Japanese submarine I-60
Sister ship I-56 in harbor, 1930
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History | |
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Imperial Japanese Navy | |
Name | I-60 |
Builder | Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Sasebo, Japan |
Laid down | 10 October 1927 |
Launched | 24 April 1929 |
Completed | 20 or 24 December 1929 (see text) |
Commissioned | 24 December 1929 |
Decommissioned | 15 November 1933 |
Recommissioned | ca. 1934 |
Decommissioned | Second half of 1936 |
Recommissioned | 1 December 1936 |
Fate | Sunk 17 January 1942 |
Stricken | 10 March 1942 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Kaidai-class submarine (KD3B Type) |
Displacement |
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Length | 101 m (331 ft 4 in) |
Beam | 8 m (26 ft 3 in) |
Draft | 4.9 m (16 ft 1 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range |
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Test depth | 60 m (200 ft) |
Complement | 60 |
Armament |
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I-60 was an
Design and description
The submarines of the KD3B sub-class were essentially repeats of the preceding KD3A sub-class with minor modifications to improve
For surface running, the submarines were powered by two 3,400-
The submarines were armed with eight internal 53.3 cm (21.0 in)
Construction and commissioning
I-60 was built by the
Service history
Pre-World War II
1929–1938
On the day of her commissioning, I-60 was attached to the Sasebo Naval District[5] and she and her sister ship I-63 were assigned to Submarine Division 28, which was activated the same day.[4][6][7] Sources differ on whether Submarine Division 28 immediately was assigned to Submarine Squadron 2 in the 2nd Fleet,[5][8] a component of the Combined Fleet,[4] or was assigned directly to the Sasebo Naval District at first and then assigned to Submarine Squadron 2 on 1 December 1930.[4]
On 1 December 1932, Submarine Division 28 was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 1 in the
Submarine Division 28 returned to duty in Submarine Squadron 2 in the 2nd Fleet on 15 November 1934.
I-60 recommissioned on 1 December 1936
Collision with I-63
In January 1939, I-60 and the other submarines of Submarine Squadron 1 got underway for fleet exercises.
I-60, proceeding on the surface at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) toward her own assigned station, mistakenly entered I-63′s assigned area due to a navigation error.
By the time the two submarines sighted each other, it was too late to avoid a collision, and I-60 rammed I-63.
As the result of the post-accident investigation, a court of inquiry found that I-60′s navigation error had contributed to the accident and that I-60 had unsatisfactory lookout procedures and inadequate management of her watch officers.[5] Although off the bridge and below at the time of the collision, I-60′s commanding officer took full responsibility for the accident.[5] After a trial by court-martial, he was suspended from duty, and his later promotion from lieutenant commander to commander was delayed.[5]
1939–1941
On 15 November 1939, Submarine Division 28 was attached to the Sasebo Naval District and transferred to duty at the submarine school at Kure, Japan.[4] On 15 November 1940, the division was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 5 in the Combined Fleet.[4] I-60 temporarily relieved I-59 as division flagship from 6 to 29 January 1941.[5]
I-60 was placed in Third Reserve at Sasebo on 10 April 1941 and later moved to the Tama Zosensho shipyard at Tamano, Japan, for a refit and modernization.[5] She became the flagship of Submarine Division 28 again on 20 May 1941, serving as such until 3 December 1941, when I-59 relieved her.[5]
World War II
December 1941–January 1942
Nominally assigned to the Malaya Invasion Force for the Pacific campaign of World War II, I-60 still was undergoing modernization at Tamano when the war in the Pacific began with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 7 December 1941 (8 December on the other side of the International Date Line in Japan).[5] On 26 December 1941, she was reassigned to Submarine Unit B, tasked to operate in the Indian Ocean.[5] With the commander of Submarine Division 28 aboard, she got underway from Kobe, Japan, on 31 December 1941 in company with I-59, bound for Davao City on Mindanao in the Philippines.[5] The two submarines arrived at Davao on 5 January 1942 and refueled there.[5][18] While at Davao, I-60 again became the flagship of Submarine Division 28 on 9 January 1942.[5]
First war patrol
On 10 January 1942, I-60 departed Davao City in company with I-59 to begin her first war patrol.
Loss
On 17 January 1942, the
Unable to submerge, I-60 engaged Jupiter with her 120-millimeter (4.7 in)
Jupiter fired two torpedoes at I-60, both of which missed, then opened fire on I-60 with her remaining four 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns, scoring two or three hits.[5] With her deck gun no longer manned, I-60 took on a list as smoke poured from her.[5] Her 7.7-millimeter machine gun continued to fire from her conning tower at Jupiter, which closed with I-60 at high speed and silenced the machine gun with 20-millimeter fire.[5] Jupiter hit I-60 with a 4.7-inch (120 mm) round between her conning tower and stern, causing an internal explosion aboard the submarine.[5] Flame and smoke emerged from the conning tower, which Jupiter′s crew believed was on fire.[5] Jupiter then passed 15 feet (4.6 m) abeam of I-60 and dropped a depth charge set to detonate at a shallow depth.[5] Its explosion blew a Japanese sailor out of I-60′s conning tower and caused flames to rise 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 m) from it.[5] I-60 sank by the stern in 3,000 feet (914 m) of water at the southern entrance to the Sunda Strait at 06°19′30″S 104°49′20″E / 6.32500°S 104.82222°E.[5][19]
Jupiter picked up only three survivors,
References
Footnotes
- ^ a b c Carpenter & Polmar, p. 93
- ^ Chesneau, p. 198
- ^ Bagnasco, p. 183
- ^ 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-60 ijnsubsite.com September 1, 2018 Accessed 2 January 2022
- ^ 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 af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (January 1, 2017). "IJN Submarine I-60: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f I-63 ijnsubsite.com August 24, 2018 Accessed 2 January 2021
- ^ Submarine Division 28 ijnsubsite.com Accessed 20 February 2021
- ^ Submarine Division 28 ijnsubsite.com Accessed 2 January 2021
- ^ a b c I-153 ijnsubsite.com September 19, 2018 Accessed 15 January 2021
- ^ a b c I-154 ijnsubsite.com October 11, 2018 Accessed 15 January 2021
- ^ a b c I-155 ijnsubsite.com June 10, 2018 Accessed 15 January 2021
- ^ a b c d I-159 ijnsubsite.com September 1, 2018 Accessed 9 January 2022
- ^ a b c I-61 ijnsubsite.com August 24, 2018 Accessed 28 September 2020
- ^ a b c "I-162 ex I-62". iijnsubsite.info. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ a b c "I-164 ex I-64". iijnsubsite.info. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ a b c Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 170
- ISBN 0-8317-0303-2, p. 198.
- ^ a b c d Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (January 1, 2017). "IJN Submarine I-159: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
- ^ PacificWrecks.com. "Pacific Wrecks". www.pacificwrecks.com. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
Bibliography
- Bagnasco, Erminio (1977). Submarines of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-962-6.
- 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.
- Hackett, Bob & Kingsepp, Sander (2013). "IJN Submarine I-60: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.