Japon Marine Japanese Sub marine over Pearl Harbour

Article fait par :Claude Balmefrezol

Mis en ligne le 14/07/2009 à 08:30:03

The Ko-hyoteki Type A, B & C Midget Submarines
Tora Tora Tora
French Version

Map of the operation Divine Turtle ( Internet)

In the morning of december 7th 1941 a day of infamy the Us Pacific Fleet in Pear Harbour was hit by a japanase air craft raid who sunk a major party of this Fleet Luckily the targets of the Japanese raids were not in Pearl harbour the Harbour
But if the Japanse raid was well know we dont forget what japanse launch also a naval raid with midget submarines
It is less know but the danger were also under the sea
History
Like other major powers Japan has built midget submarines
From 1934 to 1944, Japanese Navy built several dozen midget submarines for combat use. They were originally intended to be carried by larger Japanese ships and deployed in the path of an enemy fleet, where they would disrupt its operations with torpedo attacks. But during WW2 midgets submarines were used for special operations against ships in enemy harbors,
December 7th 1941 Pearl Harbor attack by midget or ShinkiOperation(Divine Turtle )

Chiyoda  ( Internet)	Sensuikan ( Internet)

Five of these boats participated at the attack . Of the five used at Pearl Harbor, the IJN HA-19 was captured where it grounded on the east side of Oahu Now is on exhibit at the National Museum of the Pacific War During World War II, HA-19 was put on tour across USA to help war effort by the sell of War Bonds
All begin in summer 1941
Early September 1941 . Captain Harada present at the Naval General Staff (NGS) liaison officer Cdr Ariizumi Tatsunosuke an harbor-penetrating concept Harada and his staff compile several studies about attacks on naval bases at Pearl Harbor, San Francisco, Hong-Kong, Singapore and Sydney. In late September 1941 to verify the feasibility of penetrating an enemy harbor with midget submarines, Captain Harada conducts a series of night exercises in Hirajo Bay, Shikoku. On October 4th 1941 at a planning conference held aboard the IJN battleship MUTSU, concerning the details of the forthcoming attack on Pearl Harbor Harada appeals to Admiral (Fleet Admiral, posthumously) Yamamoto Isoruku to use the midget submarines in parallel with the air attack. Admiral Yamamoto suggests Harada reconsider his idea and report back to him the next day. On October 11th 1941 at another planning conference aboard IJN battleship NAGATO, Admiral Yamamoto approves the use of midget submarines in the forthcoming Hawaii Operation
If the Pearl Harbour raid was for Japan Hawai Operation the name for the Midget mission will be Shinki Operation (Divine Turtle )
On October 19th 1941 the Headquarters,of the Sixth Fleet (Submarines) issues an order to convert five midget submarines and five Type C 1 mother submarines for the Shinki Operation Operation.
For this operation midget submarines, were fitted with pneumatically operated steering system and the 25 batteries from the forward battery room are landed and replaced by 4 additional air bottles for the steering system. The range at low speed is marginally increased, but the maximum speed drops to 16 knots. A scuttling charge is fitted into the aft battery room. All midget submarines are fitted with net cutters, jumping wires and propeller guards. Running lights are blanked off. A built-in telephone is fitted to communicate with the mother submarine. All work is finished by 10 November.
