Japanese submarine I-373

I-373 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type D2 transport submarine. The only Type D2 submarine to be completed, she was commissioned in April 1945, and converted into a tanker submarine. In August 1945 became the last Japanese submarine sunk during World War II.

History
Japan
NameSubmarine No. 2962
BuilderYokosuka Navy Yard, Yokosuka, Japan
Laid down15 August 1944
RenamedI-373 on 5 October 1944
Launched30 November 1944
Completed14 April 1945
Commissioned14 April 1945
FateSunk by USS Spikefish, 14 August 1945
Stricken15 September 1945
General characteristics
Class and typeType D2 submarine
Displacement
  • 1,660 long tons (1,687 t) surfaced
  • 2,240 long tons (2,276 t) submerged
Length74.00 m (242 ft 9 in) overall
Beam8.90 m (29 ft 2 in)
Draft5.05 m (16 ft 7 in)
Propulsion
  • 2 × Kampon Mk.23B Model 8 diesels
  • 1,750 bhp surfaced
  • 1,200 shp submerged
  • 2 shafts
Speed
  • 13.0 knots (24.1 km/h) surfaced
  • 6.5 knots (12.0 km/h) submerged
Range
  • 5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 13 knots (24 km/h) surfaced
  • 100 nmi (190 km) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h) submerged
Test depth100 m (330 ft)
Capacity
  • 110 tons freight (as built)
  • 200 tons gasoline June 1945[1]
Complement55
Armament

Construction and commissioning

I-373 was laid down on 13 August 1944 by Yokosuka Navy Yard at Yokosuka, Japan, with the name Submarine No. 2962.[2] On 5 October 1944, she was renamed I-373 and was provisionally attached to the Yokosuka Naval District.[2] She was launched on 30 November 1944 and was completed and commissioned on 14 April 1945.[2]

Service history

Upon commissioning, I-373 was attached formally to the Yokosuka Naval District and was assigned to Submarine Squadron 11 for workups.[2] On 16 June 1945, she departed Yokosuka bound for Sasebo.[2] Arriving at Sasebo on 17 June 1945, she began conversion into a tanker submarine capable of carrying 150 metric tons of aviation gasoline in addition to other cargo.[2] On 20 June 1945, she was reassigned to Submarine Division 15 in the 6th Fleet.[2]

Transport operations

Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne (FRUMEL), an Allied signals intelligence unit headquartered at Melbourne, Australia, reported that it had intercepted and decrypted signals that indicated that I-373 departed Sasebo on a supply run to Takao on Formosa on 3 July 1945 and returned to Sasebo on 26 July 1945, but post-World War II examination of Japanese records has not corroborated FRUMEL's reporting.[2]

On 5 August 1945, FRUMEL reported that it had intercepted and decrypted a Japanese signal indicating that I-373 would depart Sasebo that day bound for Takao and would return with a cargo of aviation gasoline, rice, and sugar.[2] In fact, I-373 got underway from Sasebo on 9 August 1945 headed for Takao.[2]

Loss

At 20:10 on 13 August 1945, I-373 was on the surface in the East China Sea 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) southeast of Shanghai, China, making 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) and zigzagging around a base course of 230 degrees true when the United States Navy submarine USS Spikefish (SS-404) detected her on radar.[2] Spikefish′s radar detector also detected the pulse of I-373′s Type 13 air-search radar.[2] Spikefish closed the range, sighted I-373 at a range of 3,500 yards (3,200 m) at 20:18, and tracked her for an hour, but lost visual contact at 21:18 when I-373 feinted to the southeast and then submerged.[2]

At 00:07 on 14 August 1945, Spikefish regained radar contact on I-373 at a range of 8,600 yards (7,900 m) and began tracking her again, finally confirming that I-373 was a Japanese submarine at 04:19.[2] At 04:24, Spikefish fired a spread of six Mark 14 Mod 3A torpedoes at a range of 1,300 yards (1,200 m).[2] Two hit I-373, which sank by the stern at 29°02′N 123°53′E.[2] Spikefish′s sound operator reported hearing loud sounds of air escaping from the sinking I-373.[2]

Spikefish surfaced, and at 05:40 she passed through a thick slick of diesel fuel and a large amount of floating debris.[2] She found five survivors in the water, all of whom refused rescue.[2] She left four of them to perish in the water but forcibly brought one of them aboard.[2] The sole survivor of I-373, he misidentified her to Spikefish′s crew as the nonexistent submarine "I-382."[2]

Eighty-four men died in the sinking of I-373, the last Japanese submarine lost in World War II, which ended the next day.[2] The Japanese removed her from the Navy list on 15 September 1945.[2]

Notes
  1. Senshi Sōsho Vol.88 (1975), p.272–273
  2. Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (2002). "IJN Submarine I-373: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 19 September 2020.

Sources


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