Sarada22 at 18:20, 13 February 2025

2025-02-13T18:20:10Z

New page

{{infobox military unit
| unit_name = 8th Submarine Squadron
| image = Japanese submarine I-10 at Penang port in 1942.jpg
| caption = Japanese submarine I-10 at Penang in 1942
| dates = 10 March 1942 – 20 February 1945<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160316130914/http://www.ijnsubsite.info/Subrons/subron8.htm Submarine Squadron 8]}}. ''ijnsubsite.info''.</ref>
| country = {{flag|Empire of Japan}}
| allegiance =
| branch = {{navy|Empire of Japan}}
| type = [[Submarine squadron]]
| role =
| size = [[Squadron (naval)|Squadron]]
| command_structure = [[6th Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)|6th Fleet]]
| garrison = [[Penang]], [[Japanese occupation of Malaya|Malaysia]]
| garrison_label =
| nickname =
| patron =
| motto =
| colors =
| colors_label =
| march =
| mascot =
| equipment =
| equipment_label =
| battles =
| anniversaries =
| decorations =
| battle_honours =
| battle_honours_label =
| disbanded =
| flying_hours =
| website = 
| commander1 =
| commander1_label =
| commander2 =
| commander2_label =
| commander3 =
| commander3_label =
| commander4 =
| commander4_label =
| notable_commanders = 
| identification_symbol =
| identification_symbol_label =
| identification_symbol_2 =
| identification_symbol_2_label =
| identification_symbol_3 =
| identification_symbol_3_label =
| identification_symbol_4 =
| identification_symbol_4_label = 
| aircraft_helicopter =
| aircraft_helicopter_attack =
| aircraft_helicopter_cargo =
| aircraft_helicopter_multirole =
| aircraft_helicopter_observation =
| aircraft_helicopter_trainer =
| aircraft_helicopter_utility =
}}
The '''8th Submarine Squadron''' of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] was based at [[Swettenham Pier]], [[Penang]], [[British Malaya|Malaya]], until late 1944 during [[World War II]]. Its mission was to disrupt Allied supply lines in aid of [[Nazi Germany]].<ref>[http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-yanagi-missions-japans-underwater-convoys.htmWorld War II: Yanagi Missions -- Japan's Underwater Convoys, Originally published by World War II magazine. Published Online: June 12, 2006]{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>The Penang Submarines, Dennis Gunton, City Council of George Town, Penang, Malaysia, 1970</ref><ref>The Japanese Submarine Force and World War II, Carl Boyd and Akihiko Yoshida, Naval Institute Press, 2012, {{ISBN|1612512062}}, 9781612512068</ref>

==History==
[[File:Germany submarine UIT24 in 1944.jpg|thumb|220px|left|Italian submarine [[Italian submarine Comandante Cappellini|''Conmandante Cappelini'']] based at Penang]]
The squadron was raised at [[Kwajalein]] in the [[Marshall Islands]] on March 10, 1942, and was part of the [[6th Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)|6th Fleet]]. On March 27 the German naval high command asked the Japanese to attack Allied convoys in the [[Indian Ocean]]. The Japanese agreed on April 8 and shortly afterward, the IJN's 8th Submarine Squadron, 1st Division, was withdrawn from Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands and sent to Penang, Malaya. At Penang the squadron shared the base at [[Swettenham Pier]] with [[BETASOM|Italian]] and [[Monsun Gruppe|German submarines]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-yanagi-missions-japans-underwater-convoys.htm |title=World War II: Yanagi Missions -- Japan's Underwater Convoys |website=www.historynet.com |date= 12 June 2006|access-date=11 September 2015}}</ref>

The squadrons flying boats were based at the [[RAF Glugor]] seaplane base, which had originally been developed by the British. With its capture in 1941 the Japanese [[101st Naval Construction Office (Imperial Japanese Navy)|101st Naval Construction Office]] took over use of the base as a repair and maintenance depot. On February 25, 1942, the [[11th Submarine Flotilla (Imperial Japanese Navy)|11th Submarine Flotilla]] was relocated to Penang and absorbed by the 8th Submarine Squadron when they arrived in April.

