Small sub-submarine type A (Japan)
 Type A submarine seized by Americans near Pearl Harbor
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The submarine class type A ( Japanese. 甲 標的 甲型 [潜水 艦] , kō-hyōteki kō-gata [sensuikan] , "target A, type-A [submarine]") was a mass-produced small - Submarine class of the Imperial Japanese Navy .
Conception and prototype construction
The conception of two prototypes under the designation test submarine class type A took place in 1936 and was based on the experience gained with the previous model Kleine Fliege . The technical specifications compared to the previous model remained identical. The modified tower structure, however, caused a speed loss of 2 knots to only 23 knots when driving above water compared to its predecessor . The two test boats were built in the strictest of secrecy in the Kure naval shipyard . After their completion, the two boats were given the designations Ha 1 and Ha 2 . This was followed by extensive sea trials, which led to the test boats being classified as "ready for the front". A series production of this class of ship did not take place. Instead, the knowledge gathered from these tests was incorporated into the Type A class , which began series production in 1938.
Development history
While the technical specifications remained identical, the primary armament of the boat consisted of two torpedoes arranged one above the other in the bow. In the case of the types completed before the outbreak of the Pacific War , this area was still designed to be free-flooding; it was only later fitted with locking flaps to protect the torpedoes from damage (e.g. through network blocking). The construction of the type A (actually kō from the kō-otsu-hei-tei numbering system ) took place in the naval shipyards Kure and Ourazaki , and the boats were designated Ha 3 to Ha 52 and Ha 54 to Ha 61 . Ha 53 was reserved for the planned type B.
The disadvantage of this type was that the batteries could only be charged in a shipyard. Due to the limited range of the boats, they should be brought into the operation area by carrier boats. For this purpose the submarines I 16 , I 18 , I 20 , I 22 and I 24 were rebuilt, as well as the aircraft mother ships Chiyoda and Nisshin .
Calls
As part of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, five type A micro-submarines were used, which had been brought into the sea area around Pearl Harbor by the aforementioned carrier submarines . After the Japanese air raid, they were supposed to penetrate the port and attack the remnants of the American Pacific fleet. However, a small submarine was due to defect in the gyro on a reef on. A second was sighted and destroyed with depth charges in front of the harbor entrance by the destroyer USS Ward . Three boats were able to enter the harbor. Nothing has been confirmed by the American side about success. However, all three could be sunk and later recovered. The US Navy thus gained early knowledge of the use of such submarines on the Japanese side.
On May 30, 1942, there was another attack by two boats on the British fleet lying near Diego Suarez . The tanker British Loyalty (6993 GRT) was sunk and the battleship HMS Ramillies torpedoed and damaged. During the defense against this attack with depth charges, one of the micro-submarines was sunk, while the other was steered onto the beach by Lieutenant Akieda Saburo. He and his boatswain, Takemoto Masami, were initially able to flee inland, but later both were killed in a gun battle.
On May 31, 1942, three boats were used off the Bay of Sydney to attack the heavy cruiser USS Chicago , but the attack failed. A boat could not open the torpedo doors; the crew therefore grounded their boat and shot themselves. The second boat got caught in a submarine network and was blown up by its crew. Only the third boat fired its two torpedoes, one of which sank the Kuttabul residential ship and the second ran out of the beach. The submarine itself was then destroyed by depth charges. Nevertheless, the Americans were able to recover the blown up and the self-sunk boat.
Up to the end of 1942 there were still a number of type A missions, which only led to damage and no more sinking. The Americans succeeded in salvaging numerous boats of the type.
After the type B went into series production from 1943, the type A boats were gradually withdrawn from the front line and served from then on as training boats.
literature
- Harald Fock: Naval small weapons. Manned torpedoes, small submarines, small speedboats, explosives yesterday - today - tomorrow. Nikol, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-930656-34-5 , pp. 46-47, 51-52.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Japanese Seaplane Tenders. Retrieved October 17, 2017 .
Small submarines : Kleine Fliege | Type A | Type B | Type C | Type D (Kōryū) | Kairyū | Kanamono | Maru-Se | Shinkai