The next night, aircraft from the task group caught on the surface, in broad moonlight, and sank her with one survivor, a lookout caught on-deck when the U-boat crash dived.
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U-155 crash-dived to avoid Bernadou, but the destroyer never saw the U-boat. U-155 made another emergency dive while shadowing the convoy at 1042 hrs, but Edison did not detect the U-boat. , and found the convoy on 23 February.
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She crash-dived to . Several more aircraft arrived and dropped depth charges, creating a number of leaks aboard I-36 and causing her to assume a steep down-angle, but her crew quickly got her back under control. She escaped the planes and her crew soon repaired her damage.
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However, the steamer returned fire. In order to avoid being hit, U-48 crash-dived. She subsequently re-surfaced and attempted to sink the steamer again when an Allied destroyer came upon the engagement. U-48 then broke off the fight with Rockpool and submerged once more to leave the area.
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U-450 at uboat.net On the night of 2 May 1944, was spotted when she surfaced almost in the middle of the convoy off Djidjelli on the Algerian coast and immediately crash-dived. When the U-boat re-surfaced she was detected by , who closed to . U-371 fired a torpedo, then dived.
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Under the command of Kptlt. Robert Gysae, U-177 left Kiel on 17 September 1942, and sailed north around the British Isles. On 23 September, the U-boat was bombed by a twin-engine aircraft southeast of Iceland, but crash-dived and sustained no damage. She then headed south to the waters off South Africa and Mozambique.
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She dived and the destroyers passed overhead without noticing her presence a scant below the surface. She returned to the surface at 1405 but was forced down by a plane. A little later, she tried to surface again but was attacked by a diving float plane. As she crash dived to escape the enemy plane, an aerial bomb exploded.
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About noon on 12 October, U-353 was proceeding on the surface in daylight in company with two other U-boats, when a B-24 Liberator bomber from No. 120 Squadron RAF appeared out of low cloud and attacked. U-353 crash-dived, hearing depth charges explode some distance away. After an hour she resurfaced and searched for her companions, but found nothing.
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On 23 November 1943, I-35 crash-dived off Tarawa Atoll when an aircraft attacked her with bombs at 05:20. Undamaged, she proceeded east. She was west of Betio that afternoon when the destroyer detected the sound of her propellers. The destroyer joined Meade, and between 15:30 and 17:38, the two destroyers attacked I-35 with depth charges five times.
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She carried out a single war patrol, departing Horten Naval Base on 25 November 1944. Two days later she was attacked by Bristol Beaufighters of No. 489 Squadron, which launched two depth charges at her. She crash dived, escaping the attackers, but losing her radar antenna. U-877 was attacked on 27 December 1944 in the North Atlantic, north-west of the Azores, by the Royal Canadian Navy's Castle- class corvette .
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Ro-60 crash- dived, but the attack damaged her periscopes and several of her diving tanks. After she resurfaced that night and her crew inspected her damage, her commanding officer decided that she no longer could dive safely. The Battle of Wake Island ended as Wake Island fell to the Japanese on 23 December 1941, and that day Ro-60 and Ro-62 received orders to return to Kwajalein.
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The boat left Lorient for the last time on 22 March 1944. On 10 April, she was sunk at position , northwest of the Portuguese island of Madeira, by depth charges and rockets from Grumman Avenger and Grumman Wildcat aircraft from the United States escort carrier . 56 men died; there was one survivor, who was the lookout left top-side when the submarine crash-dived in an attempt to avoid attack.
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U-256s first patrol began on 28 July 1942 during her transfer from Kiel, Germany to the 9. Unterseebootsflottille at Brest in occupied France. During the patrol, U-256 unsuccessfully pursued Convoy SC 94, and early on 25 August was detected by the radar of the Norwegian astern of convoy ON 122. The U-boat crash-dived when illuminated by star shells, the corvette attacked with depth charges.