On October 22nd 1941 the NYK (Nippon Yusen Kaisha) liner TAIYO MARU departs for Hawaii with aboard disguised as crew members three IJN officers TAIYO MARU follow th way what the carrier striking force for Hawaii Operation will be take After the reconnaissance of the Pearl Harbor's naval base entrance the TAIYO MARU return to Japan on November 5th
On November 14th 1941 begin of Hawaii Operation
Fleet submarines are assigned to Captain Sasaki Hankyu's Special Attack Unit.
Midget submarines will be employed only against U.S. Pacific Fleet is stationed in Pearl Harbor
On November 18th 1941 the Special Attack Unit departs Kure for Kamegakubi Naval Proving Ground and on November 19th 1941 all five of the Special Attack Unit's submarines depart for Hawaiian The mother submarines use a direct route but they avoid Wake and Midway islands
On December 2nd 1941 the Combined Fleet.receive the coded signal "Niitakayama nobore (Climb Mont Niitaka) It signifies that hostilities will commence on December 8th (Japan time).
The attack
On December 7th 1941 Submarines I-68 and I-69 are ordered to lay off the entrance to Pearl Harbor to rescue midget submarine crews.
I-16 launches M 16 with Lt Yokoyama Masaharu and PO2C Ueda Sadamu' at about 7 miles SSW of the harbor's entrance.
I-22 launches M 22 with Lt Iwasa Naoji and PO1C Sasaki Naokichi's at about 9 miles from the harbor's entrance.
I-18 launches M18 with Lt Furuno Shigemi and PO1C Yokoyama Shigenori' at about 13 miles from the harbor's entrance.
I-20 launches M20 with Ensign Hiroo Akira and PO2C Katayama Yoshio at about 5.3 miles from the harbor's entrance.
I-24 launches H 19 with Ensign Sakamaki Kazuo and PO2C Inagaki Kiyoshi at 10.5 miles WSW of the harbor's entrance. HA-19 begins to broach, but Inagaki manages to correct the trim successfully
At 04h08 on December 7th 1941 USS WARD (DD-139) begins a search for a suspected submarine reported by minesweeper CONDOR (AMC-14), but finds nothing.
At 0630,USS ANTARES (AKS-3) approaches Pearl's outer gate see a small conning tower.
A PBY "Catalina" of the Patrol Squadron VP-14, drops smoke markers on the contact.
At 06h45 USS WARD opens fire hitting the midget submarine's conning tower.
At 06h51 14th Naval District Headquarters send a message
"WE HAVE ATTACKED FIRED UPON AND DROPPED DEPTH CHARGES
UPON SUBMARINE OPERATING IN DEFENSIVE SEA AREA."
M-20 is sunk
At 07h00, H 19 begin to manoeuvre for entry in the harbor but he cannot enter in the harbor because the air strike has been commenced at 07h 55 m At 0800, H 19 runs aground on a reef and follow the malfunction of the gyro compass malfunctions H19 to expose his periscope frequently for navigation. So he was discouver and spotted by USS HELM (DD-388)
With the lower torpedo tube, net cutter and vertical rudder are damaged by the collision with the reef. Littler after batteries exude chlorine gas that knocks the crew unconscious
H 19 runs aground again. . After been ballastee the midget was free but it will not answer the helm and above all he is depth charged several times.
Sakamaki tries to beach H 19 and he lights the fuse of self-destruct charge and leaps into the surf where he is battered unconscious again and washes ashore on Waimanalo But scuttling charge does not explode. At 08h 30, USS MONAGHAN (DD-354) and destroyer/minesweeper USS ZANE (DMS-14) attempting to sortie from Pearl Harbor via the North Channel report "enemy submarine 180 meters astern of MEDUSA." The Minelayer USS BREESE (DM-18) spots the midget submarine next, followed by seaplane tender CURTISS (AV-4) that opens fire

