Pre-World War II

On the day of her commissioning, I-73 was attached to the Kure Naval District and assigned to Submarine Division 20.^[4][5] Her division was assigned to Submarine Squadron 2 in the 2nd Fleet, a component of the Combined Fleet, on 1 December 1937,^[4] and then to Submarine Squadron 3 in the 2nd Fleet on 15 November 1939.^[4] I-73 departed Okinawa on 27 March 1940 in company with the submarines I-68, I-69, I-70, I-74, and I-75 for a training cruise in southern Chinese waters, completing it when the six submarines arrived at Takao, Formosa, on 2 April 1940.^{[4][6][7][8][9][10]} On 15 November 1940, Submarine Squadron 3 was reassigned to the 6th Fleet, another component of the Combined Fleet.^[4] On 16 January 1941, the submarine I-72 temporarily relieved I-73 as flagship of Submarine Division 20.^[5]

On 11 November 1941, I-73 was assigned to the 6th Fleet's Advance Force.^[5] That day, the 6th Fleet's commander, Vice Admiral Mitsumi Shimizu, held a meeting with the commanding officers of the submarines of Submarine Squadron 3 aboard his flagship, the light cruiser Katori, and his chief of staff briefed them on plans for Operation Z, the upcoming surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.^[5] The attack would begin the Pacific campaign and bring Japan and the United States into World War II.

As Japanese military forces began to deploy for the opening Japanese offensive of the war, I-73 — with the commander of Submarine Division 20 embarked — departed Saeki Bay on the coast of Kyushu on 11 November 1941 in company with the submarines I-8, I-68, I-69, I-70, I-71, and I-72 bound for Kwajalein Atoll, which she reached on 20 November 1941.^[5] Assigned to support Operation Z, I-73 got underway from Kwajalein on 23 November 1941, again with the commander of Submarine Division 20 embarked, and set course for the Hawaiian Islands.^[5] While she was en route, she received the message "Climb Mount Niitaka 1208" (Japanese: Niitakayama nobore 1208) from the Combined Fleet on 2 December 1941, indicating that war with the Allies would commence on 8 December 1941 Japan time, which was on 7 December 1941 on the other side of the International Date Line in Hawaii.^[5] After reaching Hawaiian waters, she conducted a reconnaissance of Kealaikahiki Channel between Kahoolawe and Lanai on 5 December 1941 and of Lahaina Roads off Maui after sunset on 6 December 1941.^[5]

World War II

Second war patrol

With the commander of Submarine Division 20 again embarked, I-73 got underway from Kwajalein in company with I-71 and I-72, the three submarines having orders to relieve the submarines I-18, I-22, and I-24 on a picket line in Hawaiian waters.^[5] I-73 transmitted a situation report from her assigned patrol area on 15 January 1942.^[5] She often is credited incorrectly with shelling Midway Atoll on 25 January 1942, but I-24 conducted that bombardment.^[5]

Loss

On 27 January 1942,^[5][11] the United States Navy submarine USS Gudgeon (SS-211) was on her return voyage from a war patrol off the Bungo Strait in Japanese waters and was 240 nautical miles (440 km; 280 mi) west of Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands when she received an Ultra message informing her that I-18, I-22, and I-24 were approaching her.^[5] She steered to intercept them, but did not encounter them. While submerged and searching for them, however, she detected the sound of high-speed propellers off her port bow at 09:00 local time.^[5] She then sighted I-73 at a range of 5,000 yards (4,600 m), identifying her as an "I-68-class submarine" with a deck gun forward of her conning tower and at least six men on her bridge, making 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) on a heading of 255 degrees True.^[5] Gudgeon fired three Mark 14 torpedoes at I-73 at a range of 1,800 yards (1,600 m) at 09:07 local time, then lost sight of her in heavy seas.^[5] One minute and 45 seconds after firing the torpedoes, Gudgeon′s crew heard two explosions, after which I-73′s propeller noises stopped.^[5] Gudgeon returned to periscope depth and saw no sign of I-73.^[5] She claimed only to have damaged I-73, but Station HYPO, a U.S. Navy signals intelligence unit in Hawaii, confirmed that Gudgeon had sunk I-73.^[12] Sunk at 28°24′N 178°35′E / 28.400°N 178.583°E / 28.400; 178.583 (I-73), I-73 was the first warship ever sunk by a U.S. submarine.^[5][11]

Some Japanese historians claim that I-73 survived Gudgeon′s attack and view it as more likely that the destroyer USS Jarvis (DD-393), the destroyer minesweeper USS Long (DMS-12), and other U.S. Navy forces sank her south of Pearl Harbor on 28 January 1942 at 20°35′N 155°55′W / 20.583°N 155.917°W / 20.583; -155.917.^[5]

The Imperial Japanese Navy declared I-73 to be presumed lost with all 94 hands off Hawaii^[4][5] and on 10 March 1942 administratively transferred her to the fourth reserve at Kure Japan, pending final disposition.^[5] The Japanese removed her from the Navy list on 15 March 1942.^[5]

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Bagnasco, Erminio (1977). Submarines of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-962-6.
• Blair, Clay Jr. (1976). Silent Victory. New York: Bantam.
• 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.
• Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (2001). "IJN Submarine I-73: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.