The squadron was withdrawn from Penang in late 1944 because of Allied [[Naval mine|mines]] and because the base was within range of both [[Kharagpur]] based [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] and [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B29 bombers]]. A raid by mine-laying Liberators from [[No. 159 Squadron RAF]] on October 27, 1944, demonstrated this vulnerability when they managed to block the harbour entrance for a time. The last submarine to leave was the German ''[[German submarine U-843|U-843]]'' on December 1.

By December 1944 the only surviving Japanese submarine of the squadron was {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-165||2}}. She was sunk on June 27, 1945.

==Operations==

===1942===
{{further|Attack on Sydney Harbour}}
[[File:Midget submarine crews (AWM P00325-001).jpg|thumb|200px|right|Crews of the midget submarines that participated in the attacks on Madagascar and Sydney.]]
[[File:Japanese Two-Man Submarine - War in the Pacific National Historical Park (T. Stell Newman Visitor Center) - DSC00864.JPG|thumb|200px|right|An Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarine.]]
The squadron's first operation was an [[Indian Ocean]] anti-shipping sweep by its 1st [[Division (naval)|Division]] from [[Aden]] down the coast of [[East Africa]] to [[Madagascar]]. The [[auxiliary cruiser]]s {{ship||Aikoku Maru|1940|2}} and {{ship||Hōkoku Maru||2}} accompanied and supported the division. During the sweep the auxiliary cruisers captured the Dutch tanker {{ship||Genora|tanker|2}} {{convert|480|nmi}} south-southeast of [[Antsiranana|Diego Suarez]], Madagascar, on 9 May 1942.

The submarine {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-10||2}}'s [[floatplane]] overflew Diego Suarez on 29 May 1942 after the [[Battle of Madagascar|Allied landings on Madagascar]] in a search for targets for the [[Type A Kō-hyōteki-class submarine|midget submarines]] embarked aboard the submarines {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-16||2}}, {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-18||2}}, and {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-20||2}}. Ishizaki subsequently ordered an attack on ships in the harbour by the midget submarines during the night of 30–31 May. ''I-18''<nowiki>'s midget submarine did not participate in the attack due to a malfunction, and</nowiki> ''I-16'''s midget submarine never returned. However, ''I-20''′s midget submarine penetrated the harbour and damaged the [[Royal Navy]] [[battleship]] {{HMS|Ramillies|07|6}} and sank the British [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]] ''[[British Loyalty]]''. After the midget submarine ran aground, its crew — [[Lieutenant (naval)|Lieutenant]] Saburo Akieda and [[Petty officer|Petty Officer]] Masami Takemoto — abandoned it and reached shore. They died in a firefight with a [[Royal Marines|Royal Marine]] patrol on Madagascar near [[Anjiabe]] on 2 June.

Through June 1942 the submarines focused their patrols on the [[Mozambique Channel]], sinking 20 merchant ships totaling 120,000 [[gross register ton]]s of shipping. {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-30||2}} proceeded around the [[Cape of Good Hope]] to [[Lorient]] in [[occupied France]], arriving there on 5 August 1942 and becoming the first Japanese submarine to reach [[Nazi Germany|German]]-held territory during World War II. On October 13 she was returning from [[Europe]] to Japan when she struck a [[Naval mine|mine]] off [[Singapore]] and sank {{convert|3|nmi}} east of [[Keppel Harbour]].

In a separate operation, the submarine {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-27||2}} under [[Lieutenant commander|Lieutenant Commander]] T. Fukumara participated in an unsuccessful [[Attack on Sydney Harbour|midget submarine raid]] on [[Sydney Harbour]] at [[Sydney]], [[Australia]], on the night of 31 May–1 June 1942. Her midget submarine, ''M-14'', was lost in the raid.

From September to November 1942 the squadron's submarines sank another 40 ships totaling 224,500 gross register tons in the [[Indian Ocean]]. On 11 November 1942 ''Aikoku Maru'' and ''Hōkoku Maru'', which had supported the squadron's Indian Ocean operation earlier in the year, attacked the Dutch [[Motor vessel|motor]] tanker {{MV|Ondina}} and her escort, the [[Royal Indian Navy]] [[corvette]] {{HMIS|Bengal|J243|2}} in the Indian Ocean. In the ensuing battle ''Hokoku Maru'' was sunk and ''Ondina'' damaged. Both ''Aikoku Maru'' and ''Bengal'' avoided damage.