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The U-boats crash-dived and a BV 138 nearby was driven off; the ship failed to located the U-boats with Asdic and one of the U-boats made an abortive attack on the ship, which returned to the convoy at The weather deterioration continued into the evening and as the destroyer returned to its station after dropping back to refuel, a depth- charge attack was made on a "suspicious object".
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On 4 June she was patrolling off Pola with only her conning tower above water when she was attacked by two Austro-Hungarian Lohner L flying boats. As the boat crash dived a bomb blew in the glass portholes in the conning tower, flooding it and sending B7 below 100 feet before she could recover and surface to drain the conning tower. The bomb had also jammed the diving planes in the rise position.
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Attacks from one of the corvettes drove the submarine deep but caused no serious damage. A little while later, the submarine drove off an approaching British Catalina with gunfire and then crash-dived to escape, losing the convoy in the process. The morning of 5 June 1943 found U-198 stalking her next victim, the unescorted British motor merchant vessel Dumra. Two torpedoes at 07.50 hours destroyed the merchant ship's bow, but she remained afloat.
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While the crew was clamping the explosive charge to the keel of a Liberty ship, their torpedo spun out of control. Notari opened the diving valves, and the "pig" suddenly crash dived to a depth of . Then, the craft surfaced just a few feet from their intended victim. Half conscious and with no trace of his companion, Notari tried to fix the mechanical problems developed by his torpedo, but the diving mechanism was disabled.
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Tempest crash dived and Circe began depth charging the area, eventually resulting in oil being seen on the surface. Tempest's battery tanks had burst filling the boat with chlorine gas and the vessel was forced to surface, whereupon she was hit by gunfire from Circe. The surviving crew abandoned the submarine, and 24 of the crew of 62 were picked up some three hours later by the Italian warship. One of the survivors later died of his wounds.
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Charles Fryatt was born in Southampton, Hampshire in 1872. A merchant mariner, he joined the Great Eastern Railway in 1892 and took command of his first ship in 1913.Great Eastern Railway Magazine, September 1916, p216-28 On 28 March 1915, his ship, the was ordered to stop by , but Fryatt ordered full steam ahead and attempted to ram U-33, which crash dived. On 25 June 1916, Fryatt's ship was captured by the Germans and escorted into Zeebrugge.
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On 31 March 1942, now commanded by Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm Schulze, U-98 sailed from St. Nazaire. However, at 00:47 on 2 April, still in the Bay of Biscay the U-boat was attacked by a Whitley bomber of 502 Squadron RAF Coastal Command with six depth charges. U-98 crash-dived and escaped with minor damage. She then sailed for the coast of Florida, but had no success, returning to port on 6 June 1942.
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The next day, as the battle still raged, Grouper crash-dived to avoid heavy bombers. She then put in at Midway for three days for fuel and provisions before sailing on her first war patrol on 12 June. She torpedoed and damaged two Japanese maru (civilian) ships before returning to Pearl Harbor on 30 July. On her second patrol (28 August – 9 October), Grouper sank two freighters, Tone Maru on 21 September and Lisbon Maru on 1 October.
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An extraordinary incident occurred when a Coastal Command Hudson of 209 Squadron captured U-570 on 27 August 1941 about south of Iceland. Squadron Leader J. Thompson sighted the U-boat on the surface, immediately dived at his target, and released four depth charges as the submarine crash dived. The U-boat surfaced again, a number of crewmen appeared on deck, and Thompson engaged them with his aircraft's guns. The crewmen returned to the conning tower while under fire.
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73 At 0400, with the approach of dawn and improving visibility, the general shape of the ships became clear, but it was still not possible to see enough detail to determine exactly whose ships they were. At 0412, Murphy ordered the signalman to use the signal light to send an ID signal. When the response was unintelligible, the sub crash-dived. When there was no attack, the sub was brought to periscope depth, where damage to the cruiser s bow was easily visible.
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U-43s final patrol began when she sailed from Lorient on 13 July 1943 and headed southwest into the Atlantic. On the evening of 19 July, in company with in the Bay of Biscay, the two U-boats were attacked by a British Liberator Mk.V bomber of No. 86 Squadron RAF. U-403 crash-dived immediately, covered by the AA fire of U-43, which then dived. The Liberator was slightly damaged and a crewman wounded, but dropped two homing torpedoes.