Capture of the H 19 crew ( Internet)

.
At 08h37,the repair ship USS MEDUSA (AR-1) and tender TANGIER (AV-8) open fire on the midget submarine.
M22 fires a torpedo against USS CURTISS but torpedo misses CURTISS little after M22 fire his last torpedo against USS MONAGHAN misses olaso here the target.
The destroyer drops two depth charges that blow the midget submarine to the surface. The midget submarine sinks NW of Ford Island.
The Midget Now
The M 19

( Internet)	( Internet)

He was salvaged and later sent to the United States' mainland, where he was featured at War Bond drives throughout the country. After the end of World War II he was exhibited for many years at Key West, Florida. In 1991, Ha-19 was moved to Fredericksburg, Texas, where he remains on display at the Admiral Nimitz museum National Museum of the Pacific War
The M 18 is depth charged and sinks in the Keehi Lagoon just off Pearl Harbor. He was rediscovered on June 13th 1960, in only 75 feet of water. On July 6th he was raised No human remains were found aboard. The conning tower hatch was open. The forward section was found to contain both torpedoes intact. He was display first in Peael Harbour but the request of the Japanese Government, the remainder of the midget submarine was returned to Japan. After restauration, ( new forward section was fabricated ) he is now at the Naval Tactical School at Hiroshima,
The M 20 was re discovered on August 20th 2002 at 5 miles off Pearl Harbor. It is probably the M 20 sunk by USS WARD but this identification is speculative
The M 22 Some personal equipements of M22 raised about two weeks after the attack.
A No. 1 dress blues sleeve with rank insignia of a full Lieutenant was found floating in the harbor. It may have belonged to Iwasa or one of the downed Japanese pilots. Iwasa was the only officer of that rank in the midget submarine attack force. The sleeve was returned to the Japan by the U.S. Navy in March 1947 and has been on display at the Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo since 1972.
M 22 was the midget submarine that tried to torpedo USS CURTISS and was rammed and sunk by USS MONAGHAN,but this identification is speculative.
The hulk of the raised midget was salvaged, but was in such a bad shape that no one entered it. Her screws and net cutter were salvaged and used in the reconstruction of HA-19. The remainder of the wreck was dumped during the S-1 submarine dock reconstuction at Ford Island. It was rediscovered in 1952, but reburied at the same place because chlorine gas had eaten away all its contents. The remains of the crew are still inside.
The M 16 send his last message on December 8th 1941 at 00h51 MIA
Conclusion of the Hawai operation
All five of the Special Attack Unit's midget submarines fail to return to their "mother" submarines.
That same day, Ensign Sakamaki is taken prisoner as the first POW taken by the United States in the Second World War
On 6 March 1942, the crews of all the Pearl Harbor midget submarines, except PoW Sakamaki, were posthumously promoted two ranks.

The nine submariners lost at Pearl are from the left: P02C Katayama Yoshio of I-20, POIC Sasaki Naokichi of I-22, POIC Yokoyama Shigenori of I-18, Ensign Yokoyama Masaharu of 1-16, Lt Iwasa Naoji I-22, Lt ( j.g.) Furuno Shigemi of I-18, Ensign Hiroo Akira of I-20, P02C Ueda Sadamu of I-16 and P02C Inagaki Kiyoshi of I-24. Ensign Sakamaki Kazuo of I-24's HA-19, taken prisoner, is not shown in this Japanese painting.

May 1942 raids on Sydney, Australia,
On the night may 30th 1942, A n attack launched by 3 midget based on five large Japanese submarines take place on Sydney harbour
The first midget was detected at 8.00pm, and after he was entangled in an anti-torpedo net . He was attacked and destroyed by HMAS Yarroma
The second submarine entered the harbour at about 9.48pm cause a general alarm
He was fired by USS Chicago but he could be fire his 2 torpedos . One of them aftert been miss the USS Chicago and the Dutch submarine K9 hit near depot ship HMAS Kuttabul killing 21 sailors The submarine then slipped out of the harbour, its mission complete.
The third submarine was sighted by HMAS Yandra at the entrance to the harbour and was depth-charged. Some four hours later, having recovered, it entered the harbour but it was subsequently attacked with depth charges and sunk The two submarines that were recovered were used to construct a composite midget submarine which toured Australia during the war.
Now they were in Canberra to the Australian War Museum .
Diego Suarez Guadalcanal in 1942-43 Aleutians Islands
Numerotation of the midget
They had hull numbers but no names. For simplicity, they are most often referred to by the hull number of the mother submarine. but it is mostly speculative
The midget submarine hull number began with the character "HA", but is visible only on the builder's plate inside the hull
Description Ko-hyoteki class submarine

( Internet)

Type A midgets displaced 46 tons, were 23m.5 long and carried two 45cm (17.7") diameter torpedoes. Powered by electric motors, they were capable of very high speeds (about 20 knots), but had very limited range.
To increase endurance, the prototype Type B and production Type C boats were fitted with a diesel engine to recharge their electric batteries. They had an additional crew member, were slightly longer and heavier, but otherwise resembled the Type A.
Approximately
60 Type A midget submarines were built between 1934 and 1942, and given alpha-numeric names in the "Ha" series (Ha-1 through Ha-52 and Ha-54 through possibly Ha-61).
1 Type B (Ha-53) The Otsu Gata (Type B) midget submarine was the first version fitted with a diesel (40 hp / 25 kw) and a slightly longer hull to accommodate it. All specifications were same as the Type A, except the length (24.9 m vs. 23.9 m), displacement (47 tons vs. 46), and surface speed (6 knots vs. 19). The Type B's diesl engine allowed a range of 500 nautical miles (nms) at 6 knots (surfaced), 15.8 nms at 9 knots and 84 nms at 6 knots underwater on the electric motor
15 Type Cs (Ha-62 through Ha-76) were built in 1943-44.
The first two, Ha-1 and Ha-2, were used only in testing.