===1943===
[[File:19430428 japanese submarine crew i-29.png|thumb|190px|left|Crew of I-29]]
[[File:I-8Brest.jpg|thumb|190px|left|Crew of I-8 at Brest]]
In 1943 a further 120,000 tons of shipping was sunk in the first four months of the year. [[Japanese submarine I-29|''I-29'']] under T. Kinashi rendezvoused with [[German submarine U-180|''U-180'']] 400 miles SSW of Madagascar. ''U-180'' brought [[Subhas Chandra Bose|Chandra Bose]] from Germany. ''I-29'' then took Bose to [[Sumatra]]. Bose was to become responsible for the [[Indian National Army]]. The Army had set up a school in Penang under Captain [[Mahmood Khan Durrani]] for training Indian agents who were in turn landed in India by the squadron's submarines.

On July 6 {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-8||2}} under Captain [[Shinji Uchino]] sailed from Penang to [[Brest, Germany]], with the crew for the German-made [[German submarine U-1224|''Ro-501'']]. This was a 1,120-ton Type IXC U-boat. ''Ro-501'' was sunk in the [[Atlantic]] by the [[destroyer escort]] {{USS|Francis M. Robinson|DE-220|6}} on 13 May 1944; she never reached Japanese territory. On her return voyage in September or October, ''I-8'' was attacked by Allied aircraft off the west coast of Africa but sustained no damage. Leaving Singapore in December, she reached Japan safely and returned to Penang in early 1944 with a new commander, [[Tatsunosuke Ariizumo]].

On August 28 the first German U-boat, [[German submarine U-178|''U-178'']], arrived at Penang. {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-34||2}} was sunk in the approach to Penang on 13 November by the Royal Navy submarine {{HMS|Taurus|P399|6}}. ''I-34'' was [[Marine salvage|salvaged]] in 1961 by the Great Eastern Salvage Company and the remains of her crew cremated in a specially created shrine in Penang Bay. ''I-34''′s [[ship's bell]] was placed in the Mariners Club in Penang.

''I-29'' left for Europe in November. Arriving off the Spanish coast on 10 March 1944, she and her escort of four German torpedo boats and eight German [[Junkers Ju 88]] aircraft came under attack by [[Royal Air Force]] [[RAF Coastal Command|Coastal Command]] [[de Havilland Mosquito|Mosquitoes]] and [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|Liberator]] bombers. She survived the attack and arrived in [[Bourdeaux]] in occupied France. The U.S. Navy submarine {{USS|Swordfish|SS-193}} sank her during her return journey in the [[Bashi Channel]] south coast of [[Formosa]] on 26 July.

''I-27'' patrolled the [[Arabian Sea]] from September to December.

===1944===
[[File:Japanese submarine I-165 in 1932.jpg|300px|thumb|I-165]]
[[File:I-8.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Japanese Imperial Navy submarine I-8 in 1939]]

On February 4 ''I-27'' left Penang for [[Addu City|Addu Atoll]] and [[Colony of Aden|Aden Bay]]. While underway, she intercepted and sank the troopship [[SS Khedive Ismail|SS ''Khedive Ismail'']], but was in turn caught and sunk between the Maldive Islands and Addu Atoll by the convoy's escorts HMS [[HMS Paladin (G69)|''Paladin'']] and [[HMS Petard (G56)|''Petard'']].

In late February [[Japanese submarine I-26|''I-26'']] took 22 Indian National Army members to India to provide intelligence to the Japanese. The 22 were landed near Pasni ([[Pakistan]]) on March 27. ''I-26'' was relocated to the Pacific and lost without trace in October.

On March 18 ''I-165'' under Lt Cdr Shimizu Tsuruzo torpedoed and sank the 3,916-ton British armed merchant ''[[SS Nancy Moller (1907)|Nancy Moller]]'' at 02-14N, 78-25E. She surfaced, Able Seaman Gunlayer Dennis Fryer prisoner, while killing two Chinese seamen and releasing three other seamen. Before departing I-165 machine gunned the lifeboats killing 32. The British light cruiser [[HMS Emerald (D66)|HMS Emerald]] rescued 32 of the crew who had survived the attacks.