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In its aftermath, she received orders to rescue survivors from the light cruiser , which had been sunk in the battle, but her damage prevented her from carrying out the orders. She headed for Rabaul, and while she was on the surface recharging her batteries west of Shortland Island on the afternoon of 13 July 1943, an Allied patrol plane attacked, dropping two bombs as she crash-dived and knocking out her remaining periscope. She reached Rabaul on 14 July 1943 and began repairs, which took three weeks.
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Eight minutes after Finnegan detected I-370, crash-dived and broke radar contact with Finnegan, but at 0659 Finnegan acquired I-370 on sonar. Finnegan launched an unsuccessful Hedgehog attack, followed by a pattern of 13 depth charges set to explode deep. She launched another Hedgehog attack, then dropped a pattern of 13 depth charges set for medium depth at around 10:00. At around 10:05, Finnegan′s crew heard a deep rumbling sound, then observed air bubbles reaching the surface followed by an explosion.
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On closing the German (which had crash-dived), it was decided to use Hedgehog. The order to fire was followed by an embarrassing silence as the safety-pins had not been removed; this was soon realised and a pattern of depth charges were fired instead, including one that weighed considerably more (one ton), than the standard weapon. Unfamiliar sounds were then heard via the ASDIC (sonar), and Hedgehog was tried once more, this time with more success. U-191 was sunk with all hands.
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The aircraft then circled the U-boat at a safe distance and radioed for assistance. The U-boat remained on the surface, perhaps assuming that any support was unlikely, and that the aircraft would eventually have to abandon her vigil. Unfortunately for the German submarine, another Catalina, FP 313 of 265 Squadron, arrived. U-197 promptly crash-dived, and the aircraft dropped three depth charges, two of which detonated to port of the U-boat, but the third hit her squarely, killing all 67 hands.
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Five B-25s from Ascension's permanent squadron and Hardin's B-24 continued to search for submarines from dawn till dusk. On 17 September, one B-25 sighted Laconias lifeboats and informed Empire Haven of their position. Hardin's B-24 sighted U-506, which had 151 survivors on board including nine women and children, and attacked. On the first run the bombs failed to drop, U-506 crash dived and on the second run the B-24 dropped two bombs and two depth charges but they caused no damage.
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In the early hours of 12 May 1918, while en route for France with U.S. troops under the command of Captain Hayes, Olympic sighted a surfaced U-boat ahead. Olympics gunners opened fire at once, and the ship turned to ram the submarine, which immediately crash dived to and turned to a parallel course. Almost immediately afterwards Olympic struck the submarine just aft of her conning tower with her port propeller slicing through 's pressure hull. The crew of U-103 blew her ballast tanks, scuttled and abandoned the submarine.
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Ro-101′s commanding officer had to move their bodies out of the way so that he could gain access to the conning tower hatch, and after he entered the conning tower and the hatch was closed, Ro-101 belatedly crash- dived. She went out of control during the dive, reaching , and had to blow her main ballast tanks to arrest her descent. At 17:10 Taylor dropped two depth charges, which damaged one of Ro-101′s periscopes. Some historians have credited Taylor with sinking either or , but her actual target, Ro-101, survived.
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Another Catalina, FP 313 of 265 Squadron and piloted by captain Ernest Robin, (receiving the D.F.C. [Distinguished Flying Cross] for the sinking of the vessel), arrived. U-197 crash-dived, and the aircraft dropped three depth charges, two of which detonated to port of the U-boat, but the third hit the U-boat, killing all 67 hands. Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat, commander of , was severely criticised by Befehlshaber der U-Boote (BdU) [U-boat headquarters] for his lack of support for U-197. Korvettenkapitän Robert Bartels of U-197 had radioed a distress signal.
