Japanese submarine I-7
I-7 on her commissioning day, 31 March 1937.
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History | |
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Imperial Japanese Navy | |
Name | I-7 |
Ordered | 1934 |
Builder | Kure Naval Arsenal, Kure, Japan |
Laid down | 12 September 1934 |
Launched | 3 July 1935 |
Completed | 31 March 1937 |
Commissioned | 31 March 1937 |
Fate | Wrecked 22 June 1943 |
Stricken | 20 August 1943 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | J3 type submarine |
Displacement |
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Length | 109.30 m (358 ft 7 in) |
Beam | 9.10 m (29 ft 10 in) |
Draft | 5.26 m (17 ft 3 in) |
Depth | 7.70 m (25 ft 3 in) |
Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range |
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Test depth | 100 m (328 ft) |
Complement | 100 officers and men |
Armament |
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Aircraft carried | 1 × Watanabe E9W1 |
Aviation facilities | Hangar, catapult |
I-7 was an Imperial Japanese Navy J3 type submarine commissioned in 1937. She was a large cruiser submarine that served in World War II. She operated in support of the attack on Pearl Harbor, conducted anti-shipping patrols in the Indian Ocean, supported the Indian Ocean raid, and took part in the Guadalcanal campaign and the Aleutian Islands campaign. She was wrecked in the Aleutian Islands after a lengthy battle with the destroyer USS Monaghan (DD-354) in June 1943.
Design, construction, and commissioning
I-7 was the first of two Junsen III- (or "J3"-) type submarines. After the four Junsen I-type submarines (I-1, I-2, I-3, and I-4), the Japanese had built I-5 as a modified Junsen I, introducing an aviation capability to the Junsen type with the inclusion of a hangar that allowed I-5 to carry and operate a floatplane. I-6, the only Junsen II-type submarine, represented the next step in the evolution of this aviation capability, as she had both a hangar and a catapult for a floatplane. The Japanese designed and equipped the next and last Junsen type submarines, I-7 and I-8 — the only two Junsen III-type submarines — to operate as submarine squadron flagships.[1] In them, the Japanese sought to combine what they viewed as the best features of the earlier Junsen-type submarines with those of the Kaidai V-type submarines. Like I-6 before them, I-7 and I-8 had a hangar and catapult for a floatplane. They were the last Japanese submarines with aircraft facilities abaft the conning tower; all later Japanese submarines with aircraft capabilities had their hangars and catapults on their forward decks.[2]
Built by the
Service history
Pre-World War II
Upon commissioning, I-7 was attached to the
I-7 became flagship of Submarine Squadron 2 in the 6th Fleet, a component of the Combined Fleet, on 15 November 1940.[5][4] While taking part in maneuvers in Saeki Bay on the morning of 21 October 1941, she collided with the submarine I-66.[3][4] Both submarines suffered light damage.[4]
On 10 November 1941 — by which time I-7 was serving in the 6th Fleet as
As the Imperial Japanese Navy began to deploy on 16 November 1941 for the upcoming
World War II
First war patrol
On 7 December 1941, the submarines of Submarine Squadron 2 took up patrol stations across a stretch of the Pacific Ocean from northeast to northwest of Oahu, with I-7 operating as their flagship.[4] The submarines had orders to conduct reconnaissance in the area and attack any ships which sortied from Pearl Harbor during or after the attack, which occurred that morning.[4] On 10 December 1941, Katori transmitted a message from Shimizu to the squadron commander ordering I-7′s floatplane to conduct a reconnaissance flight over Pearl Harbor to report on damage inflicted during the attack three days earlier and the progress the Americans were making on repairs.[4] Accordingly, I-7 launched her floatplane early on the morning of 16 December 1941 from a position 26 nautical miles (48 km; 30 mi) west of Kailua-Kona on the island of Hawaii.[4] At 07:10, the floatplane's observer reported four battleships — one of them heavily damaged — and an aircraft carrier in Pearl Harbor off the East Loch anchorage and five cruisers and 30 smaller vessels including three destroyers in the harbor south of Ford Island.[4] The floatplane returned to I-7 and landed next to her at 09:45 and, after its two-man crew abandoned the plane and swam to the submarine, I-7 scuttled the plane, submerged, and left the area.[4]
On 17 December 1941, I-7 received orders to move to an operating area southwest of Oahu to support a sweep line by Submarine Squadron 2.
Second war patrol
While I-7 was at Yokosuka, Submarine Squadron 2 — consisting of I-1, I-2, I-3, I-4, I-5, I-6, and I-7 — was assigned to the
At 12:30 on 2 March 1942, I-7 was operating in the Indian Ocean 150 nautical miles (280 km; 170 mi) southwest of the Cocos Islands when an unidentified Japanese carrier aircraft attacked her by mistake.
Indian Ocean raid
Orders arrived from the
At 05:17 on 1 April 1942, a
At 03:40 on 3 April 1942, I-7 attacked the
Reassigned to the Advance Force on 10 April 1942,[4] I-7 arrived at Singapore along with I-3 on 15 April 1942.[4] She got back underway on 21 April 1942 and arrived at Yokosuka on 1 May 1942 to undergo repairs.[4]
Third war patrol
While I-7 was at Yokosuka, the
I-7 was assigned to the Advance Force on 20 July 1942.[4] Her patrol ended with her arrival on 1 August 1942 at Yokosuka, where she began an overhaul.[4]
Fourth war patrol
During I-7′s stay at Yokosuka, the
On 10 October 1942, I-7 was diverted from her patrol to conduct a reconnaissance of
On 24 October 1942 I-7 was ordered to return to rejoin the "A" patrol group southeast of Guadalcanal, but she again received orders on 31 October 1942 to launch a reconnaissance flight over Espiritu Santo.