Under Ariizumo, about July, ''I-8'' was responsible for the massacre of unarmed merchant seamen from the [[SS Tjisalak|SS ''Tjisalak'']] (98 [[Killed in action|KIA]]) and ''Jean Nicolet'' (63 KIA). All the German and Japanese submarines were withdrawn from Penang by the end of 1944. None of the submarines in the Squadron survived the war.

===1945===
Only I-165 survived in 1945. It was converted to a ''[[Kaiten]]'' mother ship in 1945, her gun removed and two Kaiten substituted.<ref name ="KD5">{{cite web |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/type_kd5.htm |title=Type KD5 |access-date=2007-02-20 |work=Combinedfleet.com - Imperial Japanese Navy Page }}</ref> She was sunk by a United States Navy patrol bomber on 27 June 1945 in the [[Mariana Islands]] at {{coord|15|28|N|153|39|E|display=title,inline}}. The surviving German and Italian submarines were based at Singapore.

==Commander==
Initially the Commander [[Noboru Ishizaki]] held the rank of captain, but eventually was promoted to rear admiral on November 1, 1942. He was born on October 20, 1893, and died on August 9, 1959. During his naval career he was the commanding officer of the submarines {{ship|Japanese submarine|Ro-59||2}}, {{ship|Japanese submarine|Ro-22||2}}, {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-155||2}}, {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-156||2}}, {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-153||2}}, and {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-3||2}}. He had commanded at various times Submarine Divisions 27, 25, 19, 12 and 1.
[[File:Hisashi Ichioka.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Ichioka Hisashi]]
Ishizaki was replaced as commander of the squadron on August 19, 1943, by Admiral [[Ichioka Hisashi]] and became commander of the [[11th Submarine Squadron (Imperial Japanese Navy)|11th Submarine Squadron]] from October 20, 1943, until December 21, 1944. Hisashi was commander of the squadron when ''I-8'' and ''I-37'' committed war crimes. ''I-37'' machine gunned sailors in lifeboats from the stricken ''Ascot'' on February 19, 1944, and the ''British Chivalry'' on February 22. ''I-8'' under Tatsunosuke Ariizumi's command did the same to the crew of the ''Tjisalak'' on March 26, 1944, and crew of the ''Jean Nicolet'' on July 2, 1944.<ref>Ships from Hell: Japanese War Crimes on the High Seas in World War II, Raymond Lamont-Brown, The History Press, 2013, {{ISBN|075249483X}}, 9780752494838</ref> Because these events occurred under his command of the squadron, and because both submarines' commanders were killed in action later in the war Hisashi was charged as a war criminal. Hisashi remained commander of the squadron until September 10, 1944. He died on February 14, 1963.

==Organization==

===March 1942===
* ''I-10'' – flagship <ref>The Pacific War Papers, Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, Publisher Potomac Books Inc, 2005, {{ISBN|1597974625}}, 9781597974622</ref> – sunk after unsuccessfully attempting to take the Imperial Navy Submarine headquarters staff off [[Saipan]] near the Marianas July 4, 1944
* ''[[Rio de Janeiro Maru]]'' – tender – only at the base in March 1942 and sunk on 17 February 1944 by 1,000lb bombs probably dropped by [[Douglas SBD Dauntless]]'s of {{USS|Yorktown|CV-10}} and [[Curtiss SB2C Helldiver]]'s of {{USS|Bunker Hill|CV-17}} while at anchor east of [[Uman Island]] in the Truks.
;1st Submarine Division
* Drawn from [[1st Submarine Squadron (Japanese Imperial Navy)|1st Submarine Squadron]], 6th (Submarine) Fleet
* ''I-16'' – sunk by [[escort destroyer]] [[USS England (DE-635)|USS ''England'']] on May 19, 1944, off the Solomon Islands
* ''I-18'' – sunk on February 11, 1943, by [[USS Fletcher (DD-445)|USS ''Fletcher'']] after being spotted by the [[Vought OS2U Kingfisher|floatplane]] from the [[USS Helena (CL-50)|USS ''Helena'']]
* ''I-20'' – sunk on October 1, 1943 [[USS Eaton (DD-510)|USS ''Eaton'']]
;3rd Submarine Division
* Drawn from 1st Submarine Squadron, 6th (Submarine) Fleet
* ''[[Japanese submarine I-21 (1940)|I-21]]'' – missing off the [[Gilbert Islands]] since November 27, 1943; presumed sunk by [[Grumman TBF Avenger|TBF Avengers]] from [[USS Chenango (CVE-28)|USS ''Chenango'']] off [[Tarawa]]
* ''[[Japanese submarine I-22 (1938)|I-22]]'' – missing off the [[Solomon Islands]] since October 4, 1942
* ''[[Japanese submarine I-24 (1939)|I-24]]'' – lost in action against submarine chaser [[USS Larchmont (PC-487)|USS ''Larchmont'']] in the [[Near Islands]] of the [[Aleutian Islands Campaign|western Aleutians]] on June 11, 1943
[[File:Fukumura Toshiaki.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Fukumura Toshiaki - commander of ''I-27'']]
;14th Submarine Division
* All Type I-15 completed in 1942
* ''I-27'' – sunk October 1944 by escorts ''Paladin'' and ''Petard'' in the Indian Ocean
* ''I-28'' – lost on May 14, 1942 – torpedoed by the submarine [[USS Tautog (SS-199)|USS Tautog]] south of [[Chuuk State|Truk]]
* ''I-29'' – sunk in the Bashi Channel off the south coast of [[Taiwan]] on July 26, 1944, by the submarine [[USS Swordfish (SS-193)|USS ''Swordfish'']].
* ''I-30'' – B-1 type under Commander [[Shinobu Endo]] – sunk by mine October 13, 1942