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On 6 May 1945 at "Suicide Slot", Sesoko, a Japanese kamikaze plane crash-dived into the veteran survey ship's after gun platform killing one man, starting fires and setting off ready ammunition. Emergency parties quickly brought the flames under control. Between her arrival at Okinawa and the final cessation of hostilities 15 August, the ship was at General Quarters 170 times. Pathfinder anchored at Yokosuka Naval Base, Tokyo Bay, 13 October 1945 and wound up her U.S. Naval career with a series of surveys among the Empire's home islands to assist the Allied occupation.
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The unit was technically still based at Waller Field, however, the Squadron was also called upon to detach an element to conduct patrols of the Vichy French Martinique area during April and May 1942. ed antisubmarine patrols and conducted reconnaissance of the Vichy French fleet at Martinique. pdf file Although scant records survive, the 1st Bomb Squadron attacked a German U-Boat on at least one occasion. On 17 August 1942, a squadron B-18A sighted a submarine some 20 miles from a convoy and dropped four depth charges after it crash dived.
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U-214s fourth patrol took her to the Caribbean Sea where she attacked the 4,426 ton unescorted Polish merchant ship Paderewski with torpedoes off Trinidad, before sinking her with gunfire. The U-boat returned to her homeport on 24 February 1943 after a voyage of 87 days. U-214s fifth patrol was cut short when she was attacked on 7 May 1943 by a British Halifax bomber of 58 Squadron RAF in the Bay of Biscay, after only three days at sea. The U-boat crash-dived, suffering only minor damage, but her commander Kptlt.
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However, while coming up, the broken depth gauge stuck at 125 feet, confusing the diving officer, and causing the boat to broach the surface in full view of Yamagumo, which was still patrolling the area. As crash-dived again, the Japanese destroyer dropped a string of 18 depth charges, severely damaging the boat and causing temporary loss of depth control. Numerous leaks developed in the hull, and so much water came on board that the submarine was forced to run at high speed to maintain depth. This invited a second Japanese attack that did even more damage.
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On 11 August U-438 joined Wolfpack 'Lohs', which operated in the north Atlantic. On 25 August U-438 attacked convoy ON 122, which she had been stalking since the 22nd, sinking the Norwegian 1,598 ton merchant ship Trolla. Several hours later U-438 was detected on radar by the Norwegian , and within a few minutes the ship spotted the surfaced U-boat in fog and opened fire with her 4-inch gun, before attacking with depth charges as U-438 crash-dived. The corvette continued to attack, forcing the U-boat to the surface after the bow compartment was flooded.
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Ro-104 got underway from Paramushiro on 19 June 1943 for her first war patrol, assigned a patrol area off Kiska. She joined Patrol Line A west of Attu on 23 June 1943 and operated in it until 28 June, when she was reassigned to the Northern Patrol Unit. Early on the morning of 29 June 1943 she sighted what her commanding officer identified as a large transport and began to pursue it. While she was on the surface at 06:45, she spotted a torpedo fired at her by a submerged submarine and crash-dived.
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On 27 April 1918, U-39 sailed from Pola under command of Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Metzger, for operations in the Western Mediterranean. On 17 May, together with , U-39 operated against a convoy North of Oran, from which it sank the British steamer Sculptor (4,874 tons) in a submerged attack. At 13:50 on 18 May, when in a position , U-39 was attacked by two French seaplanes. It crash-dived, but when reaching a depth of 12 meters two bombs exploded very close; the after torpedo room flooded, the diving planes were destroyed, and the boat began sinking by the stern. Kptlt.
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U-30 had crash-dived by the stern and avoided damage, but one of its crew had not had time to get below deck before she had submerged, so he too swam to Fanad Head. Meanwhile, the bombs dropped by the Skua had detonated so close to the ship that three men from the prize crew were wounded by shrapnel. Ten minutes after the first attack, the second Skua reached the scene. Its crew sighted what they believed was a U-boat and dropped their bombs, but this was probably the wreck of the first Skua.
