Japanese submarine I-52

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I-52, code-named Momi (樅, Japanese for "evergreen" or "fir tree") was a Type C-3 cargo submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy used during World War II for a secret mission to Lorient, France then occupied by Germany, during which she was sunk.

1 Valuable cargo
2 Type C-3 submarines
3 Yanagi missions
4 Fatal voyage
5 US Task Force
6 Aftermath
7 Recent salvage operations
8 General characteristics
9 Media coverage
10 References
11 External links

[edit] Valuable cargo

She is also known as Japan's "Golden Submarine", because she was carrying a cargo of gold to Germany as payment for war material and technology. There has been speculation that a peace proposal to the allies was contained onboard the I-52 as well, but this is highly unlikely on two counts: there is no evidence of the Japanese goverment being interested in peace proposals or negotiated settlements at this early stage in the war, prior to the summer of 1945, and the Japanese kept an open dialogue with their diplomatic attache's via radio and diplomatic voucher thru Russia, and had no need for long and uncertain transfer via submarine.

Also interesting is that 800 kg of uranium oxide awaited I-52 for her return voyage at Lorient according to Ultra decrypts. She was also to be fitted with a snorkel device at Lorient.

[edit] Type C-3 submarines

This class of submarines was designed and built by Mitsubishi Corporation, between 1943 and 1944, as cargo carriers. They were quite long and carried a crew of up to 94 persons. They also had a long cruising range at a speed of 12 knots. The Japanese constructed only three of these submarines during World War II (I-52, I-53 and I-55), although twenty were planned [1]. They were the largest submarines ever built at that time, and were known as the most advanced submarines during that time.

The keel of I-52 was laid on 18 March 1942, and she was commissioned on 28 December 1943 into the 11th submarine squadron. After training in Japan she was selected for a Yanagi (exchange) mission to Germany.

[edit] Yanagi missions

These were missions enabled under the Axis Powers' Tripartite Pact to provide for an exchange of strategic materials and manufactured goods between Germany, Italy and the Japan. Initially, cargo ships made the exchanges, but when that was no longer possible submarines were used.

Only five other submarines had attempted this trans-continental voyage during World War II: I-30 (April 1942), I-8 (June 1943), I-34 (October 1943), I-29 (November 1943), and German submarine U-511 (August 1943). Of these, I-30 was sunk by a mine, I-34 by the British submarine Taurus, and I-29 by the United States submarine, Sawfish (assisted by Ultra intelligence). So I-52's odds were not very good.

[edit] Fatal voyage

On 10 March 1944, on her maiden voyage, I-52 (Commander Uno Kameo) departed Kure, Japan via Sasebo for Singapore. Her cargo from Japan included 9.8 tons of molybdenum, 11 tons of tungsten, 2.2 tons of gold in 146 bars packed in 49 metal boxes, 3 tons of opium and 0.0537 tons of caffeine [2]. The gold was payment for German optical technology. She also carried 14 passengers, primarily Japanese technicians, who were to study German technology in anti-aircraft guns, and engines for torpedo boats.

In Singapore she picked up a further 120 tons of tin in ingots, 59.8 tons of caoutchouc (raw rubber) in bales and 3.3 tons of quinine, and headed through the Indian Ocean, to the Atlantic Ocean.

On 6 June 1944, the Japanese naval attaché in Berlin, Rear Admiral Kojima Hideo, signalled the submarine that the Allies had landed in Normandy, thus threatening her eventual destination of Lorient on the coast of France. She was advised to prepare for Norway instead. She was also instructed to rendezvous with a German submarine on 22 June 1944 at 21:15 (GMT) at the co-ordinates 15° N 40° W. I-52 responded with her position, being 35° N 23° W. The message was intercepted and decoded by US intelligence; I-52 had been closely watched all the way from Singapore. Guided by the F-21 Submarine Tracking Room and F-211 "Secret Room" of the Tenth Fleet which was in charge of the Atlantic section, a hunter-killer task force was being targeted towards her [3].

On the night of 22 June 1944 about 850 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa, I-52 rendezvoused with U-530, a Type IXC/40 U-boat commanded by Kapitänleutnant Kurt Lange. U-530 provided her with fuel, and also transferred a Naxos FuMB 7 radar detector, and an Enigma coding machine, along with two radar operators, Petty Officers Schulze and Behrendt, and German liaison officer for the trip through the Bay of Biscay.

[edit] US Task Force

A US Task Force assembled as a submarine hunter-killer group, consisting of a carrier and five destroyers, headed by the escort carrier USS Bogue, en route to the United States from Europe, was ordered to find and destroy the Japanese submarine. This task force departed from Casablance on 15 June 1944, and was commanded by Captain Aurelius B. Vosseller. It also had 9 FM-2 Wildcats and 12 TBF-1C Avengers of VC-69 on board. The task force, on its way from Hampton Roads to Casablanca, had sunk another Japanese submarine, the Type IX RO-501 (formerly U-1224) on 13 May 1944. This was a very effective force, sinking 13 German and Japanese submarines between February 1943 and July 1945.

The five destroyers were:

Francis M. Robinson, Lieutenant J. E. Johansen.
Haverfield, Commander T. S. Lank, TF 51 commander.
Swenning, Lieutenant R. E. Peek.
Willis, Lieutenant Commander G. R. Atterbury.
Jannsen, Lieutenant Commander H. E. Cross.

