned30 March 1927
RenamedI-153 on 20 May 1942
Fate
  • Hulked
    31 January 1944
  • Surrendered 1945
  • Stricken 30 November 1945
  • Scuttled 8 May 1946 or scrapped 1948 (see text)
General characteristics
Class and type
Kaidai-class submarine
(KD3A Type)
Displacement
  • 1,829 t (1,800 long tons) (surfaced)
  • 2,337 t (2,300 long tons) (submerged)
Length100 m (328 ft 1 in)
Beam8 m (26 ft 3 in)
Draft4.82 m (15 ft 10 in)
Installed power
  • 6,800 
    kW
    ) (diesels)
  • 1,800 hp (1,342 kW) (electric motors)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) (surfaced)
  • 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) (submerged)
Range
  • 10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) (surfaced)
  • 90 nmi (170 km; 100 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) (submerged)
Test depth60 m (197 ft)
Complement60
Armament

I-53, later I-153 (伊号第五三潜水艦, I-gō Dai-Hyaku-gojūsan sensuikan), later I-153 , was an

hulked in January 1944. She surrendered to the Allies at the end of the war in 1945. She was either scuttled
in 1946 or scrapped in 1948.

Background

Following

Eight-six fleet program as prototypes when the arrival on 20 June 1919 of seven German U-boats Japan received as war reparations after the end of World War I led to a complete re-design. The Japanese quickly hired hundreds of German submarine engineers, technicians, and former U-boat officers unemployed after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, and brought them to Japan under five-year contracts. The United States Navy′s Office of Naval Intelligence estimated that some 800 German advisors had gone to Japan by the end of 1920. The Japanese also sent delegations to postwar Germany, and were active in purchasing many patents.[2]

Design and description

The submarines of the KD3A sub-class were the first mass-produced Japanese-designed fleet submarines.[3] Based largely on the indigenous Kaidai Type II (of which one example, I-52, was constructed) with a strengthened double hull, their design was also influenced by the largest of the German submarines in Japanese hands, U-125.[4]

They

bow, as well as an O-ring for towing
purposes.

propeller shaft. When the submarine was submerged, each propeller was driven by a 900-horsepower (671 kW) electric motor. The submarines could reach 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) on the surface and 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) submerged. On the surface, the KD3As had a range of 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph); submerged, they had a range of 90 nmi (170 km; 100 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph).[6]

The submarines had eight internal 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes, six in the bow and two in the stern. They carried one reload for each tube for a total of 16 torpedoes. They were also had one 120 mm (4.7 in) deck gun.[7]

Construction and commissioning

Built by the

launched on 5 August 1925[8][9] and completed and commissioned on 30 March 1927.[5][8][9]

Service history

Pre-World War II

On the day of her commissioning, I-53 was attached to the Kure Naval District.[9] On 5 May 1927, she was assigned to Submarine Division 17 in Submarine Squadron 2 in the 2nd Fleet, a component of the Combined Fleet.[8] On 5 September 1927, Submarine Division 18 was established as a new component of Submarine Squadron 2, and she was assigned to the new division.[8][9] On 1 December 1930, the division was reassigned to the Kure Defense Squadron in the Kure Naval District,[8] but on 1 December 1931 it began a new tour of duty in Submarine Squadron 2 in the 2nd Fleet.[8]

I-53 got underway from

Formosa, on 5 July 1933.[8][10][11][12][13][14] They departed Takao on 13 July 1933 and again trained in Chinese waters before arriving in Tokyo Bay on 21 August 1933.[8][10][11][12][13][14] On 25 August 1933, all six submarines took part in a fleet review at Yokohama, Japan.[8][10][11][12][13][14] Submarine Division 18 was reassigned to the Kure Defense Division in the Kure Naval District on 15 November 1933[8] and to the Kure Guard Squadron in the Kure Naval District on 11 December 1933.[8]

On 1 February 1934, Submarine Division 18 returned to duty with Submarine Squadron 2 in the 2nd Fleet, and on 7 February 1935 I-53 got underway from Sasebo along with the other eight submarines of Submarine Squadron 2 — I-54, I-55, I-59, I-60, I-61, I-62, I-63, and I-64 — for a training cruise in the Kuril Islands.[8][10][11][15][16][17][18][19][20] The cruise concluded with their arrival at Sukumo Bay on 25 February 1935.[8][10][11][15][16][17][18][19][20] The nine submarines departed Sasebo on 29 March 1935 to train in Chinese waters, returning to Sasebo on 4 April 1935.[8][10][11][15][16][17][18][19][20] On 15 November 1935, Submarine Division 18 was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 1 in the 1st Fleet, a component of the Combined Fleet.[8]

I-53 got underway for fleet exercises off Honshu on 1 February 1936.[8] She was operating on the surface in limited visibility in the Pacific Ocean off Honshu and proceeding toward Sukumo Bay on 27 February 1936 when she suffered an engine failure and I-56 accidentally rammed her 32 nautical miles (59 km; 37 mi) southeast of Daiosaki lighthouse.[8][9] Both submarines suffered minor damage.[9] Again at sea for fleet exercises off Kyushu in May 1936, she again suffered damage in a collision, this time with I-55 on 10 May 1936.[8][11]

On 15 November 1939, Submarine Division 18 was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 4 in the 1st Fleet.