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During her fourth patrol, Borie got a radar contact on shortly after 1943 hours, 31 October and closed in. The U-boat promptly crash dived. Two depth charge attacks forced her back to the surface, but she again submerged; after a third attack, a large oil slick was observed. Though U-256 made it home badly damaged, Hutchins believed the target to be sunk, and signalled Card: "Scratch one pig boat; am searching for more." Borie then got another radar contact about from the first, at 0153 hours on 1 November 1943, range and charged in to engage.
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On her first war patrol, 24 September through 24 November 1943, Rasher operated in the Makassar Strait–Celebes Sea area, and sank the passenger-cargo ship Kogane Maru in a submerged attack at dawn on 9 October. Four days later, off Ambon Harbor, she spotted a convoy of four merchantmen escorted by two destroyers and a "Pete" seaplane. She fired two salvoes of three torpedoes each, then crash dived to avoid the destroyers and bombs from the scout plane. Freighter Kenkoku Maru broke up and sank, while the escorts struck back in a vigorous but vain counterattack.
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U-202 was detected by 'HF/DF' (radio detection equipment) of ships in the Second Support Group (headed by the British sloop commanded by Captain FJ Walker RN), when she transmitted a daily report at 9:30 am on the 1 June 1943. On closing the range, Starlings lookout spotted the swirl of water where U-202 had just crash dived after identifying the approaching vessels as warships. 5 minutes later, the U-boat with detected with ASDIC (sonar) and attacked with depth charges. Despite much evasive action and the use of submarine bubble targets to confuse the British sonar, the submarine could not shake off her pursuers.
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Two of Hoods 5.5-inch guns were removed during a refit in 1935, and shipped to Ascension Island, where they were installed as a shore battery in 1941, sited on a hill above the port and main settlement, Georgetown, – corrected from Google Earth, which has a public domain picture of the emplaced weapons where they remain. The guns were restored by the Royal Air Force in 1984. The Ascension Island guns saw action only once, on 9 December 1941, when they fired on the , as it approached Georgetown on the surface to shell the cable station or sink any ships at anchor. No hits were scored, but the submarine crash-dived.
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On 28 December 1943, I-36 embarked on a supply run to Sarmi on the northern coast of New Guinea, where she surfaced a half hour after dark on 31 December 1943 and began to transfer her cargo into four Daihatsus. When an Allied bomber arrived in the area, she suspended the unloading of her cargo, crash-dived, and moved out to sea until the bomber departed. She then returned to Sarmi, completed unloading her cargo into the Daihatsus, and got back underway, returning to Rabaul on 2 January 1944. While she was there, a routine inspection discovered significant erosion of the tiller for her stern planes.
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She was given a lengthy refit at Halifax in April–August 1942. In early December 1942, the ship's director- control tower and rangefinder were exchanged for a Type 271 target indication radar mounted above the bridge. By this time, she had been fitted with a high- frequency direction finding system as well. Whilst assigned to Escort Group C1 defending Convoy ON 154 in late December 1942, St. Laurent had her first victory; In the early hours of 27 December 1942, while north of the Azores, she sighted a U-boat on the surface which she engaged with gunfire, followed by a depth charge attack as the boat crash-dived.
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The U-boat quickly crash-dived, and G&Es; crew assumed they had sunk her, as did the Admiralty, who credited G&E; with a successful "kill". However UB-6 was able to return to base; the damage to the conning tower was not fatal, as it was not part of the pressure hull, but merely a superstructure.Masters With the end of the first period of unrestricted submarine warfare, in September 1915, G&E; returned to civilian duty. However, in February 1917, with its reintroduction, G&E;, now under the name I'll Try, and under the command of skipper Tom Crisp, was taken up again as an auxiliary.