===1943===
[[File:Hie Maru.jpg|thumb|250px|right|''Hie Maru'' before it was converted to a submarine tender]]
* ''I-10'' – flagship <ref>http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/943JANA.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218051309/http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/943JANA.pdf |date=2015-02-18 }} Japanese Fleet January to May 1943</ref>
* ''[[Hie Maru]]'' – tender (detached 1 October 1943) and sunk at 01.45N, 148.45E by [[USS Drum (SS-228)|USS Drum]] on 17 November 1943
;1st Submarine Division
* Detached 10 August 1943
* ''I-16''
* ''I-18''
* ''I-20''
;14th Submarine Division
* Detached 10 December 1943
* ''I-8'' – assigned 25 May 1943. Sunk in action on March 31, 1945, of [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] by US destroyers [[USS Stockton (DD-646)|''Stockton'']] and [[USS Morrison (DD-560)|''Morrison'']].

===1944===
* ''I-8''
* ''[[Japanese submarine I-26|I-26]]'' – missing off [[Leyte]] since October 25, 1944
* ''I-27''
* ''I-29''
* ''I-37'' – sunk by destroyer escorts [[USS Conklin (DE-439)|''Conklin'' (DE-439)]] and [[USS McCoy Reynolds (DE-440)|''McCoy Reynolds'' (DE-440)]] off [[Palau]] on November 19, 1944
* ''[[Japanese submarine I-52 (1942)|I-52]]'' – lost on June 24, 1944, to a [[Mark 24 mine|Mark 24 FIDO torpedo]] dropped by an Avenger from [[USS Bogue (CVE-9)|USS ''Bogue'']] west of the [[Cape Verde Islands]] in the Atlantic
* ''[[Japanese submarine I-165|I-165]]'' – presumed lost east of Saipan on June 27, 1945, to a Mark 24 FIDO Torpedo from US bomber patrol [[Lockheed Ventura|Lockheed PV-2 "Harpoon"]] of VPB-142's 18th Wing based at [[Tinian]]<ref>Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons—Volume 2, page 380</ref>
* ''[[Japanese submarine I-166|I-166]]'' – sunk by [[HMS Telemachus (P321)|HMS ''Telemachus'']] in the [[Straits of Malacca]] on July 17, 1944
* ''Ro-501'' – sunk by US destroyer escort {{USS|Francis M. Robinson|DE-220}} in the Atlantic on May 13, 1944

==See also==
* [[Indian Ocean in World War II]]
* [[Japanese occupation of Malaya]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{IJN}}

[[Category:Military units and formations in British Malaya in World War II|J]]
[[Category:Naval units and formations of Imperial Japan]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1942]]

8th Submarine Squadron Imperial Japanese Navy - Revision history

Sarada22 at 18:20, 13 February 2025