History
Japan
NameSubmarine No. 5468
BuilderYokosuka Navy Yard, Yokosuka, Japan
Laid down15 July 1943
RenamedI-368 on 25 January 1944
Launched29 January 1944
Completed25 August 1944
Commissioned25 August 1944
FateSunk 26 February 1945
Stricken10 April 1945
General characteristics
Class and typeType D1 submarine
Displacement
  • 1,440 long tons (1,463 t) surfaced
  • 2,215 long tons (2,251 t) submerged
Length73.50 m (241 ft 2 in) overall
Beam8.90 m (29 ft 2 in)
Draft4.76 m (15 ft 7 in)
Propulsion
  • 2 × Kampon Mk.23B Model 8 diesels
  • 1,850 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
  • 15,000 nmi (28,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) surfaced
  • 120 nmi (220 km) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h) submerged
Test depth75 m (246 ft)
Boats & landing
craft carried		2 x Daihatsu-class landing craft (removed January 1945)
Capacity85 tons freight
Complement55
Sensors and
processing systems
  • 1 × Type 22 surface search radar
  • 1 × Type 13 early warning radar
Armament

I-368 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type D1 transport submarine. Completed and commissioned in August 1944, she served in World War II and was converted into a kaiten suicide attack torpedo carrier in January 1945. She was sunk in February 1945 while operating during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Construction and commissioning

I-368 was laid down on 15 July 1943 by Yokosuka Navy Yard at Yokosuka, Japan, with the name Submarine No. 5468.[2] She was renamed I-368 on 25 January 1944 and provisionally attached to the Sasebo Naval District that day.[2] She was launched on 29 January 1944 and was attached formally to the Sasebo Naval District that day.[2] She was completed and commissioned on 25 August 1944.[2]

Service history

Upon commissioning, I-368 was assigned to Submarine Squadron 11 for workups.[2] On 2 November 1944 she was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 7.[2]

In January 1945, I-368 was converted from a transport submarine into a kaiten suicide attack torpedo carrier, the conversion involving the removal of her 140-millimeter (5.5 in) deck gun and Daihatsu-class landing craft and their replacement with fittings allowing her to carry five kaitens on her deck,[2][3] On 10 January 1945, she and the submarine I-370 took part in simulated kaiten attacks against towed targets in the Seto Inland Sea that lasted 15 days.[2]

The Battle of Iwo Jima began on 19 February 1945 when U.S. forces landed on Iwo Jima.[2] The landings had occurred sooner that the Japanese expected, so they ordered I-368 to cease kaiten training early and formed the Chihaya Kaiten Group, made up of I-368, I-370, and the submarine I-44, with orders to proceed to the waters off Iwo Jima and attack American ships there.[2] On 20 February 1945, I-368 became the first kaiten carrier to get underway for Iwo Jima, departing the kaiten base at Hikari.[2]

I-368 was dead in the water on the surface 35 nautical miles (65 km; 40 mi) west of Iwo Jima at 03:05 on 26 February 1945 when a United States Navy Grumman TBM-1C Avenger torpedo bomber of Composite Squadron 82 (VC-82) operating from the escort aircraft carrier USS Anzio (CVE-57) detected her on radar.[2] The Avenger overshot I-368 on its first pass, and she submerged.[2] The Avenger returned and dropped a float light marker and sonobuoys, followed by a Mark 24 "Fido" acoustic homing torpedo.[2] At 03:38, I-368′s conning tower briefly broke the surface near the float light marker, but she quickly dived again.[2] Another Avenger arrived on the scene and dropped more sonobuoys and another Fido, which sank I-368 at 24°43′N 140°37′E / 24.717°N 140.617°E / 24.717; 140.617 (I-370).[2] All 86 men on board were lost.[2]

On 6 March 1945, the Japanese ordered I-368 to return to Japan, but she never acknowledged the order.[2] On 14 March 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy declared I-368 to be presumed lost with all hands off Iwo Jima,[2] although she nonetheless was officially transferred from Submarine Squadron 7 to Submarine Division 15 when Submarine Squadron 7 was deactivated on 20 March 1945.[2] She was stricken from the Navy list on 10 April 1945.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ Campbell, John Naval Weapons of World War Two ISBN 0-87021-459-4 p.191
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (2014). "IJN Submarine I-368: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  3. ↑ Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (2014). "IJN Submarine I-370: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 16 September 2020.

Sources


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