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On 31 August 1942, a PBY-5A Catalina flying boat of U.S. Navy Patrol Squadron 42 (VP-42) sighted Ro-61 on the surface in the Bering Sea off the north coast of Atka in the lee of Mount Atka. It attacked Ro-61, strafing her, dropping two depth charges, and inflicting heavy damage. Another PBY, from Patrol Squadron 43 (VP-43), also dropped depth charges. Ro-61 crash-dived, leaving a large oil slick behind on the surface. The VP-43 PBY directed the nearby destroyer to the scene of the attack and marked the oil slick with smoke floats. With Ro-61 operating at a depth of , Reid dropped a pattern of 13 depth charges.
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I-24 then crash dived to prevent successful retaliation by coastal artillery batteries. Only one shell detonated, and the only injuries inflicted were cuts and fractures from falling bricks or broken glass when the unexploded shells hit buildings. A United States Army Air Forces pilot, 1st Lieutenant George Cantello, based at Bankstown Airport disobeyed orders and took off to try and locate the source of the shelling, but was killed when engine failure caused his Airacobra to crash in a paddock at Hammondville. In 1988, following efforts by residents and the US Consulate in Sydney, the City of Liverpool established a memorial park, the Lt. Cantello Reserve, with a monument in his honour.
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On 16 June 1943, while proceeding north on the surface at in dense fog after losing her bearings, she nearly ran aground on Buldir Reef, and on 17 June, while she again was on the surface, a radar- equipped Allied surface warship surprised her and opened gunfire on her, scoring a hit in her port boat storage space which, fortunately for I-2, was a dud. I-2 crash-dived and finally escaped after being pursued for seven hours, also quickly controlling a leak that began in her engine room. She arrived at Kiska at 20:05 on 17 June, discharged her cargo, embarked 31 sailors and nine other passengers, and got back underway at 20:45.
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On 23 May 1944, an Allied patrol plane sighted Ro-104 on the surface north-northwest of Kavieng, New Ireland, and reported the sighting to the hunter-killer group. Raby acquired radar contact on Ro-104 at a range of at 06:04 local time. Ro-104′s radar detector detected Raby′s radar signal, and Ro-104 worked up from and crash-dived at 06:10. Raby established sonar contact on Ro-104 at 06:19 and conducted four Hedgehog attacks while Ro-104 made radical evasive maneuvers to disrupt Raby′s sonar — fish-tailing to create wakes and turning into Raby′s wake — and echo- ranged on Raby to confuse her sonar operator. Raby lost contact at about 06:49.
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Ro-65 was anchored at Kiska on 3 November 1942 when B-24 Liberator bombers of the United States Army Air Forces Eleventh Air Force attacked the harbor. To avoid attack by the approaching bombers, all submarines in the harbor crash-dived as soon as Japanese forces detected the incoming raid. When Ro-65 submerged, her main induction valve and conning tower hatch were still open, and the force of water rushing in shoved her quartermaster aside when he attempted to close the lower hatch to the conning tower. Heavy flooding ensued, drowning 19 members of her crew in her after section as she sank with a 30-degree down angle by the stern, coming to rest with her stern on the harbor bottom.
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The Guadalcanal campaign began on 7 August 1942 with U.S. amphibious landings on Guadalcanal, Tulagi, Florida Island, Gavutu, and Tanambogo in the southeastern Solomon Islands. I-33 got underway from Kure on 15 August 1942 bound for a war patrol in the Solomons area, where she took up a position as part of submarine picket line south of San Cristobal. The two-day Battle of the Eastern Solomons began on 24 August 1942, and she was on the surface that day heading for a new position when a United States Navy SBD-3 Dauntless dive bomber from the aircraft carrier attacked her at 11:05 at , but she crash-dived and avoided damage. She sighted a U.S. task force on 30 August 1942 but was unable to get into a position to attack it.
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I-47 got underway from Hikari on the afternoon of 29 March 1945, heading through the Bungo Strait on the surface at under the escort of the submarine chaser . About two hours after she rendezvoused with CHA-200, American carrier aircraft attacked the two ships in the Sea of Hyūga off Kyushu at around 16:00, forcing I-47 to crash-dive and sinking CHA-200. I-47 surfaced after dark, but two American aircraft illuminated the area with flares and attacked her wiith several depth charges. She survived the attack with only minor damage. While I-47 was on the surface recharging her batteries south of Kyushu east of Tanegashima at 02:30 on 30 March, she sighted two Allied patrol vessels directly ahead of her and crash-dived.
