Kairyu class submarine
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 A Kairyu "Sea Dragon" in the Aburatsubo inlet. |
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1943 |
| Laid down: | 1943–1944 |
| Launched: | 1945 |
| Commissioned: | 1945 |
| Decommissioned: | 1945 |
| Fate: | Dismantling |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 19 tonnes |
| Length: | Up to 57 feet |
| Beam: | 4 1/2 feet |
| Draught: | |
| Surface propulsion: | 85 HP gasoline engine |
| Submerged propulsion: | 80 HP electric engine |
| Surface speed: | 7 knots |
| Submerged speed: | 10 knots |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | |
| Armament: | 600kg of explosive |
| Motto: | |
The Kairyu (海龍 "Sea Dragon") was a class of Kamikaze midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed in 1943-1944, and produced from the beginning of 1945. These submarines were meant to meet the invading American Naval forces upon their anticipated approach of Tokyo.
Over 760 of these submarines were planned, and by August 1945, 200 had been manufactured, most of them at the Yokosuka shipyard.
These submarines had a two-man crew and were fitted with an internal warhead for suicide missions.
Most of the Kairyu submarines were based at Yokosuka at the entrance of Tokyo Bay, and in the Moroiso and Aburatsubo inlets on the southern tip of the Miura peninsula, where a training school had also been set-up.
Since Japan surrendered in August 1945 after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and before American forces made it to the main islands of Japan none of these submarines ever saw action.
Imperial Japanese Navy  |
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