Yokohama Bay for an Imperial fleet review — the largest fleet review in Japanese history — in honor of the 2,600th anniversary of the enthronement of the Emperor Jimmu, Japan's legendary first emperor.[8][21][22] Submarine Squadron 4 was assigned directly to the Combined Fleet on 15 November 1940.[8]

As the Japanese armed forces mobilized for an offensive against

Anambas Islands on 7 December 1941.[9]

World War II

First war patrol

Hostilities began in East Asia on 8 December 1941 (7 December across the International Date Line in Hawaii, where Japan began the war with its attack on Pearl Harbor). The Japanese invasion of British Malaya began that day. After an uneventful patrol, I-53 arrived at Cam Ranh Bay in Japanese-occupied French Indochina on 20 December 1941.[9]

Second war patrol

On 29 December 1941, I-53 departed Cam Ranh Bay in company with I-54, both submarines beginning their second war patrols.

Netherlands East Indies.[9] After another quiet patrol, she returned to Cam Ranh Bay on 24 January 1942.[9]

Third war patrol

I-53 departed Cam Ranh Bay on 7 February 1942 in company with I-54 to begin her third war patrol.

Celebes.[9]

Training duties

Submarine Squadron 4 was disbanded on 10 March 1942, and Submarine Division 18 was assigned to the Kure Guard Unit in the Kure Naval District in Japanese home waters.[8][9] I-53, I-54, and I-55 departed Staring Bay on 16 March 1942 and arrived at Kure, Japan, on 25 March, where they assumed duties as training ships.[9][23][24] I-53 suffered minor damage when the submarine tender Chōgei grazed her in the Iyo Nada in the Seto Inland Sea on either 6 or 8 May 1942 (sources disagree on the date),[9] and on 20 May 1942 she was renumbered I-153.[9]

On 5 January 1943, I-153 took part in a Naval Submarine School submarine camouflage experiment in the Seto Inland Sea in which she and the submarine I-156 had a black camouflage scheme applied to their upper hulls and conning tower sides.[9] From 26 March to 1 December 1943, she served as flagship of Submarine Division 18.[9] She exchanged commanding officers with the submarine I-32 while moored at the submarine school at Kure on 10 January 1944.[9]

Submarine Division 18 was deactivated on 31 January 1944, and I-153 was placed in fourth reserve and transferred to the Hirao Branch of the Ōtake Submarine School to serve as a training hulk.[9] She was laid up at Hirao on 15 August 1945, the day hostilities between Japan and the Allies ceased.[9]

Disposal

I-153 surrendered to the Allies after the war and was stricken from the

Navy list on 30 November 1945.[9] Apparently, she was among several captured Japanese submarines sunk as gunnery targets by the Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Quiberon and the Royal Indian Navy sloop HMIS Sutlej in the Inland Sea on 8 May 1946,[25][26][27] although some sources say she was scrapped in 1948 rather than sunk.[9]

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Peatty, pp. 212–14
  2. ^ Boyd, pp. 17–18
  3. ^ Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 170
  4. ^ Stille, p. 4
  5. ^ a b Carpenter & Polmar, p. 93
  6. ^ Chesneau, p. 198
  7. ^ Bagnasco, p. 183
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y I-153 ijnsubsite.com September 19, 2018 Accessed 15 January 2022
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (April 1, 2016). "IJN Submarine I-153: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e f I-154 ijnsubsite.com October 11, 2018 Accessed 15 January 2022
  11. ^ a b c d e f g I-155 ijnsubsite.com June 10, 2018 Accessed 15 January 2022
  12. ^ a b c I-156 ijnsubsite.com September, 2018 Accessed 15 January 2022
  13. ^ a b c I-157 ijnsubsite.com October 16, 2018 Accessed 17 January 2022
  14. ^ a b c I-158 ijnsubsite.com October 20, 2018 Accessed 17 January 2022
  15. ^ a b c I-159 ijnsubsite.com October 27, 2018 Accessed 2 January 2021
  16. ^ a b c I-60 ijnsubsite.com September 1, 2018 Accessed 15 January 2022
  17. ^ a b c I-61 ijnsubsite.com August 24, 2018 Accessed 28 September 2020
  18. ^ a b c "I-162 ex I-62". iijnsubsite.info. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  19. ^ a b c I-63 ijnsubsite.com August 24, 2018 Accessed 2 January 2021
  20. ^ a b c "I-164 ex I-64". iijnsubsite.info. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  21. ^ Tully, Athony (19 May 2014). "IJN Seaplane Carrier CHITOSE: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  22. ^ "2012 Fleet Review" (PDF). Japan Defense Focus. December 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  23. ^ a b c d Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (May 1, 2016). "IJN Submarine I-154: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  24. ^ Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (May 1, 2016). "IJN Submarine I-155: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  25. ^ Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (2015). "IJN Submarine HA-205: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  26. ^ Anonymous, "Remaining Jap Subs Sunk", Townsville Daily Bulletin, May 10, 1946, p. 1
  27. ^ Anonymous, "Jap Submarines Demolition Convoy Caught in Gale", Kalgoorlie Miner, May 14, 1946, p. 3

Bibliography

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