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On 7 August 1942, an American task force bombarded Kiska while I-6, Ro-61, Ro-64, and Ro-68 were anchored in the harbor, and they crash-dived to avoid damage. Between 8 and 10 August 1942, Ro-61, Ro-63, Ro-64, and Ro-68 sought to intercept the American ships, but failed to find them. From 11 to 13 August 1942, Ro-63 participated with Ro-64 in a search for the crew of a ditched reconnaissance plane, and Ro-63 subsequently conducted patrols off the Aleutians from her base at Kiska from 17 to 20 August, 28 to 30 August, 3 to 5 September, and 6 to 11 September 1942. On 14 September 1942, Ro-63 was anchored at Kiska when American aircraft raided the base.
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The lead cruiser turned away to dodge the torpedo, while the second turned towards the submarine, attempting to ram. U-32 crash dived, and on raising its periscope at 04:10 saw two battlecruisers (the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron) heading south-east. They were too far away to attack, but Kapitänleutnant von Spiegel reported the sighting of two battleships and two cruisers to Germany.Tarrant pp. 65–66 U-66 was also supposed to be patrolling off the Firth of Forth but had been forced north to a position off Peterhead by patrolling British vessels. This now brought it into contact with the 2nd Battle Squadron, coming from the Moray Firth. At 05:00, it had to crash dive when the cruiser appeared from the mist heading toward it. It was followed by another cruiser, , and eight battleships.
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She then submerged. After 0300, the other two kaiten pilots manned their kaitens via the underwater access tubes. Her crew soon discovered that the two access-tube-equipped kaitens were wedged in their racks and could not launch, and one of the other kaitens developed a heavy leak in its pilot compartment. She launched her only other kaiten at 04:15 east-southeast of Masi Inlet; the destroyer probably rammed and sank it south of Mugai Channel at 05:38. Meanwhile, I-36 surfaced east of Falalop Islet to extricate the pilot of the leaking kaiten on her afterdeck. Immediately after I-36 brought him back aboard, two aircraft which I-36′s crew identified as Grumman Avengers attacked her, but she crash-dived and avoided damage. As she departed the area at full speed, she heard two heavy explosions, one at 05:45 and another at 06:05.
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She arrived at Lae on the coast of New Guinea on 5 April 1943, where she disembarked her passengers and discharged her cargo onto Daihatsus. She brought aboard four Imperial Japanese Army soldiers who were taking the regimental colors of the 41st Infantry Regiment to Rabaul and 25 other passengers and departed for Rabaul. Shortly after her departure she sighted Allied motor torpedo boats, but she crash-dived and avoided them and arrived safely at Rabaul on 7 April 1943. I-6 next called at Lae on 11 April 1943, unloading 26 passengers and 77 supply drums containing 4.4 tons of weapons and ammunition, 19 tons of clothing, and food and embarking 42 passengers for Rabaul. On her third supply run, she visited Lae on 17 April 1943, discharging 28 passengers and 77 supply drums containing four tons of weapons and ammunition and 17 tons of clothing.
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However, I-2 was unscathed; she heard two large explosions — apparently two of Wahoo′s torpedoes detonating prematurely — and crash-dived, believing herself under attack by an aircraft. After submerging, I-2 heard a third explosion. I-2 continued her voyage to Truk, which she reached on 17 December 1942, but Wahoo received credit for sinking her until an Allied examination of Japanese records after World War II confirmed that I-2 had survived Wahoo′s attack. After almost a month′s stay at Truk, I-2 got back underway on 16 January 1943, stopped at Rabaul — where she took aboard a Daihatsu — from 16 to 20 January 1943, and then headed for Guadalcanal on her eighth supply run. She arrived off Kamimbo Bay on 26 January but, finding the area heavily patrolled by Allied aircraft and motor torpedo boats, did not attempt to deliver her cargo until the following day.