I-7 departed Truk on 24 November 1942.[4] On 1 December 1942, she arrived at Yokosuka for an extended stay.[4]
Aleutian Islands campaign
On 1 April 1943, Submarine Division 7 was reassigned to the
With the commander of Submarine Division 7 embarked, I-7 departed Yokosuka on 18 May 1943 both to carry supplies to the Japanese forces fighting on Attu and conduct her fifth war patrol.
On 4 June 1943, I-7 got underway from Paramushiro for another supply run to Kiska.[4] Calling there on 8 June 1943 along with the submarine I-34, she unloaded nine tons of ammunition and 15 tons of food, embarked 101 passengers — 42 naval personnel, 18 army personnel, and 41 paramilitary workers — and began her return to Paramushiro, which she reached on 13 June 1943.[4]
I-7 once again embarked the commander of Submarine Division 7 for her next supply run, leaving Paramushiro at 16:00 on 15 June 1943.[4] While she was at sea on 17 June, the commander of Submarine Squadron 1 issued a directive ordering I-7, I-34, and the submarines I-36 and I-169 to suspend their supply runs to Kiska and await further orders because of the grounding on 16 June 1943 of I-157 and recent attacks on Japanese submarines in the Aleutians by radar-equipped American destroyers.[4] Submarine Squadron 1 directed I-2, I-157, and the submarine I-175 to determine the locations of the American ships.[4]
Under pressure from higher command to continue the supply and evacuation of Kiska,[8] Submarine Squadron 1 reversed its decision on 18 June 1943 and ordered the resumption of the submarine supply runs.[4] On 19 June 1943, I-7 arrived off Kiska, but found Gertrude Cove in Vega Bay shrouded in dense fog.[4] Her commanding officer decided to delay her attempt to land her cargo.[4]
Loss
I-7 surfaced off Kiska approximately 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) south of Vega Bay in heavy fog at 19:00 on 20 June 1943 and began an attempt to enter the anchorage at Gertrude Cove.
I-7′s torpedo officer took command.[4] He ordered I-7 to remain on the surface, man her guns, and return fire.[4] I-7 fired thirty 140-millimeter (5.5 in) rounds from her deck guns and 250 rounds from her machine guns.[4] Her crew had left her aft ballast tanks open by mistake, causing her to flood, take on a heavy list, and become stern-heavy.[4][9] At around 19:45 she ran aground at Bukhti Point.[4] Her torpedo officer ordered her crew to abandon ship, and her paymaster destroyed her secret documents and smashed her coding machine, whose pieces he threw overboard.[4] Meanwhile, a Japanese Daihatsu-class landing craft sent to unload cargo from I-7 arrived in the area and tried to contact I-7 in the thick fog by signal lamp but came under machine-gun fire from Monaghan and withdrew.[4]
Using a portable transmitter, I-7 contacted Japanese forces ashore on Kiska at 02:00 on 21 June 1943.[4] Two Daihatsus arrived from Gertrude Cove with welding equipment, which I-7′s crew used to patch the hole in her conning tower.[4] The Daihatsus also took aboard some of I-7′s cargo for delivery ashore.[4] As acting commanding officer, the torpedo officer convened a meeting of surviving officers, who decided to make a high-speed run on the surface to Yokosuka, with a possible stop at Paramushiro.[4] With her repairs complete at 18:45, I-7 entered Gertrude Cove by 19:00, unloaded the rest of her cargo and the bodies of deceased personnel and took aboard new code books.[4] She got underway at midnight on 21/22 June 1943.[4]
Monaghan was patrolling in heavy fog south of Kiska when she again detected I-7 on radar at a range of 14,000 yards (12,800 m) at 00:35 on 22 June 1943.
Monaghan resumed firing at 02:10, this time illuminating I-7 with
I-7′s crew had fired seventy 140-millimeter (5.5 in) shells and about 2,000 rounds from her machine guns during her battle with Monaghan.
On 23 June 1943, a Daihatsu arrived on the scene, and
I-7 was stricken from the Navy list on 20 August 1943.[4]
Aftermath
The Japanese completed the evacuation of Kiska on 28 July 1943, and on 15 August 1943 the Allies invaded the undefended island in
On 7 September 1943, the U.S. Navy submarine rescue ship USS Florikan (ASR-9) arrived and began diving operations on the wreck that lasted for a month.[4] By the time the operations concluded in October 1943, seven divers had entered I-7′s wreck and recovered valuable intelligence documents from it.[4]
References
Footnotes
- ^ Boyd and Yoshida, p. 22.
- ^ Boyd and Yoshida, p. 23.
- ^ a b c d e f g h I-7 ijnsubsite.com 23 June 2018 Accessed 29 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 bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt du dv dw dx dy dz ea eb ec ed ee ef eg eh ei ej ek el em en eo ep eq er es Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (2017). "IJN Submarine I-7: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- ^ a b Tully, Athony (19 May 2014). "IJN Seaplane Carrier CHITOSE: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
- ^ "2012 Fleet Review" (PDF). Japan Defense Focus. December 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ a b c d wrecksite.eu SS Arcata (+1942)
- ^ Boyd and Yoshida, pp. 118–119.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Boyd and Yoshida, p. 119.
Bibliography
- Boyd, Carl, and Akihiko Yoshida. The Japanese Submarine Force and World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1995. ISBN 1-55750-015-0.