Japanese submarine Yu 3
| History | |
|---|---|
 Japan | |
| Name | Yu 3 |
| Builder | |
| Laid down | 1943 |
| Launched | 1943 |
| Fate | |
| General characteristics Yu I type | |
| Type | Transport submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 41.40 m (135 ft 10 in) overall |
| Beam | 3.90 m (12 ft 10 in) |
| Draft | 3.00 m (9 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Range |
|
| Test depth | 100 m (328 ft) |
| Capacity | 24 tons freight or 40 troops |
| Complement | 23 |
| Armament |
|
Yu 3 was an
Construction
In the final two years of World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army constructed transport submarines — officially the Type 3 submergence transport vehicle and known to the Japanese Army as the Maru Yu — with which to supply its isolated island garrisons in the Pacific. Only submarines of the Yu I type were completed and saw service. The Yu I type was produced in four subclasses, each produced by a different manufacturer and differing primarily in the design of their conning towers and details of their gun armament. None carried torpedoes or had torpedo tubes. Yu 3 was of the Yu 1 subclass.[1]
Yu 3 was
Service history
After her delivery to the Japanese Army, Yu 3 initially remained in Japanese home waters while the Army constructed additional submarines of her class and established a training program for their crews.[3] In May 1944, the Army created its first submarine combat unit (jissen butai), the Manila Underwater Transport Detachment (Manira Sensuiyuso Hakentai), consisting of Yu 3, her sister ships Yu 1 and Yu 2, and a mother ship.[3] The detachment got underway from Japan on either 28[3] or 30[2] May 1944 (according to different sources) bound for Manila on Luzon in the Philippines.[3] The vessels had a difficult voyage which included a number of mechanical breakdowns, but finally arrived at Manila on 18 July 1944.[2][3] After their arrival, the three submarines underwent repairs and thorough overhauls.[3]
On 20 October 1944, United States Army forces landed on Leyte, beginning both the Battle of Leyte and the broader Philippines campaign of 1944–1945.[3] In November 1944, all three submarines got underway on their first supply run to Leyte.[3] Yu 2 never arrived,[3] but Yu 1 and Yu 3 reached Ormoc on Leyte's west coast on 27 November 1944 and discharged a combined 600 bags of white rice, 50 boxes of field rations, and 300 boxes of radio batteries.[3]
In December 1944, Yu 1 and Yu 3 were sent to
Later history
U.S. Army forces
An article in the 8 June 1945 issue of the Mare Island Navy Yard's newspaper, The Grapevine, described Yu 3 as a 137-foot (42 m), 280-
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
- Bagnasco, Erminio (1977). Submarines of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-962-6.
- Bailey, Mark L. (1998). "Imperial Japanese Army Transport Submarines: Details of the YU-2 Class Submarine YU-3". Warship International. XXXV (1): 55–63.
- 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.
- Mühlthaler, Erich (1998). "Re:Imperial Japanese Army Transport Submarines". Warship International. XXXV (4): 329–330. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Rekishi Gunzō, History of Pacific War Extra, Perfect guide, The submarines of the Imperial Japanese Forces, Gakken, Tokyo Japan, 2005, ISBN 4-05-603890-2.
- Rekishi Gunzō, History of Pacific War Vol.45, Truth histories of the Imperial Japanese Naval Vessels, Gakken, Tokyo Japan, 2004, ISBN 4-05-603412-5.
- Ships of the World No.506, Kaijinsha, Tokyo Japan, 1996.
- The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.43 Japanese Submarines III, Ushio Shobō, Tokyo Japan, 1980.
- Atsumi Nakashima, Army Submarine Fleet, "The secret project !, The men challenged the deep sea", Shinjinbutsu Ōraisha, Tokyo Japan, 2006, ISBN 4-404-03413-X.
- 50 year history of the Japan Steel Works (first volume and second volume), Japan Steel Works, 1968.