( Internet)	( Internet)

Constructed of four longitudinally welded, cold-rolled, 10-inch steel strakes reinforced by welded transverse angle-iron frames, he displaced 46 tons submerged Two bolted joints allow the submarine to be separated into three sections. There is a single 93-inch long, 50-inch high, and 20-inch wide conning tower welded and mechanically attached to the pressure hull. The hull, originally coated with yellow zinc-chromate primer, a bitumastic tar and then painted with a finish coat of black and red enamel, is now painted with a gray gloss enamel finish coat. The vessel was equipped with a single Type 92 periscope manufactured by the Japan Optical Manufacturing Company in May 1941. Raised by electrical winch, the periscope was 10 feet long, 3 5/8 inches in diameter, and had magnification settings of 1.5 and 6.0
The armament consisted of two tubes mounted one over the other for 450 mm 18-inch torpedo type 97 or Type 98, otherwise known as Type 97 special.Type 98 was later supplanted by the Type 02 torpedo. There was also a demolition charge
He was propelled by a single-shaft electric motor of 600 h.p. Powered by acid-cell batteries, 224 two-volt batteries the submarine carried no generator and required recharging by a mother submarine or tender. At top speed (23 knots surfaced and 19 knots submerged) the submarine's battery charge would last only 55 minutes. However, at a submerged speed of 2 knots, the submarine had an effective range of 100 miles. The shaft connected to two tandem-mounted, counter-rotating propellers, the forward propeller turning right and the after propeller turning left
The submarine is divided into seven compartments--a free-flooding bow tank; torpedo room, forward battery room; control room; after battery room; motor room; and a free-flooding tail section. The battery rooms and control room, separated by riveted watertight bulkheads with doors, are integral to the center section of the submarine; the torpedo room and motor room comprise two separate sections that are bolted to the center section. The submarine carried 534 lead pigs weighing 5,899 lbs. as ballast equally loaded throughout;
The torpedo room, in addition to the two 18-inch tubes and ballast, also carried a 7.5-foot ballast tank, two low pressure air tanks, two impulse tanks, and the torpedo tube firing valves. The forward battery room carried air and oxygen flasks, a 90.5-gallon trim tank, air purification equipment, and 12 battery cells. The control room carried the depth and control instruments, periscope, a small crystal radio, torpedo tube controls, gyro compass, electrically actuated directional gyro, a small electric trim pump, a low-pressure air manifold, a small regulator tank, and a hydrogen detector. The after battery room contained 36 battery cells, sound equipment, air conditioning apparatus, air purification equipment, and one 56.5-gallon trim tank. The motor room carried the motor and control panels. The free-flooding tail section housed the gear box.
The submarine's exterior equipment and accouterments were few and consisted of a vertical rubber-sheathed 32-inch radio antenna, the periscope, two white running lights, the forward light blanked off, probably for the "Hawaii Operation," the battery ventilation exhaust, a jack for telephone communication with the mother submarine while still tethered, the mounting studs for attaching the midget to the mother submarine's deck, and a U-frame fairing sheer that supported two 3/4-inch diameter 3-strand steel wire rope net cutters running fore and aft
Each submarine had a crew of two men. A junior officer conned the boat while a petty officer manipulated valves and moved ballast to control trim and diving
Midget today on display
National Museum of the Pacific War, Fredericksburg, Texas
Nautilus Memorial Submarine Force Library and Museum, Groton, Connecticut
JMSDF Naval Tactical School No. 1, Eta Jima, Hiroshima, Japan
Australian War Memorial, ANZAC Hall, Canberra
Technical data
Displacement: 46 tons
Length: 23.9 m
Beam: 1.8 m
Height: 3 m
Propulsion: 192 trays of two two-volt cells each,
one electric motor, 600 horsepower (450 kW)at 1800 rpm,Speed: 23 knots (43 km/h) surfaced & 19 knots 36 km/h) submerged
Range: 100 Nautical Miles at 2 knots
(190 km at 4 km/h),
80 nautical miles at 6 knots
(150 km at 11 km/h),
18 nautical miles at 19 knots
(33 km at 35 km/h)
Test depth: 30 m
Complement: 2
Armament: 2 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedoes, muzzle-loaded into tubes
one 300 lb (140 kg) scuttling charge
Notes: Ballast - 2,670 kg
in 534 × 5 kg lead bars

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The Lost Submarine HERE