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Sources agree that I-172 was sunk while operating southwest of San Cristóbal, but disagree on the date and cause. A Naval History and Heritage Command document entitled "Appendix 3: Submarines Sunk by Patrol Squadrons During World War II" notes that the U.S. Navy destroyer minesweeper is given official credit for sinking I-172 at the southern end of Indispensable Strait at on 10 November 1942 but adds that Japanese records indicate that Southard actually sank the Japanese submarine . The document claims that the Imperial Japanese Navy declared I-172 missing after 28 October 1942 and attributes I-172′s sinking to a U.S. Navy PBY-5 Catalina flying boat of Patrol Squadron 11 (VP-11) that sighted a Japanese submarine on 29 October 1942 at and dropped two depth charges on it after ot crash-dived. A large quantity of oil appeared on the surface and was still visible the next day.
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She was north of Niihau, Hawaii, on 18 September 1943 when her radar detector picked up nearby radar emissions, and soon thereafter her lookouts sighted a large American patrol plane approaching. She crash-dived and avoided detection. At dawn on 20 September 1943, she was off the western tip of Niihau and surfaced several times to launch her plane, but made numerous contacts and submerged again each time. Deciding that a radar station on nearby Kauai could be detecting I-36 when she surfaced, her commanding officer and the Combined Fleet staff officer decided to move to waters southwest of the island of Hawaii, believing I-36 was likely to be detected there, and to postpone the flight until the next favorable moon phase in mid-October 1943. With I-36 southeast of Hawaii on 12 October, the two officers decided to launch the E14Y1 from a point south-southwest of Oahu after dark on 16 October 1943. Accordingly, I-36 launched the plane from that point on the evening of 16 October.
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On 14 July 1942, Submarine Division 26 was reassigned to the 5th Fleet for service in the Aleutian Islands, where the Aleutian Islands campaign had begun in June 1942 with the Japanese occupation of Attu and Kiska. Ro-61 and Ro-62 departed Yokosuka on 24 July 1942 bound for Paramushiro in the northern Kurile Islands, where they arrived on 30 July 1942. They put to sea again on 1 August 1942 to head for Kiska, which they reached on 5 August 1942. Thereafter, they were based there along with the submarines , , , , , and . On 7 August 1942, an American task force bombarded Kiska while I-6, Ro-61, Ro-64, and Ro-68 were anchored in the harbor, and they crash-dived to avoid damage. On 8 August 1942, Ro-61 sortied to intercept the American ships, but failed to find them. She returned to Kiska on 10 August 1942. She again put to sea on 11 August 1942 in anticipation of another American raid, but none materialized, and she returned to Kiska on 13 August. She got underway on 15 August 1942 to patrol off Kiska, returning on 17 August 1942 without seeing action.
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On 7 August 1942, an American task force bombarded Kiska while I-6, Ro-61, Ro-64, and Ro-68 were anchored in the harbor, and they crash-dived to avoid damage. On 8 August 1942, Ro-62 sortied to intercept the American ships, but failed to find them. On 28 August 1942, a Kiska-based Aichi E13A1 (Allied reporting name "Jake") reconnaissance floatplane sighted the U.S. Navy seaplane tender — which the plane′s crew mistakenly identified as a light cruiser — and a destroyer in Nazan Bay on the coast of Atka. Ro-61, Ro-62, and Ro-64 received orders that day to intercept the ships, and all three of them were off Atka on 29 August 1942. On 30 August 1942, the submarines received orders to attack an American task force that was occupying Adak, but Ro-62 found no targets and returned to Kiska on 5 September 1942. On 14 September 1942, aircraft of the United States Army Air Forces Eleventh Air Force raided Kiska. They strafed Ro-68, but Ro-62 escaped damage. During the remainder of September 1942, Ro-62 made two patrols in the vicinity of Kiska, one from 19 to 21 September and other from 29 to 30 September, but both patrols were uneventful.
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