Arriving in the area of the meeting, the carrier began launching flights of Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers at around 23:00 GMT to search for the submarines. U-530 escaped undetected.

At approximately 23:40 on 23 June, Ed Whitlock, the radar operator in Lieutenant Commander Jesse D. Taylor's TBF Avenger, detected a surface contact on his malfunctioning radar (only the right half of its sweep was working). Taylor immediately dropped flares, illuminating the area, and attacked. After his first pass, he saw the depth charge explosions just to starboard of the submarine — a near miss — and the submarine diving. Taylor dropped a purple sonobuoy, a newly-developed device that floated, picked up underwater noise, and transmitted it back. A searching aircraft usually dropped these in packs of five, named purple, orange, blue, red and yellow (POBRY); the operator was able to monitor each buoy in turn to listen for sounds emitted by its target.

Taylor then began a torpedo attack, dropping a Mark 24 "mine" torpedo. That term was used for what was code-named "Fido": the first Allied acoustic torpedo, developed by the Harvard Underwater Sound Lab, which homed in on the sounds of the submarine. Fido was designed to be a "mission kill" weapon — it would damage the submarine so badly it would have to surface, rather than destroying it completely. Within minutes, the sonobuoys transmitted the sounds of an explosion and mechanical break-up noises.

As Commander Taylor's watch ended, the operators on Bogue and Taylor all thought he had sunk the sub. However, as Taylor's patrol ended, he was relieved by Lieutenant (junior grade) William "Flash" Gordon, accompanied by civilian underwater sound expert Price Fish. They arrived on the scene just after midnight, and circled with Taylor for some time. At about 01:00 on the 24th of June 1944, Fish reported hearing some faint propeller noise in the area.

Captain Vosseller ordered a second attack; Gordon checked with Taylor about the exact position of the sonobuoy, and dropped another "Fido" torpedo where he believed the submarine to be. Taylor departed from the area at 01:15, but Gordon stayed to circle the area and listen for any sign of activity. He heard nothing, and was relieved by Lieutenant (junior grade) Brady, who continued to watch and listen, but no further activity was reported. Next morning, Janssen reached the site (15°16′N 39°55′W) and found flotsam: a ton of raw rubber, bit of silk, and even human flesh.

The sonobouy recording of the last few moments of I-52's sound still survives in the US National Archives in Washington D.C. in the form of two thin film canisters marked "Gordon wire No. 1" and "Gordon wire No. 2" dated June 24, 1944. On the recording Lieutenant Gordon can be heard talking to his crew, along with the sound of a torpedo exploding, and metal twisting.

[edit] Aftermath

On 30 August 1944, the Kriegsmarine officially declared I-52 sunk in the Bay of Biscay as of 25 July 1944, with all crew.
The Imperial Japanese Navy declared I-52 missing on 2 August 1944, and struck her from service on 10 December 1944 as sunk.

[edit] Recent salvage operations

In 1995, Paul Tidwell located the wreck 5,240 meters deep, mostly upright. Her conning tower is intact and her hull number is still visible. The bow is broken up, probably due to impact on the bottom, and a large hole, undoubtedly caused by one of the torpedoes, is aft of the conning tower. Debris was scattered over a large area. Plans were made to raise the sub and recover the gold. The Japanese government objected, indicating that they considered the wreck site was a grave. Tidwell has worked on the proper procedures with the Japanese government and has received the blessing from the war graves authorities in Japan. Tidwell took down a Japanese Naval Ensign and fixed it to the wrecked submarine. A metal box from the debris field was brought to the surface in the hope that it would contain some of the sunken gold (then worth US$25 million), but when opened, the salvagers were disappointed to find not gold, but opium. It was dumped overboard.

The plan was to recover the entire conning tower, diplomatic pouches, gold, coding equipment, (Japanese and German) and more. The recovered items would be taken to New Orleans for cleaning, conservation, corrosion treatment to prepare for an exhibition. Mandalay Bay Casino had offered $20 million for the exhibition. After three years in Las Vegas everything except the gold would be returned to Japan to be placed at the City of Kure in a permanent exhibition [4]. There is no full-size Japanese WWII submarine on display anywhere in the world; however, captured Japanese miniature submarines are on display at the Admiral Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas, and at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

The Japan Times in an article dated 19 April 2005 reports that Paul Tidwell intends to return to the site and raise the submarine in November 2005 or May 2006 [5].

[edit] General characteristics

Displacement: 2,095 metric tons standard, 2,564 t surface, 3,644 t submerged
Length: 108.5 m (356 feet)
Beam: 9.3 m (30.5 feet)
Draught: 5.12 m
Equipment: 2-shaft diesel and electric motor, 4,700 bhp surface, 1,200 shp submerged
Range: 21,000 nautical miles at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Speed: 17.7 knots surface, 6.5 knots submerged
Armament 6 x 53 cm torpedo tubes, 2 x 14 cm/40 cal. gun, 2 x 25 mm anti-aircraft guns
Complement: 94 officers and men, 18 civilians
Cargo: 300 metric tons [6]

[edit] Media coverage

In 2000 the National Geographic Society commissioned and produced a documentary called, Submarine I-52: Search for WWII Gold, on the I-52 and Tidwell's salvage effort.
The October 1999 issue of the National Geographic featured an article on the I-52 sinking and salvage.

[edit] References

Boyd, Carl. U.S. Navy Radio Intelligence During the Second World War and the Sinking of the Japanese Submarine I-52, Journal of Military History 63 (2): 339-354, April 1999.