B1 type submarine

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B1 type submarine I-25
Japan Japan
Operators: Japanese Navy EnsignImperial Japanese Navy
Ships in Class
Ships in class: I-15, I-17, I-19, I-21, I-23, I-25, I-26, I-27, I-28, I-29, I-30, I-31, I-32, I-33, I-34, I-35, I-36, I-37, I-38, I-39
General Characteristics
Class type: Diesel-electric submarine
Displacement: 2,584 tons surfaced
3,654 tons submerged
Length: 356.5 ft
Beam: 30.5 ft
Draft: 16.8 ft
Propulsion and power: 2 diesels: 12,400 hp
Electric motors: 2,000 hp
Speed: 23.5 knots surfaced
8 knots submerged
Range: 14,000 nautical miles at 16 knots
Test depth: 100 m (330 ft)
Complement: 94 officers and men
Armament: 6 × 533 mm forward torpedo tubes

17 torpedoes

1 × 140 mm 50 calibre gun
Aircraft complement: 1 Yokosuka E14Y seaplane

B1 Type (I-15 Series) submarines were the most numerous type of submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. In total 20 were made, starting with number I-15, which became the name of the series.

These submarines were fast, had a very long range, and carried a single seaplane, located in a hangar in front of the conning tower, and launched by a catapult. Late in the war, some of the submarines had their aircraft hangar removed, to replace it with a 14 cm gun. In 1944, the I-36 and I-47 were modified so that they could carry four, and later six, Kaiten kamikaze manned torpedoes.

The series was rather successful, especially at the beginning of the war.

  • I-19, on 15 September 1942, fired six torpedoes at aircraft carrier USS Wasp, two of which hit the carrier and destroyed it. The four remaining torpedoes went on for several thousand meters and hit another carrier force, damaging battleship USS North Carolina, and sinking destroyer USS O'Brien. She was apparently sunk by US Navy aircraft attacks on 18 October 1943.
  • I-29 was used to conduct personnel and technology exchanges with Germany.

Altogether Type B submarines (B1, B2, and B3 combined) are credited with sinking 56 merchant ships for a total of 372,730 tonnes, about 35% of all merchant shipping sunk by Japanese submarines during the war.

All B1 type submarines were lost during the conflict, except for I-36, which was scuttled off Goto Island by the US Navy on 1 April 1946.

Imperial Japanese Navy
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