Old Salt
25-04-2010, 10:11
Japanese submarine I-1
Builder : Kawasaki, Kobe
Class : J1 type submarine
Commissioned: 10 March 1926
Displacement: 2135 tons (surfaced) 2,791 tons (submerged)
Length 320 ft (98 m) Beam: 30 ft (9.1 m)Draught: 16.5 ft (5.0 m)
Propulsion: twin shaft MAN 10 cyl. 4 stroke diesels 6000 bhp, 2 x electric motors 2600 ehp
Speed: 18 knots (surface) 8 knots (submerged) Range : 24.400 nm at 10 knots
Complement : 68 officers and men
Armament: 2 x 140mm (5.5 in.) 1943 aft gun replaced with 46 ft. Daihatsu barge,
6x 533mm torpedo tubes 20 x type 95 oxygen-driven torpedoes
Max depth : 80m.(260 ft.)
On 7 December 1941: I-1 was stationed off Pearl Harbor to attack escaping ships and then bombarded Kahului, Maui and, Hilo, Hawaii, before sinking 8,806-ton Dutch steamer Siantar .and returning to Tokyo. After a patrol off the Aleutians in 1942 she was adapted to a cargo role. Her aft 140 mm (5.5 inch) gun was removed to make room for a 46-foot (14 m) Daihatsu barge. After evacuating Japanese troops from Goodenough Island to Rabaul, she arrived at Buin on 24 January 1943 and loaded food supplies into the barge for a resupply mission to Guadalcanal.
On 29 January 1943 she encountered the New Zealand corvettes, HMNZS Kiwi and Moa, who depth charged, rammed and engaged with guns, wrecking 1-1 in shallow water at Kamimbo Bay, Guadalcanal. A total of 27 sailors were killed or missing including the CO, Lt.Cdr Sakamoto Eiichi ; 66 survivors reached the shore and joined the IJA garrison The wreck partially protruded from the water; code and log books were recovered. The Japanese command tried unsuccessfully to destroy the boat with air and submarine attacks and removed I-1 from the Japanese Navy List
Notes : 1. In 1973 Australian treasure hunters blew up the bow section of the I-1, causing much damage since live torpedoes were still inside. The bow section of the sub is still there, but split open. The front one-third of the submarine is destroyed but the remaining section is still intact. The I-1 lies with her bow in 45 feet (14 m) and her stern in 90 feet (27 m) of water. A popular dive spot.
2. The 140mm gun taken from the wreck of is located at the RNZN Museum in Auckland.
Builder : Kawasaki, Kobe
Class : J1 type submarine
Commissioned: 10 March 1926
Displacement: 2135 tons (surfaced) 2,791 tons (submerged)
Length 320 ft (98 m) Beam: 30 ft (9.1 m)Draught: 16.5 ft (5.0 m)
Propulsion: twin shaft MAN 10 cyl. 4 stroke diesels 6000 bhp, 2 x electric motors 2600 ehp
Speed: 18 knots (surface) 8 knots (submerged) Range : 24.400 nm at 10 knots
Complement : 68 officers and men
Armament: 2 x 140mm (5.5 in.) 1943 aft gun replaced with 46 ft. Daihatsu barge,
6x 533mm torpedo tubes 20 x type 95 oxygen-driven torpedoes
Max depth : 80m.(260 ft.)
On 7 December 1941: I-1 was stationed off Pearl Harbor to attack escaping ships and then bombarded Kahului, Maui and, Hilo, Hawaii, before sinking 8,806-ton Dutch steamer Siantar .and returning to Tokyo. After a patrol off the Aleutians in 1942 she was adapted to a cargo role. Her aft 140 mm (5.5 inch) gun was removed to make room for a 46-foot (14 m) Daihatsu barge. After evacuating Japanese troops from Goodenough Island to Rabaul, she arrived at Buin on 24 January 1943 and loaded food supplies into the barge for a resupply mission to Guadalcanal.
On 29 January 1943 she encountered the New Zealand corvettes, HMNZS Kiwi and Moa, who depth charged, rammed and engaged with guns, wrecking 1-1 in shallow water at Kamimbo Bay, Guadalcanal. A total of 27 sailors were killed or missing including the CO, Lt.Cdr Sakamoto Eiichi ; 66 survivors reached the shore and joined the IJA garrison The wreck partially protruded from the water; code and log books were recovered. The Japanese command tried unsuccessfully to destroy the boat with air and submarine attacks and removed I-1 from the Japanese Navy List
Notes : 1. In 1973 Australian treasure hunters blew up the bow section of the I-1, causing much damage since live torpedoes were still inside. The bow section of the sub is still there, but split open. The front one-third of the submarine is destroyed but the remaining section is still intact. The I-1 lies with her bow in 45 feet (14 m) and her stern in 90 feet (27 m) of water. A popular dive spot.
2. The 140mm gun taken from the wreck of is located at the RNZN Museum in Auckland.